Ime Anwana's story was aired on NTA Newsline on Sunday March 25th 2012
A young lady, Ime Anwana, a Batch "A" corps member, was posted to serve in the NNPC depot in Niger State. She visited a friend serving at a local girls secondary secondary in the nearby village of Kaffin Koro and was told the school has no chemistry teacher.
Ime volunteered to use her free time on Friday evenings to teach chemistry to the students - free of charge. While teaching in the school she saw the sorry state of the student accommodation and took it upon herself to do something about it.
She raised the sum of 3.8 million naira and supervised the building of a student hostel equipped with 40 double bunk beds complete with mattresses.
One fateful day, while riding on a motorbike taxi (Okada) on the way to the project site she had an accident that killed the Okada rider and seriously injured her. She spent three weeks in a coma and was bed-ridden for three months.
On the NTA Newsline programme it was shown how the village of Kaffin Koro rolled out the drums to honour Miss Anwana for her work for them. The District Head of the village, Alhaji Abubakar Mamman gave her the chieftaincy title of Jekadiyan Kaffin Koro (Ambassador of Kaffin Koro) and also a piece of land in the village.
Ponder this:
1. Niger State, Ime's host state, is the home state of two former Presidents of the Federal Republic - Generals Ibrahim Babangida and Abdulsalami Abubakar. Ironically (and sadly), one of them recently hosted a high-profile meeting in the same state to "discuss" the problem in the North. All they need is few minutes trip to Kaffin Koro and they will see the problem staring them in the eyes.
2. In the NTA Newsline report there was neither representation nor acknowledgement of Miss Anwana's work from - or - by her host, Niger State Government.
3. Paiko Local Government, under whose jurisdiction Kaffin Koro falls, has a Local Government Chairman, a State Assembly Representative, a National Assembly Representative and a Senator in Abuja. They all know (or should know) the state of that school long before Miss Anwana left her native Akwa Ibom State and arrived there. Don't you now think that the system is broken?
4. Miss Anwana's action throws a challenge not only to the Mandarins in the Northern political set up but also to young northerners closer to her age who have either silently acquiesced to the status quo or have been driven into the welcome arms of religious extremist due to the dearth of opportunities in the North.
If you are a reading this and you are a northerner - silently admit to yourself that Ime's action has shamed most of u. And then pledge to do whatever you can, no matter how little, to reverse the decline (moral, educational, social, economic) in your community.
What do you think of Ms Ime as a Nigerian?
A young lady, Ime Anwana, a Batch "A" corps member, was posted to serve in the NNPC depot in Niger State. She visited a friend serving at a local girls secondary secondary in the nearby village of Kaffin Koro and was told the school has no chemistry teacher.
Ime volunteered to use her free time on Friday evenings to teach chemistry to the students - free of charge. While teaching in the school she saw the sorry state of the student accommodation and took it upon herself to do something about it.
She raised the sum of 3.8 million naira and supervised the building of a student hostel equipped with 40 double bunk beds complete with mattresses.
One fateful day, while riding on a motorbike taxi (Okada) on the way to the project site she had an accident that killed the Okada rider and seriously injured her. She spent three weeks in a coma and was bed-ridden for three months.
On the NTA Newsline programme it was shown how the village of Kaffin Koro rolled out the drums to honour Miss Anwana for her work for them. The District Head of the village, Alhaji Abubakar Mamman gave her the chieftaincy title of Jekadiyan Kaffin Koro (Ambassador of Kaffin Koro) and also a piece of land in the village.
Ponder this:
1. Niger State, Ime's host state, is the home state of two former Presidents of the Federal Republic - Generals Ibrahim Babangida and Abdulsalami Abubakar. Ironically (and sadly), one of them recently hosted a high-profile meeting in the same state to "discuss" the problem in the North. All they need is few minutes trip to Kaffin Koro and they will see the problem staring them in the eyes.
2. In the NTA Newsline report there was neither representation nor acknowledgement of Miss Anwana's work from - or - by her host, Niger State Government.
3. Paiko Local Government, under whose jurisdiction Kaffin Koro falls, has a Local Government Chairman, a State Assembly Representative, a National Assembly Representative and a Senator in Abuja. They all know (or should know) the state of that school long before Miss Anwana left her native Akwa Ibom State and arrived there. Don't you now think that the system is broken?
4. Miss Anwana's action throws a challenge not only to the Mandarins in the Northern political set up but also to young northerners closer to her age who have either silently acquiesced to the status quo or have been driven into the welcome arms of religious extremist due to the dearth of opportunities in the North.
If you are a reading this and you are a northerner - silently admit to yourself that Ime's action has shamed most of u. And then pledge to do whatever you can, no matter how little, to reverse the decline (moral, educational, social, economic) in your community.
What do you think of Ms Ime as a Nigerian?
No comments:
Post a Comment