Parents and guardians of stu
dents of secondary schools in some communities in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State have continued to express excitement and gladness about one week after the donation of more than 20,000 customised exercise books for the use of their children and wards by Coalition of Concerned Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and Community-Based Organisations (CBOs) (CCNCC) for Wike 2015 General Elections in the state.
Among those eulogising the gesture are parents and guardians of the 20 best students in each of the junior school cadre in JS1-3, including Clinton Success Ezeugo, Godwin Sunday, Innocent Gold, Emezue Victoria’s, as well as the paramount ruler of Rumuepirikom community, Eze Barry Amaewhule Opara Owabie.
It would be recalled that the CCNCC, last Wednesday, handed over the first batch of 20,000 customised notebooks as part of the celebration of Rivers State Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike’s one year in office, to Community Secondary School, Rumuepirikom.
Speaking to The Tide in an interview, Owabie said, the gesture was the first of its kind in the community in many decades, and praised the commitment of the group in assisting the government’s efforts to advance academic excellence in the state.
The paramount ruler, who spoke through the community’s Public Relations Officer (PRO), Comrade Chizzy Egwurugwu, said the people of the area were very happy that the NGOs were encouraging the young ones to take their studies seriously through the book donation, and urged other organisations, philanthropic bodies and individuals as well as corporate citizens to emulate the kind gesture of the CCNCC in efforts to make the state more educationally advanced and stable in the country.
Earlier, the Principal of the school, Mrs Nsirim Gladys, had said since the school started in 2007, this was the first time it was being supported by private groups to advance the education of the children through strategic book donation.
She commended CCNCC for presenting the free 80-leaf notebooks to students of the school, adding that both the students and the more than 108 teachers in the school would benefit from the donation.
Also speaking, the Vice Principal, Mr Barnabas Ogbonka, who rolled out the names of the best performing students of the school, promised not only to put the books into good use, but to also ensure that the donation spurs the students to do better in their academic pursuits and not disappoint their parents, the government and the donors of the books.
In an exclusive interview with The Tide, Vice President, CCNCC, Dr Obot Gideon Daniel, said the donation was a dream come true, and challenged other groups to identify with the Wike administration’s dogged efforts to take education in the state to the next level.
Also, the Public Relations Officer, CCNCC, Comrade Rowland Rafael, revealed that the donation, which kick-started at the school in Rumuepirikom in Obio/Akpor, would soon be extended to other schools in the state.
Susan Serekara-Nwikhana
