Below is the message from the founder of the NGO in Nigeria --- THE OLISE-OMOLU FOUNDATION --- that we (PAN AFRICA CHILDREN ADVOCACY WATCH) collaborated with from September to October 2018 in Nigeria.
This activity was Part 1 of the Tripartite mission of Dr. S. Adetokunboh Ayeni, President, PACAW, Inc. during the trip.
VISIT OF DR. S. A. AYENI, PRESIDENT/FOUNDER OF PAN AFRICA CHILDREN ADVOCACY WATCH, AN NGO BASED IN MARYLAND, USA TO OUR FOUNDATION’S PILOT PROJECTS AT EZIONUM, DELTA STATE
From Sunday Omolu
Wed, Oct 31, 2018, 7:47 AM
to Teslim, Taiye, Ayodeji, Taiwo, me, Ngover, inya.oti, Bola
My Dear Supporters/Benefactors,
I refer to the above. You would recall that I earlier informed you of this visit. The visit has come and gone leaving in its trail profound impact on child education at Ezionum. Against all dissuasions from his loved ones, Dr. Ayeni came on this visit. By this visit, he walked the talk. He drove the point home that his love for the emancipation of the children of Africa ensnared by illiteracy is total. He made it plain that his desire for the well being of the coming generation is not an affectation but is as natural as breathing. Dr Ayeni is the author of a soul-searching book‘RESCUE THYSELF’ which I am making available to you very soon.
A recap. This outing at Ezionum was bankrolled by PAN AFRICA CHILDREN ADVOCACY WATCH (PACAW), an NGO based in Maryland, USA. Its President/Founder, Dr. S. A. Ayeni, a Nigerian who is a Neuro Surgeon has been in the US since 1975. He left the comfort of his home in God’s own country to malarial Ezionum. We have been exchanging emails and phone calls these five years and more. But we had not set eyes on each other until about 8 pm on 17th September 2018 at Port Harcourt International airport, where I have gone to pick him. It was his very first visit to that part of Nigeria.
Few days before our maiden meeting, he had transferred over N1.2 million to our Foundation to make available the following critical school supplies to the three schools at Ezionum – five thousand exercise books, desks/chairs to sit eighty children, nine footballs and twenty-eight football jerseys. The trust that informed the ferrying of such amount of money to someone you did not know from Adam, to use the cliché, stands out. Remember, I have stated above that it was only on 17th September 2018 that we met in person for the first time.
For two weeks running, Dr. S A Ayeni and I traversed Delta State. He saw at first hand the squalid conditions of our schools (some scenes almost drew his tears) like the Physics Lab at Ezionum secondary school. He was brutally frank when he said that the difference between the Physics Lab and a dustbin is just the difference between six and half a dozen. He promised that as soon as his foundation has enough funds, he will address the lack of a state of the art science laboratory. One question he kept on asking me throughout the duration of our visit was: “SUNDAY, IF YOU HAD NOT INTERVENED, WHAT WOULD HAVE BEEN THE FATE OF THESE SCHOOLS.” Let me state clearly that in these five years that I have been treading this path of encouraging some of the out-of-school children to ‘return’ to school (with your very generous supports), no outing has been as impactful on Ezionum community as this.
Pan Africa Children Advocacy Watch (PACAW) through its President/Founder, Dr. Ayeni, rekindled the interest of the out-of-school children at Ezionum in education; drummed the idea that education is it into the ears of those parents who were previously not keen on sending their wards to school. This objective was hugely achieved if we are to go by the number of children that resumed in the second week of resumption this just commenced school year.
We were told that in the past, the King had to instruct the town crier to alert members of the community that schools have re-opened otherwise there will be no children to teach. But this time, because of the availability of amenities that make schooling at that level tick, no one needed to be reminded to be at school. Darius Lyman has written that a gift in season is double favour to the needy. Could you please join me in saying Well Done to Dr. Ayeni and PAN AFRICA CHILDREN ADVOCACY WATCH (PACAW).
And as if the great things he did at Ezionum were not enough, Dr. Ayeni still donated eighty-five copies of a very important Scientific Journal - NATURE - to the Delta State University, Abraka. Before he made the donation of the Journals, Dr. Ayeni had a day before went around the University Library and discovered that the few copies of the Journal there were 1991 editions. He donated 2016 and 2017 editions of the journal. The Librarian Professor S. O. Uwaifo was so elated when we kept the appointment of presenting the Journals that he had to interrupt the meeting his Vice-Chancellor, Professor Victor Peretomode was having with a phone call to alert him of the generous donation by Dr. Ayeni of the highly revered journal. The VC was equally happy and expressed his gratitude to Dr. Ayeni for the donation of the very useful journal.
On another subject (but related to child education). November 20th, 2018 is Universal Children’s Day marked every November 20th by the United Nations. It is the date in 1959 when the UN General Assembly adopted the Declaration of the Rights of the Child and on the same day in 1989, the UN General Assembly adopted the Convention on the “Rights of the Child.” To revive the Reading Culture, and above all, to introduce the children to reading, OLISE OMOLU FOUNDATION is organizing a ‘READING COMPETITION’ for fifteen primary schools in the local government area where our pilot projects are located. Our budget for prizes to be awarded to outstanding children and logistics etc for the exercise is N100,000.00. You have been wonderful partners in this project of reducing the number of out-of-school children. We remain very grateful.
