Noah Ebije, Kaduna

Excitement swept through Sabo Gari, Damishi, a community in Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State, recently, as the Rotary Club built and furnished a primary school for the area.

The primary school has since been serving over 200 pupils that had been staying at home without a school to attend. Rotary Club of Kawo, Kaduna, under the leadership of Juliet Azubike, did the project.

In her welcome address at the inauguration of the school building, Azubike said the school in question was earlier erected by the community, but it became decrepit over the years, with dilapidated structures, without furniture and toilets to cater for over 200 pupils from the four communities in the area.

The Rotary officials then held a meeting with community leaders, who said having a primary school for their children was their priority.

The Dakachi (village head) of Sabo Gari Damishi, Mr. Ishiaku Damishi, and other community leaders subsequently gave Rotary the nod to build a primary school for the communities in the area. The club built and furnished the primary school, and also donated exercise books to all the pupils. The club also built a three-room toilet and planted economic trees around the school.

According to the club president, the school projects in Damishi community cost the club over N2 million. She, however, appealed to northerners to initiate Rotary in their states, in view of the benefits that would be derived by the downtrodden, particularly in the area of education.

The inauguration was done by the district governor, Rotary District 9125, Nnoka Mbanefo Ositadinma.

Related News

In his speech, Ositadinma explained that money was being spent all over the world in ensuring quality education for the downtrodden, and Rotary’s intervention was also felt in several other areas of the country.

“Rotary is a humanitarian organisation set up to do service programmes in our society. People who are hungry, we provide food for them; communities that lack health care facilities, we provide interventions through medical services. And in many other areas, we touch lives educationally,” he said.

Ositadinma explained that, contrary to the belief of some, Rotary, with its 1.3 million members worldwide and 8,000 in Nigeria, was not a secret cult, but a group that attracts like minds from Nigeria’s major religions of Christianity and Islam, all united in solving the challenges of the downtrodden.

“Rotary is not a cult. Everyone is welcome to join us from all tribes and religions. In Rotary, both Muslims and Christians respect the other’s way of life,” he said.

Azubike further noted that the ceremony had united the community the more: “As you can see, everybody is happy. Children are here, parents are here and they are all happy. Rotary club renders selfless service. We don’t know anybody in this community, but we give to those we don’t know. We render this service for humanity’s sake.

“Rotary club is trying to make the world a better place because we believe education is the best legacy to bestow on anybody.”

Ishiaku Damishi thanked Rotary for the gesture, assuring the club that all the school-age children would return to school.

“We are grateful to Rotary. We are really happy, and we want to say that we will not be surprised if tomorrow you come around to build a secondary school in our community. May God reward you all abundantly,” Damishi said.