Ben Dunno, Warri
Over 700 primary school pupils in Sapele Local Government Area of Delta State, in Thursday, benefited from the free educational materials outreach embarked upon by the Sector 1 Command of Operation DELTA SAFE.
The gesture which was in line with the directives of the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt. Gen. Tukur Yusuf Buratai, was part of activities to mark this year’s Operation CROCODILE SMILE III exercise in the South-South region of the country.
The benefiting schools in the first phase of the free exercise books distribution by the Army were Ethiope Model Primary School Okurighwre and St. Malachy Primary School, both in Sapele Council area of the state.
Speaking at the occasion, the Commander Sector 1, Operation DELTA SAFE, Col. Alhassan Grema, described the gesture as parts of Nigerian Army’s commitments to promoting educational standards in the schools within its Areas of Responsibility (AOR).
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He recalled the ugly incident of last year when the rumour of Army injecting students with ‘Monkey Pox’ almost marred the exercise, noting that this informed the reason why the Army decided to focus more on educational materials outreach this year.
According to him, “You are all aware of the incident of last year when the rumour went round that the Army was going to schools to inject students with chicken pox and that created a lot of panic and tension but this has come out later to be false and unfounded”.
“So, what the Army under the directive of the Chief Of Army Staff (,COAS) Lt. Gen. Tukur Yusuf Buratai, decided to do this year was to focus on how to improve the educational qualities in our schools to that the students can be better educated to become good citizens.
“The choice of primary schools was because that’s the foundation of our educational system and it must have a solid footing, so as to make it stand firm.
“As you all know that any building on a shaky foundation does not stand the test of time before collapsing. And we don’t want our education to collapse”.
Col. Grema thanked the school authority for
“doing so much in keeping the standards at the various schools visited and urged them not to relent in their efforts, even as he appealed to parents to try as much as possible to bequeath good education on their children, describing it as the best legacy”.
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In his speech, Chairman of Sapele Local Government Area, Chief Eugene Inuoghan, applauded the Nigerian Army for the gesture, stating that it would further serve as an inspiration to political class to work harder, especially in the area of upgrading our educational standards at all levels.
In her remark, the Headmistress of Ethiope Model Primary School, Mrs. Agino Edith, thanked the Commander of Sector 1, Operation DELTA SAFE, Col. Grema and the men and officers under his command for the donation to the school and promised to ensure that the pupils used the exercise book for the purpose it was meant.