Nigerian Railway

Ifeanyi Konyehi

Wives of officers of the Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC) have initiated moves to build a new school for their children.
To this end, they have started raising funds for the establishment of the school.

The funds were raised under the auspices of Railway Officers Wives Association (ROWA).
Called ROWA Kiddies School, the women said the new school would serve as a platform to enhance qualitative education for the workers’ children in a conducive environment.
The Chairperson of ROWA, Mrs. Folashade Sijuwade, stated this at the NRC Headquarters in Lagos.

According to her, the association embarked on the project to also bring relief to parents whose wards are in the crèche and the kindergarten arm of the school because some of the pupils would be able to continue their primary education within the compound.
She noted that with the security situation in the country, which has made parent unwilling to send their children to distant school, they have decided to have a quality education project within the NRC compound in order to give parents the access, to monitor their children’s educational needs.

“We have seen and felt the relief the crèche and kindergarten school give to parents. They are assured that their wards are in good hands and in a safe environment.
“As we are graduating these young stars, we feel a sense of despair as we are releasing them to the outside world unprepared, tender and vulnerable; we harbour a feeling that having a primary section would help to close that gap.

“If we have a primary school and prepare our precious stars for secondary school, we will be confident to send them to the outside world,” she said.

The Managing Director, NRC, Mr. Sijuwade, expressed satisfaction at the courage of the women to safeguard their children, assuring them of his support and co-operation.
Sijuwade, who was represented at the event by NRC Director of Administration and Human Resources, Mr. Aminu Gusau, pledged his administration’s commitment to make the rail way compound a comfortable place for child’s upbringing soon.

“The gathering here is a history in the making. We have seen that you do everything to make life easier for the young ones and, we will give you every assistance to make sure that your needs for this selfless project to the society is accomplished,” he said.

NRC Eastern District Manager and Chairman of the occasion, Mr. Felix Njoku, said the project was a laudable one and implored all hands to be on deck to ensure that the task is achieved.
He argued that the establishment of the school was a project that should concern the entire railway districts in the country.
“We are here to provide the necessary moral, logistics and financial supports to enable them leverage this need, and this is a project for all of us. It is a laudable project which will help lay the right foundation for our children’s proper education, support our family values, and make us proud.

“I urge every family, group, company to donate generously to this great cause,” he said.
About N2 million was raised at the occasion, which attracted dignitaries from far and near.