When things get out of hand, nature throws in some characters to come to the rescue. This is the situation in Mbutu-Nweorie autonomous community in Aboh-Mbaise LGA of Imo State, where standard of education is said to be crashing down due to many factors.
It has widely agreed around Nigeria that governments seem to have since forgotten about the basic level of education, the primary system, and have waved bye to the secondary level where both the teachers and learners seem to be in dire need of teaching.
Visit to most schools in the rural areas reveal that students roam about every day until its time to write the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) final year examination.
Often, help is sought to pass in flying colours, thus producing excellent results that may not reflect reality.
The governments seem to remove their eyes on the ball, the communities seem to forget too, but in some places, individuals have stepped in.
Edmund Akajiaku Oguledo, an electrical engineer, has stepped in to help in the rescue effort of students from his own community. He floated scheme to pay the WAEC registration fees for all those writing the final year exams in 2025. The engineer who studied when education was taken seriously by government said it is an eyesore what is on display nowadays. He blamed it on the disaster in the economic front.
He said: “The standard of education in the community is deteriorating on yearly basis among the youths perhaps due to the economy. This programme is to alleviate financial difficulties among so many parents in registering their wards in the West African Examinations Council Examination WAEC for their final year children in secondary schools.”
He is intervening through the ‘Engr & Mrs Eddie Oguledo Foundation’ to create interest in education. He said the quiz component is aimed at selecting the best among youths in Mbutunweorie through examination and quiz for a possible educational support.
He said the yearly scheme is to push the youths in the community to take education seriously. He said there are many reasons why the youth should embrace education with very high motivation. He said it is the only way to secure one’s future.
The engineer who is highly interested in equipping and empowering the youths to face the future with skills said this was purely out of personal concern and interest.
In the quiz, Anyanwu Oluebube came first, while Chinyeaka Njoku and Victory Chimankpa followed. Some of those who benefitted in the WAEC scheme include Obilor Emmanuella, Akujobi Joshua, Onyejiuwa Blessing, Obasi Chioma and 30 others.
Speaking, some educationists in the community such as Peter Anyanwu and Anthony Iwuoha commended Oguledo for such intervention that cost him millions of Naira. They said it may have to fall back on parents and public-spirited persons in communities to find ways of rescuing the situation.
The scheme was coordinated by Nonso Smith Akuta to ensure that things went well.
