RAYMOND OZOJI reports
It was jubilation galore at the Professor Dora Akunyili Women Development Centre Awka on 21st November as parents, guardians, teachers and students from different secondary schools in Anambra State received certificates as beneficiaries of Annie Okonkwo Foundation's Dream To Degree Scholarship Scheme.
The epoch-making event which had the member representing Idemili-North and South Federal Constituency at the National Assembly Hon. Uchenna Harris Annie Okonkwo, the State Chief Protocol Officer and Deputy Chief of Staff to Governor Charles Chukwuma Soludo, Hon. Chief Chinedu Nwoye Glamour and some other very important personalities in attendance; saw the youngsters who were obviously elated expressing profound gratitude to Annie Okonkwo Foundation for paying their WAEC Fees and creating a bright future for them.
Some of the benefiting students who shared their joy with journalists after receiving their certificates, said the intervention by Annie Okonkwo Foundation was timely as their parents couldn't have been able to source the money for their WAEC fees due to the hardship in the country.
Anuchiem Joseph Chiemerie an SS3 student of Igwebuike Grammar School Awka said he was grateful to Annie Okonkwo Foundation for paying his WAEC fees as it would have been a great obstacle to him, if the fees were not paid.
He therefore assured the foundation that he would study hard and ensure that he passed his WAEC examination to make them proud.
Also Amuche Promise an SS3 student of Community Secondary School Ebenebe Awka-North Local Government Area of the state, said she was happy with the scholarship and will improve on her studies to enable her come out in flying colors in her WAEC examination.
Orji Favour an SS3 student of Capital City Secondary School Awka and her mother Mrs. Nkechi Orji expressed gratitude to Annie Okonkwo Foundation for the scholarship scheme, saying that the intervention was timely at this critical time of harsh economic realities in Nigeria.
One of the teachers, Nweke Ifeoma Vivian, an Economics Teacher at Community Secondary School Ebenebe, said two students from Community Secondary School Ebenebe benefitted from the Annie Okonkwo Foundation's Scholarship Scheme.
She thanked Annie Okonkwo Foundation for finding Community Secondary School Ebenebe worthy of the scholarship scheme while encouraging other organizations and private individuals with the requisite financial capabilities to borrow a leaf from the Annie Okonkwo Foundation to help uplift humanity through genuine philanthropy.
Meanwhile the State Chief Protocol Officer and Deputy Chief of Staff Hon. Chief Chinedu Nwoye Glamour who assisted in presenting the certificates to the benefitting students, said the Dream To Degree scheme championed by the Annie Okonkwo Foundation was a wonderful initiative as it was not just paying their WAEC fees but also counselling the students on their career choices, adding that the Annie Okonkwo Foundation is doing very well.
Nwoye also noted that the philanthropic gesture from the Annie Okonkwo Foundation was in line with Governor Charles Chukwuma Soludo's Public-Private-Community Partnership Model.
The member representing Idemili-North and South Federal Constituency at the House of Representatives Hon. Uchenna Harris Annie Okonkwo, said the Dream To Degree initiative was a veritable platform to enhance the pursuit of a successful educational and professional career, adding that the Annie Okonkwo Foundation seeks to ensure that education is paramount in the state.
Okonkwo stated that the occasion was organised to present awards to students who scaled through the screening exams for the award of scholarships and payments for other exam bodies, stressing that the rationale behind the scholarship scheme was to help children of indigent families to fulfill their dreams and aspirations especially as it concerns acquiring qualitative and functional education.
He said Annie Okonkwo Foundation has paid the WAEC fees for the benefitting students and would go further to offer assistance where necessary, adding that students were selected from across Anambra and shortlisted for the Annie Okonkwo Foundation scholarship scheme on merit.
He therefore hailed Governor Charles Chukwuma Soludo's resilience in revamping the education sector as evidently portrayed in the granting of free education to all Anambra children from nursery to senior secondary school level, adding that Annie Okonkwo Foundation is aligning with Governor Soludo's policy on quality, affordable and functional education for all.
##
0 Comments