IT was a joyous celebration and a tremendous sign of relief for staff and pupils of Uduere primary school, as they were presented with a block of 8 toilets fully equipped to modern standards by Olorogun Engr. Omonefe Uwanogho – The Urhukpe Isi r’Ovie of the Ughelli Kingdom and Chairman board of trustees of Connect To Hope Foundation, 67 years after the school was founded.
Uduere primary school, founded in 1955, with pupils numbering over 600, also harbour the community secondary school, had over six decades been without toilet facilities and the staff and pupils have had to go home or make use of areas around the school grounds to ease themselves.
Speaking during the presentation, the donor, Olorogun Engr. Omonefe Uwanogho said, “This school has been here since 1955 and terribly alarming to when I asked my cousin, Alex Ubiebor, where do these children urinate and he told me that they do not have a toilet. This I deemed severely unfortunate and felt this was an immediate emergency to be attended to promptly.
“It is not great the over 60 years, that children pass through education without the awareness that a toilet should be a standard facility in a school premises. You can see how these poor children already start off life on the bare foot.
“As it is today, these children are not going to urinate on the floor again as they now have nice toilets to with water system to ease themselves.
“As a solution architect, I am not a problem regurgitator and my approach really is solution thinking and outcome focused so we are really and actually get things done that alleviate the learning environment that eventually bring out the best in these children. I love my people and I see greatness in them.
“Though as a salary earner, it takes months for such a project to be realized and this is a good time to mention that this was a team effort and thank all those who supported Connect To Hope Foundation through the project both financially and in other ways this to bring this project to such glorious fruition.
The project coordinator of Connect 2Hope, Delta state, Mr Alex Ubiebor said, though is not easy but Olorogun Omonefe Uwanogho has done a lot, I am just the running cost and whenever I see anything that we need here, I will just call on him and the rest will be history.
“We are all grateful to God for the strength, passion and determination Olorogun shows when it comes to the development of the school, the children on the Connect To Hope scholarship scheme and the community as a whole.
“Olorogun Engr Omonefe Uwanogho before now has provided three drinking water taps with power generating set, notebooks, textbooks writing materials, sandals and uniforms to this school before donating this block of 8 toilets with water system.
“In healthcare, he has registered about 53 persons with the Delta State Health Insurance Scheme whose bill will be on Connect 2Hope, we want to connect to the people that hope never disappoints.”
On his part, while commissioning the project after presentation, the Local Education Secretary and President general of Ughelli Descendants Union, Chief Pius Omubaye expressed satisfaction over the edifice built and donated by Olorogun Uwanogho.
He said, “Today we are here to unveil the toilet complex single-handedly built, equipped and donated by Olorogun Omonefe Uwanogho. He has been doing things for this school, last year he donated learning materials to the pupils.
“He has donated a website to the Ughelli Descendants Union, UDU, the umbrella body and administrative body of Ughelli Kingdom worldwide, we cannot quantify what he has done and it is not because he has any political motive and he has promised to give them solar electricity.”
