In times when people will see public speaking as a hobby and nothing else, Ibrahim Mustapha was all out to make a paradigm. At the same time when people never saw the need to sit before someone to motivate them through words, Mustapha knew he could influence many people through communication.
Growing from Ghana especially it’s Northern part where children are mostly raised to be timid (in trying to be humble), Mustapha was equally affected by the environment he grew up in. The KNUST alumnus read Business Administration, had earlier on studied HND in Accounting at the then Tamale Polytechnic. But how does a business person gets into the art of public speaking? Ibrahim Mustapha had at most part of his life been attributed for his thin voice and this is even more amazing how he took up public 6as a career.
No matter the external forces, he’ll thrive. As it is with every graduate, Mustapha wanted to escape the unemployed group, but in his quest to do so, trying hands-on many things triggered some aspect of his inner self. ‘What is that strength in me I have?’ Even though he had by then worked with several organizations, Mustapha was overwhelmed by how the youth of today unlike their time with limited resources and opportunities are still not able to harness their potentials. He suddenly took on to help these young ones.
Through this, he organized training for Junior High School students and other youth in and around Tamale. But as this social activism for youth empowerment proceeded, Mustapha realized how people were buying into his ideas; how a number of those he talked to were changing— taking up initiatives on their own. This, he capitalized on to take his journey to a different level. Now, he wanted to bring out the confidence in people, he wanted to prepare people for the job market; to offer soft skills training to individuals, organizations, etc.
Through consultancy, he saw the need to write a book and that gave birth to his debut self-publication — The Confident Speaker. Launched in 2016, it was one of the books launches in Tamale at that time that pulled a lot of crowds.
Through reading, do many find their creativity and potentials and so, as he spoke, he offered them an opportunity to read pragmatic solutions on breaking that timidity. Five years down the lane, Mustapha has reached out to and trained over 50,000 young people across the world with his Public Speaking training. While Mustapha has Published over 15 books on Amazon, his dream is to see a world where the youth are confident about their selves, realize their potentials and are able to create careers and a future out of passion.
The 2021 Mandela Washington Fellow is one of the few Ghanaians who have taken public speaking as a full-time job. He is the founder of ‘Me For Africa’ an NGO operating in Ghana. He also established IM radio. An online radio which has a growing community of over 5,000 students on Udemy. While doing this, he has volunteered with several Civil Society Organisations and has helped communities and individuals who are in need. He has offered consultancy and training to public offices, corporate organizations and other private enterprises.
Mustapha has also had international engagements, volunteering and training abroad since 2017. He at some point in time headed the Tamale Hub of the Global Shapers Community as its Curator. Mustapha is a Digital Skills Trainer with the Google Digital Skills Africa Program.
Today, many people look up to him in the country for the countless contributions he has offered and impact in their lives. Perhaps, he remains one of the idols who will serve as a role model for those who want to take up public speaking full time. IM as he is called, live to continue his impact to his last day.
