One of the direct achievements of good education over the years is the rolling back of the frontiers of poverty, ignorance, hunger, crime and disease, all directly resulting from illiteracy and incomplete education. It follows that education helps to degrade ignorance, improve enlightenment and reclaim those who are already under the power and scourge of illiteracy.
This sufficiently explains why the entire people of Isiala Ngwa South Local Government Area are joyfully rolling out the drums to celebrate the establishment and launching of UGWUMBA EDUCATION TRUST FUND, the first of its kind in the history of our LGA. The initiator and founder of this life-changing project is the Member Representing Isiala Ngwa South State Constituency in the Abia State House of Assembly, Hon. Chief Rowland Chinwendu Dennis, (Caesar).
Ugwumba Education Trust Fund, scheduled for launching on Saturday 28th October, 2023 is a timely intervention. It is a fulfillment of an election campaign promise of Hon. Chief Rowland Chinwendu Dennis to support education, provide relief to the less privileged and significantly reduce the statistics of school drop-outs in the entire LGA. Indeed, he is not new in doing this as he had always supported students at various levels of education even before being elected into public office. There is no doubt that the trust fund is a timely intervention as some children of Isiala Ngwa South origin do drop out of school at various stages due to lack of fund to continue and properly conclude their education.
This is evidenced in a recent report by the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization, UNESCO, that Multidimensional Poverty has made not less than twenty million (20,000,000) children in Nigeria out of which at least Ninety Thousand (90,000) are in Abia State, to drop-out of school.
This is the primary target of Ugwumba Education Trust Fund.
Under the fund, educational materials will be provided for school children, those who are unable to afford registration fees for various important examinations such as First School Leaving Certificate Examination, FSLC, West African Senior School Certificate Examination, WAEC/NECO, and Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, JAMB UTME will be sponsored to partake in these exams.
Furthermore, the fund will provide bursaries for brilliant but indigent students of Isiala Ngwa South origin studying in various tertiary institutions all over the country. All these are targeted at reducing the burdens now solely borne by parents and ensuring that no Isiala Ngwa south child will ever drop out of school again for lack of funds. All eligible children will benefit from this fund, irrespective of the political party affiliation of their parents or guardians.
Through the intervention of Ugwumba Education Trust fund, hope is rising for the thousands of out-of-school children now roaming the streets and bushes of Isiala Ngwa South, who are hungry for education but cannot afford it. They are now hopeful that in no time from now, they can be re-enrolled in school, be able to finish their education properly and acquire all the requisite skills and certificates for the life careers they had always dreamt of. For the families of these children, hope is being restored that they can now finally have their children properly educated, employable and capable of reducing the poverty level in the family. For the entire people of Isiala Ngwa south LGA, for the first time in history, there is hope that our indigent citizens can now get relief from the burden of funding of education.
The Ugwumba Education Trust Fund will be launched at group Primary School Omoba on Saturday 28th October, 2023 at 12 Noon. The occasion will be chaired by the Honourable Commissioner for Education, Professor Eme Uche Eme. The Guest of Honour is Rt. Hon Emmanuel Ihuoma Emeruwa, Speaker, Abia State House of Assembly, while the Chief Guest of Honour is the Executive Governor of Abia State, Dr Alex Chioma Otti , OFR.
It is a non-partisan event. To this end, all community leaders, Nde Eze, Chiefs, Religious leaders and organizations, and indeed the general public are cordially invited to grace this occasion. All are encouraged to witness and support the programme and spread the good news to reach the needy, that their long-sought help has come.
May God bless our trusted Assembly Man, Hon. Chief Rowland Chinwendu Dennis for this humanitarian initiative and give him the wisdom to carry it through to a fulfillment.
