The Executive Chairman of Okrika Local Government Area, Hon. Akuro Tobin, was the special guest of honour at the handover ceremony of three hundred benches and tables to six schools in the LGA by the Okrika Cluster Development Foundation (OCDF) and its joint partner, Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) through a Global Memorandum of Understanding (GMoU).
The beneficiaries, represented by the Supervisor for Education, Nemi Ajubo, thanked Chief Daminabo Elijah Ayika, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Okrika Cluster Development Foundation (OCDF) and all members for their humanity, and for the considerable quantity of furniture in the package.
Chief Ayika, who also is the Chairman, Ibaka Council of Chiefs, in his advice to the Okrika community and the benefitting schools, said, “We had suffered enough from the NLNG before we got to the point where we are now. For that reason, we’re advising the pupils to use the desks nicely and keep them undamaged for oncoming pupils to also use. Certainly, more are yet to come. There’ll be much more than only school desks”, he counted.
Schools that benefited were State Primary School, Ibaka, State Primary School, Ogbogbo, Boys Primary School, Okrika, Ogoloma Town School (OTS), State Primary School, Ogan-ama and State Primary School, Okochiri.
In his remarks, the Executive Chairman extended his profound gratitude to Nigeria Liquified Natural Gas (NLNG) and Charles Epelle, Manager, of Community Affairs and Sustainable Development, NLNG, for supporting communities through clusters GMOU.
The Council Boss assured OCDF and its joint partner of creating an enabling environment for strategic partnership. He promised to coalesce and support the programmes and activities of the foundation.
He also made known that the Council had earmarked infrastructure resuscitations on schools, both primary and secondary, that need attention, adding that even today’s handover ceremony will upgrade the standard of learning of the beneficiary schools.
Further, he advised headmasters and headmistresses of the beneficiary schools to distribute the benches and tables to classrooms that are in dire need of them, and always encourage the children to take their academics seriously because education is the bedrock of development.
Reacting, the head teachers of the various schools jointly appreciated the chairman as well as the OCDF and their joint partners for the support, assuring them that they would do all within their power to make academics thrive and bring out the best in the pupils
Chief Daminabo Elijah Ayika, Chairman, Ibaka Council of Chiefs also Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Okrika Cluster Development Foundation, OCDF.***
