In his characteristic humanitarian gestures, Mr Peter Obi, the 2023 Labour Party presidential candidate, has donated the sum of 6million Naira to a Secondary School in Chibok, Borno State.
Recall, in 2014, Boko Haram terrorists kidnapped 276 school girls from the Chibok Secondary School who were to sit for the West African Examination Council (WAEC). The Chibok kidnapped raised so much dust within and outside Nigeria with notable politicians including then United States then first lady, Michelle Obama holding placards of the campaign to return the girls tagged #BringBackOurGirls.
Among the leading figures of the #BringBackOurGirls non-profit organisation and activism was Aisha Yesufu, and former Minister of Education, Oby Ezekwesili. The Chibok incident remains a grave scare in Nigeria’s history, it was instrumental in ex-president Goodluck Jonathan losing the 2015 election as incumbent. However, 11years later, Chibok school seemed worse off than before.
Mr Obi released a public statement in this regard. He stated, “Earlier this month, my dear sister @AishaYesufu called to give me the disturbing information that there were no computers, functional laboratories, or electricity in the Secondary School in Chibok, the same school where over 200 girls were sadly kidnapped by Boko Haram in 2014, with 70 still unaccounted for.
“With a population of over 2,500, the school had only one desktop computer. Aisha Yesufu respectfully requested that I buy an additional two and help install solar lighting, even if it was only for the computer classroom.”
Mr Obi noted, he reached out to Gov Zulum who advised against physically visiting the school premises due to insecurity.
“While I was trying to contact His Excellency, my brother Governor Zulum, to enable me to visit the school, I was advised against doing so due to security concerns.
“Aisha Yesufu accordingly arranged a meeting between me and the Chibok community leaders in Abuja, where I presented them with 10 laptops and 3 printers as a start. I also donated the sum of ₦2 million each towards providing some items for the lab, the computer classroom, and a handheld motorised borehole, totalling ₦6 million,” he said.
Mr Obi added, “I promised to do more and made it clear to them that what I was doing was not a donation, but a sincere commitment and a promise to the future of our community.
“However, occasions like this are deeply disturbing and cause me to reflect and personally question our priorities and the rising costs of misgovernance.
“One wonders why we live in a nation where our students don’t have labs, books, or even pencils, while our leaders live in opulence, spending billions to renovate conference centres, build car parks, and furnish new lodges of international standards.
“I continue to plead on behalf of all of us that the time has come for self-examination. We must prioritise critical areas of development, education, healthcare, and pulling our people out of poverty.”
