Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama on Saturday commenced the donation of educational materials worth millions of naira to public primary and secondary schools in Enugu State.

Some of the items to be donated to three schools in each of the 17 local government areas of the state include 1800 chairs and 1800 desks.

Others are 1000 school bags containing New Wave English and Mathematics textbooks, five exercise books, Mathematics sets, and cash donations to hire more teachers.

Onyeama said that the donation was done through his pet project ‘Kwusike Foundation’ in collaboration with a Chinese company, Huawei Technologies Company Limited.

According to the minister, President Muhammadu Buhari’s youth empowerment programs inspired him to embark on the exercise.

He said that it had become necessary to support Nigerians, especially those in the rural areas due to the bad shape of the economy.

Onyeama commended the management of the company for their partnership for the progress of the exercise.

“Times are tough but we will continue to support you in order to make it easier for you to learn. We want you to make your parents happy,” he said.

The minister said that the Federal Government would continue to provide the enabling environment for school children to learn in a safe and secure environment.

“We need to prioritize the empowerment of our school children and keep them safe,” he said.

Onyeama said that Kwusike Foundation had permanent programs for schools and widows in the country

Earlier, the Deputy Managing Director, Huawei Technologies Company Nigeria Ltd.,  Mr. Kelvin Yang, said that the company had been operating in Nigeria for 21 years.

Yang said that their dream was to support Nigeria to bridge the digital gap in society.

“This is why we work tirelessly to partner with all stakeholders to provide technical innovation, knowledge transfer, and carry out our corporate social responsibility.

“We are committed to cultivating local talents and believe that if we can secure quality education for our youths, a bright future is secured for Nigeria,” he said.

He said that the company had partnered with universities, colleges, and schools across Nigeria to help improve their study environment and enhance knowledge transfer and technical skills.

“We are highly inspired by Onyeama, who has continued to encourage us to expand our scope in our support for education in Nigeria,” he said.

Yang said that the company had trained no fewer than 17, 000 Nigerian students and 20, 000 engineers.

“In the next three years, we look forward to training 30, 000 more,” Yang said.

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The five schools that participated and received donations during the event included Central School, Eke, and Community Primary School, Oma Eke.

Others are Akwanda Primary School, Ogui Agu Eke, St. Paul’s Nursery/Primary School, and St. Paul’s Secondary School, Eke.