By Collins Yakubu-Hammer /Angela Atabo
Group Six, Set 23 of the African Centre for Leadership, Strategy and Development (Centre LSD), has distributed stationeries to no fewer than 350 pupils at the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) Camp in Apo.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the group also empowered parents at the Camp with skill acquisition training on soap making, among others.
The Leader of the group, Mr Paul Imohiosen made this known during the outreach tagged: “Operation Skill-up the Parents and Education of the Children” at the camp on Thursday in Abuja.
According to Imohiosen, the outreach is in partial fulfillment of the Group six, Set 23 to the Interfaith Dialogue Forum for Peace School, Apo and some parents.
“We have been students for one year now and decided to carry out our community project in this IDP Camp to share educational materials to the pupils.
“We are also training their parents, especially, the women on soap making and other crafts, so that, they can be self-sufficient and be of help to their families and the society.
“This is because, there was a demand from their side and this is a response from us; and they are happy that we are doing what we are doing,” he said.
Also speaking, a member of the group, Evelyn Onyilo, said the project was tilted towards the actualisation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)in Nigeria.
Onyilo, who is the former President of National Association of Women Journalists, said that as a trainee of the Leadership school of Centre LSD, exhibiting quality leadership skills and solving societal challenges was key.
“Center LSD came into existence with the recognostion that we need quality leaders; it has been around for 15 years now and has graduated over 2000 people, with our set as the 23rd to graduate.
“If we have good leaders, this country would have moved further than were we are now.
“I think Dr Otive Igbuzor and his wife Ejiro decided to put this in place to solve leadership problems.
“We, the students of the school are taught strategies on how to be good leaders, have empathy and live legacies,” she said.
Meanwhile, the Head Teacher of the school, Interfaith Dialogue Forum for Peace School, Apo, Mrs Patricia Omirigbe, said the school was established by a Non-Governmental Organisation.
Omirigbe commended the Set 23 of the Centre LSD leadership school for their intervention.
“I am so happy; they have relieved us of some items that we need in the school, like the writing materials; it will go a long way to help the children.
“This is because, we always have shortage of such materials, due to the fact that, their parents could not meet up,” she said.
She explained that since the establishment of the school in the camp, the NGO had single handedly managed it.
She, therefore, called on other well meaning Nigerians to assist the school and the children to study well, adding that, the school was in need of furniture like school chairs, because some children sit on the floor to learn.
Some of the pupils, Fatimah Makinta in Primary One and Abdul Usman in Primary Four thanked the centre for the intervention. NEWS AGENCY OF NIGERIA