NDDC donates 202 computers to Niger Delta Science School

The Niger Delta Science School in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, is now richer with 202 computers just donated by the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

The computers were handed over to the school authorities on Friday, March 26, Easter Friday, at the school premises in Rumuola by the director, Education, Health and Social Services, Seigha Glasgow, on behalf of the NDDC acting managing director, Ibim Semenitari.

He said facilities in the school would be renovated and re-equipped to bring them up to standards befitting a special science institution meant to produce the best brains in the Niger Delta.

According to Glasgow, by the end of 2016, the academic environment would have been totally transformed.

Glasgow said that the NDDC was acting in line with the policy of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, which was giving priority to science and technology as the driving force of the nation’s economy.

Before handing over the computers, the NDDC director inspected facilities in the school. He subsequently promised a total makeover within the year to change the school for good.

He said: “The NDDC has entered into partnership with SAMSUNG to upgrade some pilot schools for e-learning in the Niger Delta. The library and all the science laboratories in the school will be properly equipped.

“The school is our baby and we have come to rescue it. We may not have done much in the past, in terms of providing equipment, but we are now poised to make sure that the school is one of the best in the country. We want to upgrade the facilities in the school to a level that is good enough for students in the 21st century. If we want to train the best brains in science, we have no choice but to bring all the laboratories to modern standard. The laboratories are virtually empty now. So, we will send our experts to assess all the needs to be able to carry out a comprehensive upgrade.”

The NDDC director assured that adequate provisions were made in the 2016 budget of the commission for the renovation and re-equipping of the school as well as other selected ones in the Niger Delta. “To prove that NDDC means business, we are today handing over lap-top computers for all students enrolled for the West African School Certificate Examination, WASCE. They should be kept in the computer laboratory for the use of students in the examination class,” he said.

Furthermore, he said that all the teachers and senior staff of the school would collect laptops because if the teachers were overlooked, “then we are not laying a solid foundation for good quality teaching in the school.”

Receiving the computers, the Director of the school, Dr. (Mrs.) Annette Weje, thanked the NDDC for the donation and assured that they would be properly utilized for the benefit of the students. She said that the commission had added immense value to the school. “We will try to make the best use of this wonderful gesture. We have been praying and fasting for the NDDC to come to our rescue. We continued to look forward to this visitation. Today, they have come and we thank God for that,” she said.

The head boy of the school, Princeton Udochukwu, joined the school’s director to commend the NDDC, pledging that the students would take good care of whatever equipment that was given to them for their studies.

The NDDC had earlier in 2013 donated 20 desk-top computers with printers and other accessories to the school which was established by the defunct Oil Mineral Producing Areas Development Commission, OMPADEC.