Sen Ibezim canvasses support for classroom library project

A member of the Senate Committee on Basic Education, Senator Frank Ibezim, has intensified his campaign via the classroom library project in a bid to revive the dying reading culture among Nigerian schoolchildren.

  The Senator, who represents Imo North, also known as Okigwe Zone, rolled out the first phase of the library project in the two federal constituencies of the zone, Okigwe North and Okigwe South, barely a few weeks after his inauguration as senator.

He has since expanded the scope of the project and made it national. To this end, the former Imo State commissioner, who donated books and shelves worth millions of naira to set up the classroom libraries in five schools in each of the two federal constituencies in Okigwe Zone, making a total of 10 libraries in all, has teamed up with the ‘I Am the Future of Nigeria Youth Initiative’, IFON’, a youth-centred non-governmental organisation, owned by two young ladies, Renee and Zara Okocha.

The young ladies have written and illustrated over 45 books aimed at pupils in primary schools across Nigeria. These books are part of the classroom library project, which has been approved by the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council and distributed by the Universal Basic Education Commission. The project has also received the support of the Federal Ministry of Education.

Ibezim is driving the classroom library project, which is simply designed to revive the reading culture among Nigerian schoolchildren, renovate existing classrooms and train the teachers on how to interface with their pupils for maximum effect

Speaking with representatives of the Imo State Universal Basic Education Board, IMSUBEB, school heads and teachers at the launch, Ibezim urged them to take the library project seriously and protect them to ensure that the objective for setting them up would be achieved, saying that leaders are readers.

He also charged well placed individuals in the state to embrace the school library project, saying government alone cannot do everything.

Ibezim, who is also the Vice Chairman of the Senate Committee on Industries, has taken his push for support for the cause of basic education through the promotion of the classroom library shelves to the leadership of the Senate.

In a recent visit to the Senate President, Senator Ahmed Ibrahim Lawan; the Deputy Senate President, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege and the Senate Majority Leader, Senator Abdullahi Yahaya and the Chief Whip of the Senate, Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu, he sought their support.

All the principal officers of the Red Chamber endorsed the project and pledged maximum support, promising to take the message to appropriate quarters.

For instance, the senate president lauded the Okocha sisters and acknowledged receiving the classroom library shelf, with the books written by the duo.

“I commend the young authors for their scholarly strides, as the project and their gesture is an initiative that is coming at the appropriate time,” he said. 

“I offer my full support for the project especially in ensuring that I extend awareness of it to my brother and sister Senators as well as members of the House of Representatives.”

Dr. Yahaya Abdullahi reiterated the Ninth National Assembly’s commitment to supporting the executive arm of government in improving the standard of education in Nigeria.

Commending the scholarly stride of the Okocha sisters, Abdullahi also promised to support the project by raising more awareness and bringing this good initiative to his colleagues both in the Senate and House of Representatives.

 While the Deputy Senate President, Ovie Omo-agege, welcomed the project and congratulated the Okocha duo on the great feat in their determination to advance the cause of learning in our primary schools, Senator Orji Kalu also thumped up the project and threw his weight behind it, promising to give it all necessary support till it becomes a nationwide reality.

Ibezim explained that the idea is to get the cooperation of these well placed Nigerians to set up libraries that would be named after them in schools of their own choice, adding that structures had been put in place to enable him assess the progress of the programme on a tri-monthly basis.

Ibezim urged privileged Nigerians to key into the project, suggesting that they could sponsor setting up the classroom library that would be named after them in any school of their choice, adding that structures had been put in place to enable him assess the progress of the programme on a tri-monthly basis.