The Success Story of Kaduna’s Fifth Chukker

John Shiklam writes on the success story of the  multi-million Modern Primary School, Mararaban Jos in Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna State, which was constructed by Access Bank/Fifth Chukker, as part of efforts to get 13 million out of school children off the streets

About 13 years ago, the Chairman of Fifth Chukker Polo and Country Club, Kaduna, Adamu Attah, alongside some of his friends, Mike Omokhodion and Herbert Wigwe, now Managing Director of Access Bank, saw the need to come together to contribute their quota in addressing some of the problems in the education sector, especially in the north, where millions of children are out of school.

To achieve this, they felt it was imperative to set up a platform that could offer some kind of philanthropic gesture that would not just address issues in the education sector, but also issues in the health sector considering the health challenges facing many communities in Nigeria.

This was the motivating spirit that gave birth to the construction of the Access Bank/Fifth Chukker Modern Primary School, Mararaban Jos, Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna State.

Located in the vast, serene environment at the Fifth Chucker Polo and Country Club along Jos road, the school could be described as one of its kind with state of the art facilities.

The 60 classroom school with the capacity of accommodating 12, 000 pupils, is equipped with
with all the facilities conducive for teaching and learning- computers, well furnished and specious classrooms, electricity and qualified teachers.

The school has large enrolment of pupils, especially, the girl child, in a mainly Muslim community where girl child education is not encouraged.

The school is free, including the provision of uniforms and books.
Attah and his friends had initially adopted the government own LEA Primary School in Mararaban Jos community which had barely 500 pupils at the time.

However, with the introduction of the free feeding programme by the government, the population of pupils in the school shoot up to 12,000 beyond the capacity of the school.

As a result of the growing population of the pupils, Attah and his partners, decided to explore the possibilities of constructing a new school to provide a better learning environment.

Explaining how it all started in an interview with THISDAY during a visit to the school by the wife of the Kaduna State Governor, Mrs. Ummi El- Rufai, Attah said the initiative was a combination of the collaboration with Fifth Chukker, Access Bank, UNICEF and support by many people.

Attah said, “About 12 or 13 years ago, Mike Omokhode, myself looked at the situation of education, particularly, in Northern Nigeria and we decided that it is necessary to create a platform that could extend some kind of philanthropic support to issues concerning education and health.

“So we adopted the Mararaban Jos Primary School which had barely 500 pupils at that time. We also co-opted our friend and partner, Herbert Wigwe who later became the Managing Director of Access Bank into our vision of this extension”.

He said over the years, Fifth Chucker and its partners had contributed immensely towards capacity development, infrastructure, education and health in the Mararaban Jos community.

Attah explained further that following the introduction of school feeding by the government, the population of pupils went up from 500 to 12,000 pupils.

“The school we had initially was not even adequate for 500 pupils. We decided that we might as well create a sustainable platform rather than just extension.

“We decided to create a platform that will really have an impact. So in 2019, we decided to build this school and create a platform where, 12,000 pupils could receive education”, Attah said.

He said by the end of 2019, “we had built our portion of the school which was 60 classrooms. Unfortunately it was the onset of the global pandemic so we could not enrol the children in the school. We had to wait for a year and a half.

“But that was not all together a bad thing, during that period, we understood the virtues of digital platforms which is virtual learning and we decided that we will introduce that into the curriculum of the school. The school is a virtual school as well.

“What you see today, is the combination of the collaboration with Fifth Chukker, Accee Bank, UNICEF and support by tremendous number of people that support us both in kind and encouraged the platform. It is an outcome of teamwork and it has shown that where there is the will, there is a way.”

Attah described the school project as an impact project based on a stakeholder which will benefit people in the community.

“It is work in progress, the project itself is an impact project, based in a secular economy concept, stakeholder concept, meaning that everybody that is involved in this project is a direct beneficiary of a sort”, he said.

According to Attah, the teachers, the pupils, workers and the community will all benefit from the initiative.

He said under the gender empowerment programme of the project, parents who are farmers will grow the food supply while female parents will cook food and be paid to supply the pupils.

Similarly, tailors would be empowered by engaging them to sew school uniform for the pupils.

“For instance, our idea with the school feeding is that the parents who are farmers will grow the food. Female parents under the gender empowerment platform will cook the food and be paid to supply the kids in the school.

“That also works with uniforms and a lot of other things. So it is the beginning of an exciting period for us. We want to see the community transformed, we want to give empowerment to the community, we want to give gender education, we want to take those 13 million kids off the streets and this is the first step towards that”, Attah said.

He said parents would be sensitised on the essence of quality education and be encouraged to send their children to school.

“We are going to empower the parents by giving them things to do. So they would also be direct beneficiaries of the project. We hope that this is the game changer”, he added.

He expressed gratitude to Mrs. Ummi El-Rufai, who is the UNICEF Charity Ambassador for the school and many others who supported the project.

“I want to recognise all the people that have been behind us, especially, her Excellency, (Mrs. Ummi El-Rufai), the UNICEF ambassador for this school who has tremendously, against difficult situations, given the school support and time.

“You know it is one thing to extend resources and it is another thing to be physically involved and partake.

“There are a lot of other people also. Like I said, Herbert Igwe and the Access Bank team, Fifth Chukker team, the UNICEF team and also SUBEB team in Kaduna”, Attah said.

While addressing the pupils during her visit, Mrs. El-Rufai, decried the low standard of education in Nigeria, describing it as poor.

“In these days in Nigeria where (the standard of ) education is very poor, giving the opportunity for children to learn is something I will like to be part of”, she said in an interview after addressing the pupils.

She called on parents to invest in the education of their children to groom them for a better future.

She urged parents in the Mararaban Jos community to take advantage of the school which has provided free, quality education to the children.

The governor’s wife commended the founders of the school for touching the lives of the less privileged, saying she is proud to be associated with the project.

“I am very proud to be part of this project. I am happy for the children, I want to beg parents to allow their children to go to school for a brighter future. Parents should stop sending their children to hawk on the streets”, the governor’s wife urged.

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It is work in progress, the project itself is an impact project, based in a secular economy concept, stakeholder concept, meaning that everybody that is involved in this project is a direct beneficiary of a sor