Orphans Foundation Sch Bags UNHCR 2017 NANSEN Refugee Award valued at £150,000.00 

Future Prowess Integrated Foundation, the School for the Orphans and Vulnerable Children , Maiduguri has won the 2017 UNHCR NANSEN Refugee Award of £150,000 for the orphans school.

The school has also flagged off the distribution of school bags, sandals and instructional materials to the orphans pupils/children enrolled in the school today, Sunday.

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the school, Barrister Zannah Bukar Mustapha who stated this said that the journey as an NGO institute started in 2007 when the stakeholders met to brainstorm and consider the need to support government's efforts in providing quality and basic education to the vulnerable members of the society , particularly, the orphans, widows and the less privileged members of the society in both Borno and Yobe States.

He added that the school started with 36 orphaned pupils before the beginning of the boko haram insurgency in 2009 and despite all the challenges, gradually today 300 orphaned pupils/students have been enrolled and additional 300 orphaned pupils and students are being enrolled for the livelihood programme as the school sponsors pupils that graduate from the school to become students in other secondary and tertiary institutions within the state.

Zannah said the efforts of the school was nationally and internationally recognized and appreciated with the increasing number of victims of the boko haram insurgency triumphing into the school to seek education and livelihood programmes.

The Chairman added that today the school has expanded its mandate to include livelihood programme for the widows and indeed some selected orphaned pupils for enrolment into both the New Future Prowess I and New Future Prowess ForWard for different kinds of skills acquisition, training scheme, where over 300 beneficiaries have been engaged or admitted.

Barrister Mustapha said some of the skills being acquired at the training center include tailoring, bag and shoe making, computer science and agro allied industry among others with the support of the UNHCR, ICRC, NRC, FAC, BOASAP FADAMA III and PCNI.

He noted also that there are plans for the school and center to establish Mechanical Workshops, Metal and Carpentry Workshops among others for the youths and widowers to be located at a 40 hectares of farmland that has been provided for the IDPs and Refugees from across the state and neighboring countries of Chad, Niger and Cameroon Republics.

The CEO further solicited for the support of the Borno state government to grant or offer one of the Mega Entrepreneurship Development Centers to the school for the recruitment of over 5000 potential beneficiaries being screened by the school and center.

Governor Kashim Shettima of Borno State as Guest of Honour disclosed that there were plans by the state government to assist and support the school to continue to provide qualitative education and livelihood programmes to the Orphans and widows among other vulnerables in the state affected by the boko haram insurgency.

He also described education, both the eastern and ewestern education as a necessity while commending the support of the donor agencies like the UNHCR, NRC, ICRC and other partners to the foundation.

The governor who was represented by the Borno State Commissioner of Education, Comrade Musa Inuwa Kubo appreciated the founder of the foundation school and center in the rescue mission of Chibok and Dapchi abducted school girls and establishing such an edifice to cater for the Orphans, less privileged and the most vulnerable in the society as a philanthropist.

Shettima pledged to partner with the school for the education of the over 50,000 orphaned children and widows, pointing out that, his government was constructing three mega Orphans schools located within the Maiduguri city that will accommodate not less than 20,000 Orphans in addition to the CBN Staff Quarters acquired and being converted to Orphanage Model College that will accommodate not less than 30,000 Orphans.

He further assured that the state government will continue to support and assist on the activities of the foundation which complement government education policy, urging the Founder not to relent on his efforts to continue the good things he had stated with a difference as a role model for others to emulate.

Representatives of NCR, UNHCR and ICRC among others delivered their goodwill messages respectively passing encomium on the school proprietor's efforts and his initiative.