Meet Zakiyu Iddris Tindannayil: The True Zongo Boy

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Zakiyu Iddris Tindannayil is a social media manager, who is also from Zongo

Zakiyu Iddris Tindannayil, was born in Mamobi, from a family of 22, he came from a humble home with him being the last but one child of his late father and the second born to his mother. He has never seen his father because he died when he was about 3 years old, and also he has never seen a picture of him.

He hold a BA in Communication (Development Communications) from African University of Communications. His hobbies are writing, reading and surfing the internet.

His background growing up can fill thousands of pages and still beg for more. In summary, his growing up was never easy, he don’t think he had happy moments than sorrowful moments. As at age 7 he had started carrying stuff at the market not because his mother and step father did not want to take care of him, not that they didn't have what to eat home. But he wanted to help, so when he return from market, he give part of the money to his step father to save for him and keep the rest for some sweet candies. 

He carried things till he was 15 years, and that was the same year he dropped out of JSS because of abuse from one of his teachers and never wanted to ever go. He had sores all over his legs, big sores, which made him an outcast. He never felt okay getting closer to his peers, so most of the times he slept alone outside at night or alone in the hall where they used to study for the Quran. 

He had flies follow him when he's walking, and that was because of the sores, and that actually contributed to his dropping out of school. All this happened in Asamankese where his mother was married from to Accra, but she had to go back to Asamankese after his father passed away. He added that he was very stubborn as a child, very stubborn, so my mother, Murjana, was very hard on him but that never slowed his stubbornness down. 

That made me to have resentment towards her until he became an adult and he realized that he was just being foolish because, he can never repay her back for just giving birth to him. He mom became his friend after he thought about all that she had to go through to give birth to me and to care for him to grow as a baby.

At age 15, he was put behind bars because of a crime he did not commit, so when he was released his big sister, Rakiba, decided that he was not going to stay in that town anymore so she had to bring me back to Accra to live with his uncles and brothers. He was actually smuggled from that town because his auntie did not want him to leave that town. When she brought him back to Accra, his uncles and brothers decided that he should go and learn how to repair cars, so he was sent to Achimota, a workshop closer to the overhead, and he was made to live there (the workshop) but he hardly sleep because he was sleeping in the spoilt cars and the mosquitoes always get the best out of his flesh. 

He would go walk on the bridge the whole night, and at times witnessed robbery but he was never afraid. Gari and beans were his favorite by default because he had not option. he used to eat gari and beans kept for 3 days at the mechanic shop. One day, he asked his senior that when his he going to become his own master, and one of them told him that he has been there for 7 years. 

Zakiyu Iddris Tindannayil is a social media manager, who is also from Zongo

That was the moment he said to himself, he don’t belong there. he sold his tools and that of one of his juniors and left the shop back to him uncles and brothers at Kisseman Zongo. When they saw him in the morning, they called a crunch meeting to think of what to do next because they knew he would not go back. The decision they made was for him to be sent to Accra Newtown to be an apprentice to one of his cousins who was a tailor. 

But he had some weeks to himself before being sent there. He decided that he would be following one of uncles who had a truck which he uses to convey materials to and fro the manufacturing companies at the industrial area. So he would wake up in the early in the morning, offer the “fajir”(Dawn prayers) and jump into the back of the truck and wait for him to come and move the car. At the industrial area, he used to carry heavy materials and people were wondering where his from. They never knew he started carrying goods for long.

He hustled at the industrial area until he was finally sent to Accra Newtown. Many things happened there, which included an attempt by a friend to lure him into joining him to rob at Tudu in Accra at night, but he disappointed him when night came, sleeping by the street and in trotro cars and engaging in unnecessary fights at downside Nima gutter. Fast forward, he was sponsored to start a high school, and that was when he quit being an apprentice to his cousin. 

He could not complete because he could not pay to register for WAEC exams. He actually agreed to go that high school (Abundant Grace Academy) because they wore trousers, and that was because he wanted to conceal some of the sores on his legs, he still had them. In fact they lasted for 10 years. And during his years at Abundant Grace Academy (ABG), he sometimes paid his own feels even though he was being sponsored.

He had already started Sakawa whilst in ABG that how he was able to pay his fees at a point. So after dropping out, He enrolled himself into a private film school, Access Film Academy to study film directing and managed to complete it after 2 years. He later did a radio course at Vibe School of Excellent, and was retained after, and managed to join the production team of the morning show at Vibe FM. 

Zakiyu Iddris Tindannayil is a social media manager, who is also from Zongo

But he later wanted to have his first degree, but without JSS and SHS certificate, how would be possible? So started asking questions on how that would be possible and he finally learnt that he could get admission to Central University College (CUC) to do his first degree but only on the condition that he completed three levels of certificates with CPI, an Institution under CUC then. So he enrolled, completed the first certificate, then the second one, but could not get money to complete the third one, so that dream of getting his first degree with CUC was shattered.

A year or so later, he found out about AUCC’s mature entrance exams, but before then, he tried Legon mature but could not take the exams because he later discovered that it was more of having to pay your way through. It was a friend called Shuaibu Hussein, who he was with in ABG, he introduced him to the mature entrance exams at AUCC and he told him that he did not have money to pay for the fees even though if he manage to get the admission, but he encouraged me to start and he did registered for a month’s class to prepare us for the exams and the receptionist told him that she would call him when the class starts, but he never received a call from her and honestly, he even forgot he did registered for the class. 

It took a Facebook friend who he had never met to prompt him that the class was ongoing. How did she know he registered? She said the list was passed around in the class and she saw his name, and because we were friends on Facebook, she identified his name. She commented on a post he made asking him why he have not been coming to class, and he asked her which class is she talking about. And she said AUCC mature. Then he remembered he had register for the class. When he went, it was left with just a week for the class to end and for the exams to take place. But he managed to pass the exams and he was given an admission. What’s next? 

He said to himself “Zakiyu, you cannot defer because you have come a long way.” he started without a penny, then later told a very good friend in the USA about his situation, then she helped paid part of the fees of the first semester, and he managed to complete the rest for that semester and then unto the second semester in the second year. he looked into the social media of the school and he realized it was in a good state, so he proposed to manage it for them because he had acquired a social media marketing skills at Alison.com which was free. 

He gave the school a social media strategy and gave them a budget, so they later called him into a meeting to discuss the terms and conditions. So they said to him, they would not be able to pay in cash but would take charge of his fees till he complete in return for the social media service he would render to the school. That is how he managed to complete and get his first degree without a JSS and SHS certificate.

The environment he grew up from thought him so many lessons the hard way. It helped shape his dream. The situations in the environment made me to aspire for greatness and to help change things he believe are hindering our development.

His aspirations are to be able to impact positively to many lives in the Zongo community. To help raise good leaders and youth activists in the Zongo. And also want to be remembered as someone who rekindled the spirit in the Zongo youth to aspire for greatness be changer makers.

The Zongo community is the place where he draw his inspiration from. What he can see daily in the community is what pushes me to sacrifice so much to make sure there is a positive change in the Zongo. 

His Message to colleagues:

To his colleagues who graduated with me today, he say, congrats, let's shake the world. If you have an opportunity to join a corporate organisation do join and make you mark and possibly go beyond. To those of us who believes in entrepreneurship, let's make our mark and possibly go beyond. Do not sit idle.If the job is not coming, create one yourself. Keep On Keeping On (KOKO)

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