Foundation empowers 300 indigent students in Anambra

No fewer than 300 indigent secondary school students in Enugwu-Ukwu Community in Anambra were empowered by Dozie Nwankwo Foundation through free holiday lesson programme.

The Programme Director, Chief Dozie Nwankwo Foundation, Mr Lawrence Ugwunna, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Enugwu-Ukwu, Njikoka Local Government Area of Anambra on Wednesday that education was a valued legacy the foundation intended to sustain.

Ugwunna said the programme had been an annual practice to sustain the academic performance of the community students.

“The foundation’s decision to keep the students academically busy was borne out of the zeal to ensure that they do not idle away during the long vacation.

“Everything about the programme is free as against the initial handling by the town union, where money for maintenance of the environment was collected from the students.

“We do not want anything that will hinder the students from attending the lessons, so we ensured that no payment was collected from the students to boost their morale,” he said.

He said that the foundation had engaged 25 teachers to teach students from JSS 1 to SS3 and prepared them well to write their external examination.

Ugwunna gave an assurance that the teachers would be well paid to sustain the tempo of educational excellence in the community, saying that no child from the community would be denied the opportunity to gain western education.

“This is the goal of our boss. He wants to pay back to the community that gave him life,” he said.

NAN reports that Chief Dozie Nwankwo, a Federal Lawmaker representing Anaocha/Dunkofia/Njikoka Constituency is the founder of the Dozie Nwankwo Foundation which has been in existence since five years.

One of the teachers engaged by the foundation, Mrs Celina Amino, said that she was happy to be part of the people to impart extra knowledge to the students while on holidays.

Amilo said the gesture was commendable and urged other wealthy persons in the community to emulate the foundation to accommodate more students.

The Civil Education Teacher, Mrs Anthoina Okolocha, said that she was impressed with the number of students that showed interest in the free lesson.

The Economics Teacher, Mr Chijioke Mbelu, said the one month programme which started from Aug. 9 would end on Sept. 9.

Mbelu said that all the students that had shown interest would not regret their attendance as they would be given quality education.

Mr James Samuel and Mr Cutis Ucheufuna who teach English Language and Mathematics respectively appealed to parents to encourage their children to attend the extra teaching to improve on their academic performance.

One of the Participants, Chinaechere Okeke, expressed gladness over the programme while Matthew Obionwu, said the teachers taught them well, hoping it would continue till the end of the programme.

The President-General of the Community, Chief Bonny Nkwuaku, said the union initiated the holiday lesson, collecting N100 from the students to pay the cleaners but expressed happiness that the Foundation took over the initiative from the union.

Nkwuaku said that the union was grateful for such a gesture and urged other wealthy people to emulate the good act. (NAN)