Obaseki, Ezeilo to inaugurate Afrinvest CEO’s N100m school project
The wife of the Edo State Governor, Mrs Betsy Obaseki, will on Wednesday (December 29, 2021) lead other Nigerian dignitaries to inaugurate a N100m school project initiated by the Group Managing Director of Afrinvest West Africa, Mr Ike Chioke.
The Deputy Governor of Enugu State, Mrs Cecelia Ezeilo, will also grace the unveiling of the newly remodelled Central Primary School, which is located in Obioma Kingdom of Udi Local Government Area, Enugu.
The event, which comes up on the sidelines of the Obioma Christmas Carnival, will be held beside St. Theresa’s Catholic Church, Obioma Kingdom by 12noon, according to a statement issued on Tuesday by the Principal Consultant, Plexus Media Interlinks, Mr Ozioma Ubabukoh.
The statement read, “Founded in 1941, the remodelled primary school will provide a decent and conducive learning environment for the people of Obioma Kingdom and environs as well as aid the development of education in Nigeria.
“It is designed to have eight blocks of classrooms for about 300 pupils, a library with a sitting capacity for 56 pupils, a clinic, an Information Communications Technology centre, a conference hall, a staffroom for teachers, head teacher’s office as well as male and female restrooms.”
The statement quoted Chioke, who is also the Prince of Obioma Kingdom, as saying that “the project seeks to greatly improve the learning condition of pupils in the community and neighbouring towns.”
He said, “With the continuous decline in the quality of education in Nigeria, I decided to deliver learning materials to support pupils and sponsor skill acquisition programmes in my hometown of Obioma in Udi Local Government Area of Enugu State. These little steps have led to a bigger vision of remodelling the Central Primary School in Obioma Kingdom.”
Rebuilt in a ‘U’ shape structure, the school is also designed to take up to 35 – 40 pupils in a class, having the comfort of ceiling fans, light fittings and electrical teaching boards, Chioke said.
He said the computer centre, equipped with 30 computers and the library designed to sit not less than 56 pupils, would encourage learning and enable the students to conduct basic researches.
“There is also the plan to provide solar power to run the day-to-day activities of the school and ensure constant electricity supply,” he noted.
According to the Afrinvest CEO, the initial thinking in remodelling the school is in knowing that education is critical to development.
He said, “My view about life is that you cannot enlighten people without educating them, and the most important part of that education is at the primary level.
“Once kids can get a decent education at the primary school level, then it is easier. And by the time they get to secondary school, they already have an idea of what they want to go into, whether vocational or skills acquisition.”
He also hinted that there were plans to put in place a playground for kindergarten and retouch the existing village football field to a standard football pitch where students can play and have competitions.
“My hope is that ultimately, the school will have the ability to touch lives and impact the kingdom of Obioma and farther afield. The physical infrastructure will start the transformation of education in Obioma, which others can imitate to do similar things across their own communities,” Chioke added.
