AN environmental activist, Mr. Nnimmo Bassey, has donated a library to St. Mary’s Secondary School, Ikot Nseyen, Ikono Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State.
Bassey, who is the Director, Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF), while handing over the resource centre to the school authorities, said the gesture was to encourage the students and others in the community to read.
He called on students and the young ones in the community to avail themselves of the opportunity to read and search for knowledge to enhance development of the area.
“A lot of what I have learnt has been from books. No matter what we do, a whole lot is influenced by the books we read. So, books mean a lot to me.
“When we start at an early age, we are better placed to measure up our lives as we grow. That is why we thought we should come to this community and locate a library and resource centre here.
“If children have access to books, they have unlimited possibilities of getting to any level in life. It is a place where children will not just come to read books.
“We are planning to bring writers, those who wrote some of these books to come and talk to the students so that they can also become writers of books themselves.
“In Health of Mother Earth Foundation, we have three categories of work. We work on climate, hunger and food issues.
“It is an ecological think-tank and you cannot think without documenting your thoughts. Books are extremely important,” he said.
Bassey thanked those who assisted him financially to complete the project.
Receiving the facility on behalf of the community and government, chairman, state’s Secondary Education Board, Dr (Mrs.) Ekaete Okon commended the donor, saying education should not be left for government alone.
Okon called on well-meaning indigenes of Nkwot Ekaisong community and others to emulate Bassey’s philanthropy.
She gave the assurance that the state government, through the state’s Secondary Education Board, would provide a qualified librarian to man the facility as well as donate more books.
The board chairman called on the principal of the school, the chairman of village council, youths and the entire community to own the facility and protect it from vandalism.
Chairman of the village council, Mr. Raphael Edem, urged the students and young ones in the community to emulate the donor and read books to be like him.
Edem called on the state’s government to come to the aid of the school as some of the facilities, such as the principal quarters, laboratory and perimeter fence were in dilapidated condition.
Speaking to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), a J.S.S. 2 student of the school, Miss Helen Edet, commended the donor for the gesture and promised to make good use of the library to improve her academic performance.
Edet prayed God to bless and protect the donor and his family, while appealing to other indigenes of the community to assist in developing the school infrastructure.
NAN reports that the library is equipped with government approved text books for junior and senior secondary school, periodicals and computers to prepare the students for computer-based examinations.
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