Make Do Your Promise To Kokodiagbene, Mulade Urged Okowa

People of Kokodiagbene Community, has appealed to Delta State Government to fulfill the promise of approving and awarding the Kokodiagbene boarding facilities in its Model Secondary School he made to the people.

Chairman of Kokodiagbene Community, Gbaramatu Kingdom, Warri South West local government area of the state, Comrade Sheriff Mulade made the appeal recently during the common entrance examination conducted by the school for students seeking admission into the College.

He lamented that since trhe promise was made in one of the security meetings, nothing has been done about it.

He said the state, federal governments and multinational oil companies should kindly help to enable the community to accommodate these students as their number is beyond expectation.

In his remark to the parents and pupils who were present in the community town hall, he reemphasized the importance of education and the need to provide the needed infrastructure that would boost the academic performance of the students.

He said it is important for the government and other stakeholders to play their roles in making sure that illiteracy and other social vices, most especially militancy is eradicated.

Mulade intimated the gathering that about 200 students applied for the common entrance examination, some of whom he said were from Burutu axis, Ogbe-Ijoh, Warri North as well as other urban cities within and outside the state.

He disclosed that while 45 of the students were nominated by some indigenes of Gbararmatu Kingdom for scholarships, the other students would be taken care of by the community.

In his words, “We are trying to do our best to see that we give the best to these students. Education is a very great challenge to many hence; we need to do the needful. They see education as a problem. Education remains the means to eradicate militancy, poverty and other challenges confronting us in this area".

“The Kokodiagbene Model Secondary school is a school with a unique arrangement. And I want to use this medium to call on Governor Okowa to come to the aid of the people of Kokodiagbene by constructing the hostel facilities that have been approved by the Governor at the State Security Council meeting.

According to him also; “Not only the government of Delta State. There are other government agencies like NDDC and the IOCs operating in our areas. We need them to partner with us to provide infrastructure like hostel facilities to accommodate the students, facilities for teachers such as corpers lodge, portable drinking water, stationeries, desks, ICT facilities, laboratories and others. In fact, everything you see here in this premises were provided by us through communal efforts".

Similarly, Chairman of the Education Committee, Mr. Pedro Bekenawei while speaking on the conduct of the examination also stressed the need for government and other stakeholders to support the community’s initiative to help boost education as well as eradicate illiteracy in the area.

According to him, “The process is very clear. Our aim is to ensure that in the next few years illiteracy will be a thing of the past.

He emphasized that, “we have both the Ijaws as students and non-indigenes such as Urhobos, Yorubas, Ibos, Isokos, Benin, and others. Everything for them is free; school uniforms, feeding, and accommodation is free. Their academic performance is excellent as we ensure they get the best teachers to deliver.”

It could be recalled that the Kokodiagbene Model Secondary School was first initiated by the Chairman, Comrade Sheriff Mulade in 2008 when he was then the General Secretary of the community.

The school boasts of boarding facilities, the first of its kind in the Gbaramatu Kingdom just as it boasts of qualified teachers, a highly peaceful environment, and a disciplined learning system that attracts parents from far and near to patronize the school, thereby leading to the growth in its population from about 150 to well over 300 students.