Ibrahim Mahama gifts jet engine to Ibrahim Mahama The Artist

Ghanaian businessman and founder of Engineers and Planners, the largest indigenous-owned mining company in West Africa, Ibrahim Mahama, has sent an unusual gift to his namesake, Ibrahim Mahama, the artist.

In a post made on his Twitter handle, the artist and philanthropist Ibrahim Mahama shared the good news of how the businessman had sent him a rare gift of a jet engine.

The gift would be put on display at the Redclay Tamale, which is an artist-run project space b, exhibition and research hub, cultural repository and artists’ residency built by the international artist.

The place gives an opportunity to locals to experience art, a creative space for artists showcases different generations and acknowledges the evolution of art in Ghana.

The two met for the first time recently, a meeting the artist told GhanaWeb was a revealing one as he got to learn, albeit briefly, a lot of interesting things about his ‘name-clone.’

Speaking to GhanaWeb again over a telephone interview from Italy, he said that his first-time brief meeting with the millionaire businessman was the very day the jet engine was given to him.

“That was the first time I met him, and that was the day he made this donation; this gift, because it’s an engine from an old jet that he had before this current one and it was decommissioned. So, the parts were in a warehouse somewhere, and so he was wondering if I was interested in it since I have all these aeroplanes and objects in Tamale for the kids.

“So, I went to see them, and I thought it was fascinating, so I took it to Tamale and then last week, we were able to install it in Redclay. So, for me, it’s interesting because for a long time, I was trying to get some of these old aeroplane parts and things from the States; from the Airforce, but it was not possible, but I met this man in less than an hour, and he had given me all these objects which are super valuable and very important,” he said.

Ibrahim Mahama, the artist, further indicated that beyond the jet engine, Ibrahim Mahama, the businessman, was also generous enough to give him other parts of the jet to be installed at his art installation at Tamale.

He added that the things he was given were enough to set up a museum.

“There were some other parts: there were some old seats, there were some other parts of the aeroplane like the wings, the seats, the cockpit part, there were quite several things; enough to create a whole museum,” he told GhanaWeb’s Etsey Atisu over the phone.

The international artist also indicated that the generosity of Ibrahim Mahama is the kind of thing that is needed to support such artistic works by Africans.

He was even more excited that with this, many people could get the opportunity to learn and know more about such engineering innovations firsthand.

“For me, beyond politics and anything, I think it’s important that individuals who can contribute also to the shift in perspective, particularly things that are related to culture and education are important… because last week, we had engineering students from the University of Development Studies come and where are you ever going to see a jet engine beyond if you are flying a plane, and you never even know the proportions in terms of the scale, the mechanics of it and all that. But at least this thing is there, and we can play with it, we can do something with it,” he added.