NGO Inaugurates Renovated ICT Centre for Lagos State Model Primary School

Godbless Eduviere
As part of its annual public school assessment and support drive, the Africa Youth Empowerment and Change Initiative, AYECI Africa in collaboration with SAP Nigeria has refurbished a 16-seater ICT centre, donated and installed a projector and 3.5Kva generator to power the ICT room, for Lagos State Model Primary School, GRA-Ikeja.

The Managing Director, SAP West Africa, Kudzai Danha, represented by the Marketing Manager, Miss. Juliet Omorodion said that the organisation was committed to making computer education accessible to Nigerian children. According to Omorodion, the project is to support government’s new regulation to include ICT in school curriculum, and that the company came up with the initiative to support Lagos State government’s efforts.

According to Kudzai Danha, to ensure that the project serves the intended purpose without being hindered by power failure, a brand new 3.5Kva generator was provided to serve as an alternative power supply for power the ICT centre. “The alternative power supply has become necessary because of uncertainty of power. We don’t want anything to interrupt the learning process of the children. This project is very important for the children and it is going to improve their learning experiences.”

Disclosing that as part of its annual week-long CSR programme, Danha said “we came together to teach children how to code from the scratch. This year, we decided to teach and train hundred students and teachers from Lagos State. It was a successful project and it’s something that we will continue to do.”
Stating that the NGO focuses on expanding education opportunities for the young people, the Executive Director, AYECI Africa, Mrs. Ifeoma Adibe, said that the intervention is part of the AYECI Africa’s ongoing support especially for public schools. “One of the major things we do is to make sure that every child receives a gift of literacy which is actually very broad. It’s not just the ability to read and write but also digital skill, environmental skill and financially skills.

“The ICT centre for us, is key because these children need opportunities to learn how to develop their computer skills so that they can become relevant in this century and SAP is one of our core partners.”
The school director, Mrs. Adebola Elizabeth who thanked the donors, noted that the inauguration of the refurbished ICT is to the staff and pupils of the school, a dream come through. “We have been making several efforts for computers before now, but at the end, AYECI and SAP came to our rescue. This will empower students and help in nation building.”
According to Elizabeth, the kind gesture of the non-profit organisation has made the Lagos State Model Primary School, GRA-Ikeja, an ICT learning centre not just for the pupils alone but also for other primary schools around the Ikeja environ.

“Many countries of the world now offer education that expose and broaden the opportunities for their pupils, that they don’t just depend on white collar jobs alone, but empower them to be self reliant so that even after school they can contribute to their communities, nation and the world at large.”

In his remarks, the state’s Commissioner for Science and Technology, Hon. Olufemi Odubiyi, represented by the Director of Computer Science, Mr. Jide Adenuga, stated that the refurbished ICT Learning Centre will serve the needs of no fewer than three thousand students in the Ikeja environ. “This, no doubt is in tandem with the Lagos State Government determination to provide quality education for public and private school pupils in the state by ensuring that each pupil acquire the necessary computer knowledge in order to compete with their peers globally. The ICT sector remains a fast growing area with limitless possibilities for national and international development.”

Speaking also, the Executive Chairman, State Universal Basic Education Board, SUBEB, Dr. Ganiyu Sopehin, represented by the Director, Special Duties, Mrs. Tola Obadofin commended the NGO’s initiative and said that was very relevant to the state government’s efforts at achieving the SDGs to provide quality education to her students and make them computer literate, as the world becomes a global village. “I congratulate SAP and AYECI for this wonderful initiative and for considering one of our schools. Most people take initiatives like this to private schools, but you have decided to contribute to the computer education need of these children.”

According to the Sopeyin, the ICT centre will help the state in meeting the computer education needs of the pupils. “SUBEB and state appreciate you because the gap between private and public is being closed up gradually. We want to thank you for this initiative and on behalf of the directors and teachers, I assure you that this room will be well taken care of; the computers will be used regularly for learning purpose,” Sopeyin said.