Kasoa Alumiman

Posted by By Akogun Akomolafe at 19 December, at 04 : 28 AM Print

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Hosni Iddrissu is not waiting for any government to give him a handout. He doesn’t even want any government to create a job for him. He does not trust any politicians and he believes that a man must help himself if he doesn’t want to starve. He is tall, strong, and handsome in a way. Hosni exudes satiated, supreme self-confidence. A perpetual smile dances on his face.

After several years of hustling in Northern Ghana, Accra and many parts of Nigeria, Hosni moved to Kasoa  a while back and decided to make the burgeoning city his home. He loves the anonymity of the place. He particularly likes it that his adopted hometown is a true metropolitan city, inhabited by people from all parts of West Africa.

Hosni has dabbled in more trades and professions than he cares to remember. Today he takes care of his family by plying a trade he taught himself – producing useful items from aluminium scraps, something many people consider thrash. Aluminum is produced from bauxite, a mineral found in abundance in Ghana, and is used to produce domestic utensils as well as industrial products.

“For many years, I was a trailer boy in Nigeria,” he told me during a chat at his small shed sandwiched between two buildings in the Old Market area of Kasoa. “My master was an Igbo man, Okechukwu. We transported cargoes all over Nigeria. From Lagos to Sokoto to Jos, to Port Harcourt to Enugu, we went everywhere. I know Nigeria very well. It was very dangerous and difficult work. There were also armed robbers. Accidents, some of them ghastly, were common place on Nigerian roads. Sometimes you see so many dead people that you fall sick. But man survived. I came back to Ghana and worked at the shipyard in Tema. It was not a bad job but it was not consistent. Today there is work, tomorrow there is nothing. And there is a family to feed and cater for. So, I decided to employ myself. No one me taught how to become an Aluminium Smith. I have always been good with creating things. I look at what people need and I try to make it for them. Before, I used discarded aluminum pots, buckets and pans. But then came the new roofing sheets made of galvanized iron. I found out that they are better, simpler and less laborious to use. I can make anything you want. I am good at what I do.”

Given the variety of items he displays at his tiny workshop, there is no doubt that Hosni Iddrissu is hugely talented.

 

About the Author

Femi Akomolafe is a passionate Pan-Africanist. A columnist for the Accra-based Daily Dispatch newspaper and ModernGhana, and Correspondent for the New African magazine, Femi lives in both Europe and Africa, and writes regularly on Africa-related issues for various newspapers and magazines.

Femi was the producer of the FOCUS ON AFRICANS TV Interview programme for the MultiTV Station.

He is also the Man and Machine Coordinator at Alaye Dot Biz Limited, a Kasoa-based Multimedia organisation that specialises in Audio and Video Production. He loves to shoot and edit video documentaries.

His highly-acclaimed books (“Africa: Destroyed by the gods,” “Africa: It shall be well,” “18 African Fables & Moonlight Stories” and “Ghana: Basic Facts + More”) are available for sales at the following bookshops/offices:

1. Freedom Bookshop, near Apollo Theatre, Accra.
2. The Daily Dispatch Office, Labone – Accra
3. WEB Dubois Pan-African Centre, Accra
4. Ghana Writers Association office, PAWA House, Roman Ridge, Accra.
5. African Kitchen in Amsterdam Bijlmer

Where to buy them online:

On Lulu Books:

18 African Fables & Moonlight Stories https://goo.gl/Skohtn

Ghana: Basic Facts + More: https://goo.gl/73ni99

Africa: Destroyed by the gods: https://goo.gl/HHmFfr

Africa: It shall be well: https://goo.gl/KIMcIm

 

Africa: it shall be well

on Kindle books: https://www.createspace.com/4820404

on Amazon books: http://goo.gl/QeFxbl

on Lulu Books: https://goo.gl/SQeoKD

Africa: Destroyed by the gods

on Kindle books: https://www.createspace.com/4811974

on Amazon books: http://goo.gl/1z97ND

on Lulu Books: http://goo.gl/KIMcIm

 

My Lulu Books page: http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/FemiAkomolafe

 

Get free promotional materials here:

1. Africa: it shall be well: http://alaye.biz/africa-it-shall-be-well-introduction-in-pdf/

A FREE Chapter of ‘Africa: It shall be well’ could be downloaded here: http://alaye.biz/africa-it-shall-be-well-a-free-chapter/

1. Africa: Destroyed by the gods (How religiosity destroyed Africa) http://alaye.biz/africa-destroyed-by-the-gods-introduction/

A FREE Chapter of ‘Africa: Destroyed by the gods’ could be downloaded here: http://alaye.biz/africa-destroyed-by-the-gods-free-chapter/

Read a review here

Contact Femi:

Femi’s Blog: www.alaye.biz/category/blog
Website: www.alaye.biz
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Kindly help me share the books’ links with your friends and, grin, please purchase your copies.

Comradely,

Femi Akomolafe

 

 

 

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