BREAKING NEWS, Education
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THE Enugu Electricity Distribution Company, EEDC, in partnership with Sir Emeka Offor Foundation, SEOF, a non-governmental organisation, donated books and computers worth millions of dollars to 15 tertiary institutions and 30 secondary schools across the South East States.
A statement issued by Emeka Ezeh, head of communications, EEDC, said the benefiting schools were made up of three tertiary institutions and six secondary schools from each of the states, which were nominated by their respective state governments.
In his welcome address, Tony Obi, Coordinator, SEOF, commended the effort of EEDC in partnering the Foundation to drive its objective towards the development of the education sector, which the Foundation has been involved in across the country over the years. He said that the gesture by EEDC is worthwhile to the society and for posterity.
Obi stressed that the books and other educational materials that were donated must be used for the purpose it was meant for. He charged the benefiting schools to ensure that their libraries are functional as their monitoring team would be paying unscheduled visit to the schools to monitor and ascertain how well the books were being used.
Robert Dickerman, managing director, EEDC, while delivering his keynote address, said the gesture was in line with EEDC’s Corporate Social Responsibility, CSR, strategy of contributing towards the development of its host community. “We know the importance of education, we have an obligation and responsibility to our communities, our business is not just to provide electricity, our job is to help and support the communities which we are a part of.
“Education is a part of the core of the development of any society; we are very honoured to be part of this donation and we are committed to take active role in the education development of the five states in which we are community member,” he said.
Dickerman said apart from lighting up homes, companies and industries, the company could also light up minds, adding that the company is doing this in partnership with Sir Emeka Offor Foundation.
“We believe that the things we are trying to do and the thoughts we have towards supporting social programmes under our CSR initiatives will be best served by partnering with such a Foundation. They have international partners like Book For Africa (BFA) and many others; and we are comfortable partnering with them,” he added.
In his remark, Willie Obiano, governor of Anambra State, who was represented by Beatrice Okonkwo, permanent secretary, ministry of education, applauded EEDC and SEOF for this gesture which is a shining example of a CSR act, and welcomed by the state government.
The governor added that, “government alone cannot accomplish all that is needed in the education sector, and it is usually a great relief when corporate establishments like EEDC come out to compliment the effort of the state government.”
The governor stressed that the use of books could not be over stressed, and that the donation of the books would go a long way in educating the students, as the more they read, the more they get education. He said that the books would form the stock in the different libraries of the different beneficiary institutions; and will encourage them to maintain functional libraries.
Governor Obiano also called on teachers and principals to endeavour to get the students develop the habit of reading as a lot of educations, which they need in life, are locked up in these books. According to him, “this is indeed a partnership for sustainable development between the private sector, our government and the education institutions”.
He pledged the state government’s support, and encouraged EEDC not to relent, because it is towards the development of the people, children and the country at large.
— Jul 4, 2016 @ 01:00 GMT
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