Christopher Isiguzo
3 November 2009
Enugu — Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, yesterday in Enugu called on youths across the country to shun anti-social vices that can portray them in bad light. He particularly cautioned youths against being involved in criminal activities like cultism, armed robbery, kidnapping and flagrant disobedience to established laws of the land.
According to him, such vices had continued to give a bad name to Nigeria inspite of consistent efforts by the government to erase such pariah status of the country before the international community.
Speaking during the grand finale of the annual Ikeoha Foundation quiz competition for the year 2009 at the Rosary High School, Awgu, Ekweremadu who is the chairman of the foundation noted that it is only when youths often described as the leaders of tomorrow begin to engage in acts capable of promoting the interest of the country, that they would be able to equally realise their full potentials.
He maintained that the rising crime wave in the country especially in the south east and south-south geo-political zones was as a result of the obvious misplacement of priority by the youths, stressing that criminal activities have been on the increase because most youths were in a haste to acquire wealth without going through the due process.
On the quiz competition, Ekweremadu said it was only when students engage in healthy academic and recreational activities like quiz, debates, drama and sporting competitions that positive things would occupy their minds instead of resorting to crime.
While commending the schools that participated in the competition, Ekweremadu gave assurance that the competition would continue to improve stating that the foundation was not a political organisation but was only his own way of giving back to the society that has so much blessed him.
He said he would continue to lay emphasis on education, capacity building through the yearly award of scholarships to students of his senatorial district, provision of micro-credits to farmers and small business groups, adult literacy programmes and his Ikeoha football competition which will kick off soon.
Also speaking, the chairman of Enugu state Post Primary School Management Board, Princess Stella Ngwu commended the Ikeoha foundation for organising the competition and bringing back the spirit of competition in our schools and among youths through the quiz and football competitions organised by the foundation.
THISDAY reports that various prizes were bagged by competing schools including books, science equipment and cash prizes worth millions of naira for the schools, the quiz-masters and the students.
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To whoever might read this infomation, recently,There was N500 imposed PTA levy on the students of union secondary school Eha –Amufu By the principal, which he claims to be an approved fee by the government of Enugu state Under the auspices of ministry of education. This same amount of money was paid last term by all the students. Please, we the parents therefore call on the PPSMB to intervene on this issue before it is too late, because this payment is on going now.
My name is Ogbu Samuel C Former senior prefect of CSS Umuhu Eha Amufu