By Musa M. Buba
Damaturu
In an effort to restore the dignity of education and reading culture in the North-east, Children, Youth and Women Empowerment Initiatives (ChiYoWo), in collaboration with Hope Interactive, Damaturu, has donated over 100 text and exercise books to ECWA Beckett Memorial College, Kukar-Gadu, in Yobe state.
Chief Executive officer of the ChiYoWo, Tokumbo Iyaturoti, said “the effort is aimed at improving the reading culture among the young children and also to give them quality education to be able to plan their future.”
Tokumbo added that “the programme will help the students immensely especially those seriously affected by the insurgency to be able to understand the true value of what education is all about.”
Receiving the books on behalf of the school, the principal of the Beckett Memorial College, Pastor Ibrahim Abako, thanked the ChiYoWo, saying “the gesture is the first of its kind since the school was established seven years ago.”
Abako said “the school was created with a vision and desire to contribute towards the educational development of Yobe state, though its activities were hampered by the insurgency but with the impact of the ChiYoWo project, it will go a long way in expunging the bad record about Yobe state of being less developed educationally.”
The principal assured that they would do well to continuously guard with vigour what had been entrusted to them.
In her remarks, the Potiskum Zonal Coordinator of the Ministry of Education, Hajiya Hauwa Yakubu Ma’aji, said: “I feel good and great for the concern shown to us. This gesture will help in improving the reading culture in our schools. I therefore call on other meaningful individuals to emulate the ChiYoWo project.”
In their separate remarks and vote of thanks, the ECWA DCC Yobe secretary, Rev. Yakubu Toka and the School Board chairman, Dr. Ehud Yakubu Garba, thanked ChiYoWo and their partners for coming to the aid of the school which they said “will in no small measure improve the reading culture among the students.”
The ChiYoWo had so far offered these kinds of gesture to schools in 11 states of the federation.
