Ekpo stakes N.5m for student with 8 A’s at WAEC in A’Ibom schools

JOE EFFIONG, UYO

Mr Ekpo who made the promise while addressing  students of Model Girls Secondary School Ikot Ekang, and thos of his alma mater at t2he Holy Family  College, all in Abak LGA of the  state when he paid a visit to have dinner with the students  over the weekend, explained to the students the nexus between good education and good leadership, stressing that his being the best deputy governor as declared by Governor Udom Emmanuel was made possible through good education and

 He urged the students to stand out of the crowd and take the opportunity given to them through free and compulsory education scheme and make their grades.

“If there are two, or three or four of you, I’m telling you this so that you can start the competition today, If you yourself prove your mental, and you are successful, Hold me to it, I will give five hundred thousand naira to any student that would make seven to eight Alphas, that’s what we will do”.

“I came here this evening to dine with you, to let you know that I’m only able to come here because when I was in school like you, I did study hard and I pass my exams, and I am who I am today because I went to school. I couldn’t have been the best deputy governor if I was a drop-out

“I’m enjoining you today, let us have a covenant that you will do well at school, and the government who is the master parent would certainly make sure that you grow higher and higher.”

He said the purpose of the event was to redeem his vow of presenting a trophy to the schools and to have a reflection of his school days in college and which is the aim of organizing the d⁷inner.

“I have told the principals general that there would be no high table today, My friends and colleagues who came with me, and myself will sit with the children and we both would have conversations, let them have a feel of the people”.

“I brought very distinguished people here, i brought them for a purpose, the purpose that you could see that Akwa Ibom people and you are touch bearers for tomorrow”

He said that amongst the three schools that was proposed for assistance by the federal government, that Model Girls Secondary school ikot Ekang Abak is the number one. He affairm that international aid would be channel to the school provided the keep their own side of the promise by studying to become Models in the society.

“Provided you will not go into cultism, you will not be bad girls, and you will not be people who can not be leaders, who can not lead Akwa Ibom state”.

He said that the present leaders and representative of the house of assembly wouldn’t have succeeded if they where not educated.

The commissioner for education Akwa Ibom state Mrs Idongesit Etiebet,  who accompanied the deputy governor,  assured the principals and students of the schools  of the implementation of infrastructural development and social amenities as requested.

“All the things written here by the principal has already been presented at the executive, and we promise to intervene, I want to tell you that the government took over this school, built it, completed it, and will not allowed it to die, All the things catelogue there would be done in phases”.

The Principal of Model Girls Secondary School, Mrs Nse-obong Essen had appealed to the state government to intervene as the school is plague with problems of insufficient classrooms, insufficient dormitories, no assembly hall, no staff quarters, rehabilitation of school transformer, no standard laboratory, no clinic, no kitchen, no computer laboratory, no standard library etc.

“this school was originally designed to be a junior secondary school with limited infrastructures but due to high academic standard and rapid increase in students population, the school was upgraded to senior secondary school and the school is in dire need of infrastructural expansion to cope with the teeming population of students”.