Nnimmo Bassey, environmental activist, donates Library/resource center to community

Mr Nnimmo Bassey, an environmental activist has donated a resource centre/library worth millions of naira to St. Mary Secondary School, Ikot Nseyen in Ikono Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom.

Bassey, speaking to newsmen after the donation in Ikot Nseyen, said he was motivated to build the library/resource centre at the community to encourage the young ones to read.

The donor said that a lot of what he learned and achieved in life were made possible through the numerous books he read from his primary school to date, adding that that was his motivation to build and donate the facilities to the community.

He called on the students and the young ones in the community where the facility is located to avail themselves of the opportunity to read and search for more knowledge to enhance development of the area.

“A lot of what I have learnt personally has been from books, no matter what we do, a whole lot of it is influenced by the books we read. So, books mean a lot to me.

“The first book I read personally was when I was in primary two. So, I believe pupils should have and read books even before they enter primary school.

“In Health of Mother Earth Foundation, we have three categories of work, we work on climate issues, we work on hunger and food issues and we also work on what we call ‘ikike’ knowledge and the right to hold knowledge and to share knowledge.

“It is an ecological think tank and you cannot think without documenting your thoughts and books are extremely important. If children have access to books, they have unlimited possibilities of getting to any level in life.

“When we start at an early age, then we are better placed to measure up our lives as we grow. That is why we thought we should come to this community and locate a library and resource centre here.

“It is a place where children will not just come to read books, but we are planning to bring writers, those who wrote some of these books to come here and actually talk to the students, so that they can also become writers of books themselves,” Bassey said.

He thanked all those who encouraged and donated generously towards the completion of the resource centre and library.

Receiving the donation on behalf of the community and state government, Dr Ekaete Okon, Chairman, State Secondary Education Board, said that education should not be left for government alone.

Okon called on all well-meaning indigenes of Nkwot Ekaisong community and other communities to emulate the philanthropic gesture of Bassey.

She assured that the state government through the state secondary education board would provide qualified librarian to man the library and donate more books to the library.

The board chairman called on the Principal of the school, the Chairman of the village council, youths and all community people to own the facility and protect it from vandalism.

In his remarks, the Chairman of the village council, Mr. Raphael Edem, urged the students and all young ones in the community to emulate the donor and read books to be like him.

Edem called on the state government to come to the aid of the school, as some of the facilities, such as principal’s quarters, laboratory and perimeter fence were in dilapidated condition.

Speaking to our Correspondent, Master Kufreabasi Okon, an SS 2 student at the school commended the donor for the kind gesture and promised to make good use of the library to improve his academic endeavours.