It is a new dawn for pupil of Olorunda community in Yewa South Local Government Area of Ogun State as a not-for- profit organisation, Eziokwu Ebubechukwu Foundation (EEF) enhanced the pupils through the distribution of learning material to pupils in the rural area.
The communities that benefited from the gesture were Irogun Akere, Alaran, Isaga Abata, Asafo, Ojuota, Abule Joga, Isaga Olatunji, as well as Abule Alfa.
The Foundation, which has over the years been giving back to the society especially children in the rural environment through the provision of educational materials, stressed that it was imperative to empower the younger generation with education, as it is a powerful weapon to change the world.
The event took place on Wednesday at the Olorunda community where over 500 underprivileged children received school bags, writing materials, mathematical sets, textbooks, water bottles and other essential items to boost learning.
In addition to the benefiting children, the gesture was extended to their families who received clothes, shoes and household materials.
The foundation and it’s team, led by the founder, Mr Ezeukoh Ebubechukwu had an outreach for the students, tagged, ‘Book Drive, Christmas experience for the rural child at Yewa South L.G.A ‘ to improve the livelihood of students in the rural areas.
According to the founder, “the gesture was not a showoff but a drive towards empowering the leaders of tomorrow.
“The initiative is a commitment not to deprive the younger generation of quality access to education and proper learning tools, irrespective of their location. We are particularly glad that the gesture will boost education in Olorunda community and also encourage the young people in the geographic location to be more educated,” he said.
Mr Ebubechukwu who sees the opportunity to give back to the society as a privilege affirmed that, the initiative without any doubt would enhance the educational system in the community and also give pupils the access to advanced learning to boost their knowledge and make them compete with their peers in other communities, state and countries at large.
He said, “It is a privilege to be in this position to get people gather resources to give back to the society. I see it more as a privilege to give back to the society that birth me.
“Education is important, the very reason for this gestures to encourage pupils to learn. With this outreach, we get them to know that school can be fun, boost togetherness and the need for family bond.
“Our aim is to ensure the community feel our impact and filled the gap where they lack behind. This is also to help them communicate in the official language and open their mind that a lot is possible for them if they can communicate with English Language, they can as well compete globally irrespective of their rural setting background.
“We are therefore committed to supporting younger generation of this community to enjoy good education so that they won’t be left behind,” Mr Ebubechukwu said.
He, however appealed to the teachers to communicate more with the pupils with the official language to enable the students become better people in the community and society at large.
Mr Ebubechukwu who harped on the need to help one another, called on Nigerians not to tribalise helping people in the country.
He urged the pupils to pay more attention to their studies and be committed to becoming successful in life so that, they can in turn build capacity to also give back to the community.
In his remark, the monarch of the community, Baale of Alagbe Villiage in Ilaro District, Yewa South Local Government, Hon Olanipekun Alagbe (JP) described the support as laudable gesture, noting that, “the donations of educational materials to school in this rural area is the first of its kind in the history of the community.
“This gesture no doubt will boost Olorunda community and change the story of our academic system for good.
Hon. Alagbe who called on the government to assist the community in the provision of electricity, pipeborne water and an accessible roads highlighted poor study materials, insufficient teachers and unavailability of funds to access education as the major challenges affecting pupils in the community.
He however appealed to the state government as well as the federal government to come to their aid.
He said, “Our children appreciate this gesture and the people of the community. However, our major challenge here is that no road, no material for student to study with, insufficient teachers, no enough funds to send these children to school.
“The government should help in this regard and make teachers available. Even most school building are in deplorable state. No power supply in this community and access to a clean water is almost impossible as we depend on stream water to survive. We therefore appeal to the government to assist us here.”
Earlier, the Head teacher of the school, Mrs Enitan Idowu who commended the foundation for such a laudable feat appeal to parents to support their wards and allow them attend school regularly.
