By CHIEDU UCHE OKOYE

Tens of school children who attend public primary schools in Idemili North LGA of Anambra State have received scholarship awards handed to them by the Igboebisi Empowerment Foundation (IEF) and Kosisochukwu Iweka Child Development Foundation (KCF).

The maiden Idemili North Scholarship Awards, which was one of the events scheduled to take place to presage the celebration of the Obiora/Iwaji festival of the Obosi ancient kingdom, took place on October 18, 2025 at the Obosi township stadium.

Speaking during the event, the Anambra state commissioner for education, Prof. Ngozi Chuma-Udeh, who stood in for Gov. Chukwuma Soludo, reiterated the importance of the organizations' embrace of the public private community partnership while saying that any reigning government is impermanent, and that as such, no leader can redefine society solely.

She thanked the Igboebisi Empowerment Foundation and Kosisochukwu Iweka Child Development Foundation, profusely, for sponsoring the First Idemili North Scholarship Award, the aim of which is to offer brilliant pupils from poor homes the opportunity to acquire quality education.

"Gov. Soludo has sent me to my home. Obosi is my home. And while growing up, Igwe Chidubem Iweka (Eze Iweka III) was a father figure to me.

"As a child, I looked up to him for guidance. And, then, I perceived him as somebody, who was out of this world.

"And, I'd like us to know that government is fluid. Government comes and goes. So no leader alone can redefine society.

"More importantly, I am thanking the Igboebisi Empowerment Foundation and Kosisochukwu Iweka Child Foundation for giving school children from diverse towns in Idemili North the opportunity and lifeline to pursue their educational goals," Chuma-Udeh said.

Earlier, the chairman of the Anambra State Traditional Rulers' Council, Igwe Chidubem Iweka, bemoaned the fact that innumerable young people of Igbo descent, who reside in different countries of the world, cannot speak Igbo, which is intelligible. Neither can they comprehend speech rendered in Igbo language.

So he admonished the school pupils to learn Igbo language, meticulously, in the same way as they learn English language so as to prevent Igbo language from going into extinction.

Igwe Iweka went down memory lane, recounting that a great majority of Igbo people, who achieved international acclaim in the past, including Chief Emeka Anyaoku, grew up in the Igbo cultural milieu and used Igbo language for their intellectual discourses and the conduct of their affairs.

"It is a shameful thing that we are letting Igbo language go into extinction. And UNESCO has predicted that Igbo language would become a dead language in the next fifty years.

"But incredibly, prominent Igbo people like Chief Emeka Anyaoku used Igbo language in their everyday activities while growing up.

"So I am urging you not to relegate Igbo language to the background because it is a component of our ethnic identity," Igwe Iweka said.

He further advised the school children to place premium on their acquisition of education and emulate the Anambra state commissioner for education, Prof. Ngozi Chuma-Udeh ( a writer), whom he mentored.

And as the event wore on, Dr. Kene Igboebisi, the founder of the Igboebisi Empowerment Foundation, which co-sponsored the Idemili North Scholarship awards, was called upon to comment on the event.

In his comment, he paid glowing tribute to the immediate former principal of Union Secondary School, Obosi, Mrs. Udogadi Agom (deceased).

Dr. Igboebisi noted that the late Mrs. Agom's resilience, doggedness, vision, and good leadership contributed in no small way to the transformation of the Union Secondary School, Obosi from an ill-equipped rural school to a smart school.

"Mrs. Udogadi Agom was battling cancer while seeking help, frantically, for the renovation and equipping of Union Secondary School, Obosi.

"Unfortunately, she died before the school became a smart school," Igboebisi said.

Dr. Igboebisi, who is a London based medical practitioner, further stated that the Igboebisi Empowerment Foundation is a non-profit organization established with a steadfast commitment to education, youth development, and community advancement.

He said that the vision of the Igboebisi Empowerment Foundation is rooted in the belief that education is the most powerful tool for empowerment.

And in her own remarks, Her Majesty, Kosisochukwu Iweka (Igwe Nwanyi), whose Kosisochukwu Iweka Child Development Foundation is a co-sponsor of the scholarship awards, admonished the attendees to start being their brother's keeper.

She said: "In the olden days Igbo land, by virtue of our culture, every child was everybody's child. Every child was the responsibility of every adult. Today, things have changed. We have become more individualistic, selfish, and less caring. It is time to return to our old values. We must look after each other."

And the President General of the Obosi Development Union (ODU), Barr. Chimezie Obi, praised the foundations that sponsored the 2025 Idemili North Scholarship Awards.

He further reminded the school pupils that Anambra state is known as the home state of high-fliers in the area of education, which behooves them to work with uncommon assiduity so as to live up to the people's expectations.

Thereafter, he recounted how he formed the Obosi Development Union (ODU) Education Committee to address the problem of the out-of-school children in Obosi.

The event climaxed with the presentation of the scholarship awards to deserving pupils from public primary schools in Idemili North LGA.

Each of the ten towns in Idemili North LGA has two beneficiaries of the Idemili North Scholarship Awards, totalling twenty awardees/recipients. And each of the twenty recipients of the scholarship award was given a one-off whopping sum of two hundred thousand naira.

And the ten beneficiaries of the Idemili North Scholarship awards, who are from Obosi, would enjoy six years of free post-primary education in a private school.

The pupils, who received the scholarship awards, emerged winners after outperforming other pupils in competitive examinations, which took place at the Akpaka Ogwe primary school, Ogidi. And the examinations were supervised by the Idemili North LGA.

And other categories of scholars under the Kosisochukwu Child Development Foundation received prizes, laptops, and other educational materials, which would aid them in their educational pursuits.

More so, school cultural dance groups from Obosi, Ogidi, and Nkpor, who thrilled the attendees with their cultural dances, received handsome cash prizes for coming first, second, and third in the cultural dance competition.

Other important dignitaries, who attended the event were Chief Emenike Mgbemena, Oboli Obosi; Engr. Solormy Ochokwu, proprietor of CIDS; Lady Phina Onwuachu, the deputy mayor of Idemili North LGA; Igwe Aluku Joseph; Igwe Pius Omachaonu; Igwe Nwabunwanne of Abacha; Okwudili Oguegbu, Nollywood actor; Chief and Mrs. Agbasimalo; and others.

Chiedu is from the Anambra state ministry of information, Awka.

The Chairman of the Anambra state traditional rulers' council, who doubles as the traditional ruler of Obosi, Igwe Chidubem Iweka (Eze Iweka III), attended the event.