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From Okey Sampson, Umuahia
An educationist, Professor Anya O. Anya has tasked youths on the need for computer education if they should make any headway in this period of jet age.
Prof Anya gave the task at St. Peter’s Presbyterian Church, urban one Parish, Abiriba, Ohafia Local Government Area of Abia State during the presentation of computer sets donated to the school by a former UN assistant secretary general, Dr. Agwu Ukiwe Okali and his wife, Ifeoma.
Prof Anya, who was Chairman on the occasion, said the importance of computers to the learning process in schools can not be over emphasized.
According to him, if the young African generation must rule the future, they must actively be involved in the process of computer learning.
He commended the Abia-born diplomat and the wife for donating the computer sets and printer to the school.
Prof Anya equally commended the couple for undertaking to foot the bill of a qualified computer instructor that would be selected by the school authorities to handle the students of the school on computer subject.
Handing over the items, Dr Okali, together with his wife, a lawyer and former senior prosecutor, United Nations International Court Tribunal for Rwanda, explained that there was an urgent desire to empower the young generation of their people to become active participants in the ongoing digital revolution.
Dr Okali, who is the founder/chairman of the Okali Seminal Ideas Foundation for Africa (OSIFA), an organisation that promotes the participation of Africa in the world of ideas, personally handed over the donated learning equipment to the church leaders and school management.
The couple added that the people of Abriba and Africans at large may be left out of digital global reckoning if they were not part of the revolution, and charged the students of St Peter’s Presbyterian Church Secondary school to capitalise on the donated digital equipment to become global champions.
They observed that “these philanthropic activities, if supported by international donors throughout Nigeria and beyond, can be decisive in ensuring that we are able to avert an otherwise predictably bleak future.”
The donors appreciated the roles of churches and other religious institutions in promoting education in Nigeria and Africa as a whole, even as they took note of some other needs challenging the school.
The Minister in charge of St Peter’s Presbyterian Church, Abriba urban parish, Rev. Chika Nwankwo, while receiving the computer sets on behalf of the church and school said the church was marvelled by the works of Dr Okali and his wife, and prayed God to reward them abundantly.
He noted that the church would continue to guide the school in producing resourceful minds in Abriba, Abia State and the world in general.
Chairman of the school management committee, Elder Chidi Onwuka and school principal, Mrs Mercy Opara respectively, expressed their joy and thanked Dr Agwu Okali and his wife for uplifting the school.
The principal, Mrs Mercy Opara revealed that ” before now, we only used theory to teach our students computer, but with the availability of these sets now, it is going to be practical computer learning and we have concluded plans to employ a qualified computer instructor.
“We promise to protect these computers and also use them in making our students champions in WAEC exams in all subjects.”
Mrs Opara however, lamented that science laboratories for physics, biology and chemistry were still needed in the school, even as she said standby power generator and solar panels were also required to power the computers, laboratory equipment and other gadgets.
An SS2 student, Miss Ada Ebitu Anya, who spoke on behalf of other students, thanked the donors for remembering the school and prayed God to bless them.
She noted that “it was hard learning without computer but with the availability of computers now, we will smash records in examinations.”
