Anambra Government, Foundation Mentor Students on Career Choices
David-Chyddy Eleke in Awka
The Anambra State government, in partnership with the non-governmental organisation The Annie Okonkwo Foundation (TAOF), recently held a seminar to mentor secondary school students on career choices.
The event tagged TAOF Career Seminar 2025, is in commemoration of the second anniversary of the death of Senator Annie Okonkwo, who represented the Anambra Central zone. It featured lectures on tech, business entrepreneurship, and public health. Industry experts handled the topics.
The Chairman of the foundation’s board of trustees and wife of the late senator, Mrs. Chinyere Annie Okonkwo, who delivered a special remark at the event, said her late husband established the foundation as the Agunechemba Scholarship Foundation.
“My husband was a lover of education and used the foundation to uplift many brilliant but indigent students. He was a man who loved education but could not achieve it at a tender age because he lost his father at the age of 18.
“He later went into business, and when he became successful, he started training other people through his foundation. He was, however, able to attain educational heights in life before his death.
“When he died, we changed the name to The Annie Okonkwo Foundation (TAOF). The foundation has been growing since his death, and today, it is not just about scholarships, but mentorship, career counselling, and health interventions,” she said.
The Chairman of the collaborating government agency, the Post-Primary School Service Commission (PPSSC), Prof. Nkechi Ikediugwu, extolled the virtues of the late senator and the shelter his foundation was providing for indigent students.
“This foundation has long become an umbrella to many students from poor homes. His life was a challenge to many, and we need more people like him with open minds and the readiness to lend a helping hand.”
Ms. Success Smith, Programme Director of the foundation, described the event as a shift from the conventional classroom-to-exam model to something more forward-thinking, and a conversation about real-world possibilities.
“This is about exposure. It’s about giving our students access to the kind of insights, industry, and inspiration that textbooks alone cannot offer,” said Smith.
Resource persons included tech expert and content creator Dennis Egwu and Jaybee Onochie, who stressed the need for students to acquire digital skills to stay afloat in today’s world.
