Former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Professional Studies Accra (UPSA), who is also former Board Chairman of Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) and one of the leading aspirants for the opposition NDC flagbearership Professor Joshua Alabi has revealed that people now call him ‘Transformer-General’ owing to his outstanding transformational works at UPSA and as Board Chair of SSNIT, MyNewsGh.com can report.
Speaking to GhanaWeb’s Kwabena Kyenkyenhene Boateng on 21 Minutes With KKB over the weekend, he said "I heard it three weeks ago that people call me Transformer-General”, he said happily.
Replying to the host’s compliment that his house was beautiful, the former Vice-Chancellor replied: “I like quality, that’s why if you move to UPSA, you see quality buildings. I was given a state asset, and I transformed the place and I believe that’s why people call me Transformer-General” he explained.
It appears Prof Alabi is gearing up to match his likely competitor, John Mahama, boot-for-boot, as the former President Mahama had said in June 2016 that he has earned the title “Commissioner General” due to the various projects he was been commissioning only months to the 2016 general elections.
“We will be commissioning the data center in a short time. That is why I am developing the name Commissioner General. I am being called to commission things all over the place,” Mr Mahama, who was then seeking re-election said at the 2016 edition of African ICT and Mobile Expo. He stated that his government is almost done with a number of projects across the country for which reason he deserved the name “Commissioner-General”.
Prof Alabi, perhaps in preparation for a contest with the Commissioner-General, also claims people call him ‘Transformer-General’.
“When I went to UPSA, I told the students that I am going make UPSA a world-class University. I told them that by the time I am done, they will take off their shoes before entering the University. Go and see what we have at UPSA now.”
He said it will be ‘interesting’ for him if people deny his transformation works as SSNIT Board Chairman.
He explained to KKB of Ghanaweb some of his achievements:
“My first assignment was to ensure pensioners benefited from their money, my time, our first year we increased the benefit by 100percent and no one is saying anything about that… We decided to go into organisations that were not giving any dividend to the state.” he enumerated.
He however expressed disappointment that “in Ghana once a new government comes, the old ones are painted as either corrupt or thieves and when the new ones time passes, another group will come and paint them black.”