NAOWA President lays foundation for block of classrooms, donates food items to widows
By Dapo Udom
Wife of the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Mrs. Salamatu Yahaya, on Thursday donated food items including rice, cooking oil and clothing materials to 65 widows in Lagos State.
Mrs. Yahaya who is also the President, Nigerian Army Officers’ Wives Association (NAOWA), laid the foundation for a block of six classrooms, ICT laboratory and a 500-seater Assembly Hall at the NAOWA Model Nursery and Primary School, Nigerian Army Cantonment, Ojo, Lagos State.
The president specially extolled late Mrs. Mariam Babangida, who built the pioneering NAOWA Model Nursery and Primary School in 1985, to improve the educational sector in the country.
She said: “Going by the great vision of Mrs. Babangida, NAOWA now has 40 model nursery and primary schools across the nation, according to our data base.
“We only have about six states where we don’t have NAOWA model nursery and primary schools, and we are working to ensure that the schools are established in these states.”
According to Mrs. Yahaya, the school project is aimed at providing the required structure for conducive, effective and efficient learning among pupils.
“When the project is completed, it will provide additional classrooms to accommodate more pupils, create new learning opportunities in areas of information and communication technology.
“It will also provide a conducive hall for assembly and other school activities, as well as employment opportunities.
“These structures are important, coming at a period due to the increasing number of students in the school,” she said.
Mrs. Yahaya said that one of her priorities as the president of NAOWA is directed at meeting the needs of the less privileged in the barracks and the society at the large.
Her words: “This is what necessitated the donation of food items to some of the widows.
“I also place premium on standardising and expanding existing assets and institutions therefore, we are working to improve the policy guidelines in creating a structured management system for effective service delivery.
“All of the above mentioned were borne out of my vision in sustaining legacies and upholding the tenets of unity and service.”
She thanked the General Officer Commanding (GOC) 81 Division, Maj.-Gen. Lawrence Fejokwu, for his warm reception and audience in spite of his busy operational schedule.
Meanwhile, Maj.-Gen. Lawrence Fejokwu appreciated the intervention of Mrs. Yahaya in contributing to the development of the Nigerian Army and said that she was going about her administration in the right way.
“Levaraging on what your predecessors have put on ground and trying to improve on them is the way for us to go.
“It is better to start and finish one project, make good use of it and then begin to build another one and that is exactly what you are doing.
“I believe that this should be well documented by your organisation to serve as a model to people of future generations to come,” he said.
Fejokwu thanked Mrs. Yahaya for choosing to reach out to the less-privileged.
In a word of prayer, Fejokwu asked for God’s continued strength for the NAOWA President, as well as resources required for the good works she is doing.
He also pledged his continued support for NAOWA activities.
