Corps members donate books, library to schools

A NATIONAL Youth Service Corps (NYSC) member serving in Kwara State, Mr Augustine Ereyimwen, recently handed over a library to Government Secondary School, Kosubosu in Baruten council area of the state. 

  The library, which cost the corps member N900, 000 to equip, was inaugurated by the Head, Department of Education in the council, Malam Idris Abdullahi.

  At the inauguration ceremony, Abdullahi lauded the gesture of the youth and urged other corps members to emulate him. 

  “This, no doubt, is a service to humanity. I am very sure that both the teachers and students of this school would benefit from this project. I hereby charge other NYSC members to emulate Ereyimwen in their community development service. I believe he would reap the reward of what he has done later in life,” Abdullahi said.

  He urged the school to make good use of the project. 

   Principal of the school, Mr Abdulmumeen Musa, in his address, the described the project as unique, saying: “Apart from being a veritable source of learning among the students, it also promotes reading culture in them.’’

  In an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Ereyimwen said that he was propelled by the need to improve the students’ performances and broaden their knowledge to embark on the venture.

  He said he found out that the students of the school faced the challenge of lack of a library, a development he said accounted for their poor academic performances.

  “I decided to create this avenue for the students to read and research because the library would offer them opportunity to borrow books,” the Edo-born NYSC member said.

  On the challenges he encountered while executing the project, Ereyimwen said that he did not find it easy raising the money he executed the project with. 

  He, however, thanked personnel of Nigerian Police, Nigerian Immigration Service, and the Nigerian Customs Service as well as members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), in the area for their assistance.

  He also commended staff and students of the school for donating toward the successful execution of the project.

  Another corps member serving in Cross River State, Mr Simon Chukwu, recently donated textbooks worth N100, 000 to Government Secondary School in Boki council area of Cross River State.

  The textbooks included 19 copies of Senior Secondary Mathematics, 27 copies of Senior Secondary English Language books, 11 copies of Integrated Science for Junior Secondary, and three dictionaries.

  Chukwu said that the objective of the donation was to help encourage reading culture among the students of the school.

  “Students no longer go to the library to read because the Internet has taken over. We need to equip our libraries with textbooks to make them attractive to students. I took it upon myself to donate books to the school library. I spent N100, 000 in executing this project,” he said.

  He identified some of the factors that contribute to poor reading culture to include inadequate library facilities, poor access to books and other reading materials,” he said.

  The corps member advised the students to visit the library regularly, adding that it would expand their horizon.

  Principal of the school, Mr Patrick Eban, commended the corps member for the gesture and appealed to the students to make good use of the reading materials.