Guests walk through the library at the launch 
CEF and GSSS Oromenike officials at the launch 
Cutting of the tape to declare the newly refurbished library open 
Joy overflow… 
Students at the reading section of the library 
Students at the reading section of the library
STUDENTS of Government Girls Secondary School, Oromenike, Port Harcourt, had cause to sing and dance with joy on Thursday October 17, 2019, when a new vista of study was thrown open to them with the formal presentation of a refurbished and upgraded library facility, complete with new chairs, new shelves, new reading cubicles, and an ample supply of brand new books.
The students could not help but extend their gratitude to the Cakasa Ebenezer Foundation, a non-governmental agency which donated the facility to the school as a mark of its corporate resolve to improve its community relations profile.
Executive Director, Operations, Cakasa Nigeria Company Limited, and member Board of Trustees, Cakasa Ebenezer Foundation, Engineer Gabriel Nkanyimuo, said the gesture came as a significant milestone marking forty years in the life of the company.
He also spelt out the purpose of the overture to the school in a revealing speech which underscored the United Nations sustainable development goals to provide quality education and encourage gender equality around the world.
He declared that the gesture is a demonstration of the Foundation’s commitment to provide educational support for children in public schools, with particular regard to female students, in a bid to get them to take their studies seriously and aspire to great heights.
“I challenge you to dream big,” said he. “The first step is to complete your education, no matter what may happen. Study hard and your dreams will come true. That process begins with reading and concentrating on your studies.”
Nkanyimuo maintained that the Cakasa Ebenezer Foundation selected Government Girls Secondary School, Oromenike, Port Harcourt, for the donation after a comprehensive educational evaluation and needs assessment of the challenges faced by its host community.
The electrical engineer cited Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, former Co-ordinating Minister of the economy under the Goodluck Jonathan presidency, and the award-winning novelist, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, as examples of prominent African women achievers who should be emulated as beacons of excellence.
“Great achievements begin with cultivating a good reading habit,” said Nkanyimuo. “The most phenomenal leaders of our planet are known to have been avid readers and authors in their own right. To be a leader tomorrow, you have to be a reader today.” He buttressed the point with a telling quote from the American journalist and woman rights advocate, Margaret Fuller, who gave the famous quip: “Today a reader, tomorrow a leader.”
To ensure that the library is put to proper use, Nkanyimuo disclosed that Cakasa Foundation will promote reading clubs, encourage spelling competitions, sponsor essay writing contests, and highlight the annual celebration of the International Literacy Day.
Mrs Helen Egbe, Executive Director of Cakasa Ebenezer Foundation, underscored the focal areas of the Foundation to include community development, provision of health-care facilities, educational empowerment, and promotion of research. She stated that the Foundation was ardent in pursuing its vision to change lives for the better and transform society in the long run.
In her remarks at the handover ceremony, the Principal of Government Girls Secondary School, Oromenike, Port Harcourt, Mrs Boma Ivanhoe, expressed the appreciation of the entire staff and students of the school.
She promised that the library would be put to good use by students and staff alike, and would go a long way to help meet their educational aspirations. Students of the school were visibly excited over the newly refurbished library, with virtually all of them expressing a keen desire to make optimum use of the library.
In November 2018, Cakasa Nigeria Company Limited, through its corporate social responsibility arm, Cakasa Ebenezer Foundation, made a donation of classroom and laboratory furniture to the school. The event was witnessed and lauded by a full representation from the Rivers State Ministry of Education.