From Chijioke Agwu, Abakaliki
Fifty indigent pupils drawn from different primary schools in Isuokoma Community in Onicha local government area of Ebonyi State have received Back-to-School packages from an education-oriented non-governmental organization in the area.
The body known as Obasionu Care Foundation (OCF) has been involved in series of education interventions and humanitarian projects and programmes in the community for years now.
Initiated by an illustrious son of the community, Obasi Onu, the foundation paid school fees and distributed school bags, uniform, sandals, writing materials and exercise books to the needy pupils selected from across primary schools in the community.
Its founder, Obasi Onu, a legal practitioner who spoke at Umuniko Primary School, Isuokoma, venue of the event, noted that quality education was the best thing any society could give to any child in order to prepare him/her for the challenges of life.
He lamented that many pupils were not opportune to access good foundational education because of poor background, pointing out that this motivated his group to provide some of the basic needs of the pupils to enable them continue with their education.
Onu enjoined well-meaning Nigerians to help assure the future of the nation by assisting young people achieve their dream of acquiring quality education. He warned that continued negligence of the foundational education will spell doom for the nation: “Education is key to a good life. And any child who is denied quality education is handicapped. Surprisingly, poor students are often the most intelligent ones but lack of funds tends to deprive them the opportunity of good education. That is why our foundation has come to bridge the cap.”
Guest speaker at the programme, a university lecturer, Dr. Jerry Okereke, enjoined parents to give priority to the care and education of their children as a way of curbing insecurity and other societal ills.
He lauded the efforts of the founder and the management team of the foundation for singling out those that truly needed help for the gesture.
Another don, Prof. Ogbonnaya Ogbu, who chaired the occasion, also emphasised the place of quality education in the development of the community. He recounted that he was able to attain his present height through the help of several scholarships. Ogbu urged other individuals in the community to provide more assistance to the indigent in the community.
His counterpart, Dr. Livinus Onu who is Chairman of the OCF management committee thanked the founder for giving them free hand in the selection process of the beneficiaries which according to him led to a careful picking of the right people.
Two of the beneficiaries, Miss Ngozi Ani from Amaeze Community Primary School and Friday Ogbuani from Mgbalaukwu Primary School, thanked the foundation and its founder for their kind gesture and promised to make judicious use of the items.