In an effort to promote access to quality education and commemoration of the 2023 Children’s Day celebration, the Oyo State Education team of CYFI, led by Odunayo Aliu, over the weekend, commissioned a library, which was donated to Arikanki village of Akinyele Local Government Area of Oyo State.
According to Odunayo Aliu, the donation was borne out of the need for a library facility in the Arikanki community.
Aliu said, “This i-recap library is a community library in Arikanki village. And one of the reasons we encouraged the CYFI team to bring the project to this village is because this community has a lot of children and they don’t have access to so many learning opportunities. So, we wanted to give them access to a library where they can have access to books, explore things and have better chances in life. The Education team of Carrington Fellows has been working in this community since 2022 to provide access to education and also promote the reading culture of young people in the community.”
Aliu also hinted at the need for governments to work with parents, different stakeholders, civil societies, and corporate bodies to be able to invest in rural communities.
Speaking on behalf of the sponsors, Miss Semiloore Atere, who explained that the project, which was funded by the US Consulate General in Lagos through CYFI, is one of the team’s contributions to education, described the i-recap library (improving reading cultural to enhance academic performance) as a facility donated to enhance reading culture.
The library donation which was facilitated by CYFI also attracted the support of Access Bank PLC and Oyo State government. The community library will be managed by a CYFI fellow, Odunayo Aliu, who has been working with Arikanki community through her non-profit organisation, Bramble Network.
A member of the organisation’s board, who commissioned the library, Mrs Rita Agboaye, lauded the project, saying, “This is a beautiful project. We have been trying to put this together for about three months and we are thanking God today that it is completed.”
While advising governments at all levels to give necessary support to groups and organisations that are making efforts to ensure access to education in rural communities, she also called on parents in rural communities to ensure their children are educated in the right way, describing it as an opportunity they never had.
Dr Ibikunle Akanbi, a veterinarian, described the library as one that will equip the learners in the village with creativity and necessary information that will be needed in expanding the community in the future.
One of the students, Ola Elizabeth, who expressed her excitement about the donation of the library described it as “one of the best things to happen to me”.
A parent, Blessing Joy, described the donation of the library as a facility that will serve as a source of motivation for students.
The event, which doubles as the first Children’s Day celebration in the Arikanki community had a lineup of activities including memorisations, open shopping of wears for learners, donation of books, as well as fun fare and feeding for learners.
The Carrington Youth Fellowship Initiative (CYFI) is a dynamic youth-based initiative of the U.S. Consulate General in Lagos Nigeria.
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