ST. GEORGE’S, GRENADA – Aisha Achiumugu, Ph.D., of Abuja, Nigeria, the newest CBI resident of Grenada, recently donated 250 school supply backpacks. She will also be funding five scholarships in Grenada.
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education with responsibility for Human Resources and Educational Development, Elvis Morain, journeyed to the privately owned, Calivigny Island in Grenada, to receive the donation.
Citizen by Investment specialist, Theresa Okeke, of Frontage Global Concepts Ltd., who represented Achiumugu during her citizenship process, was present at the handover. She encourages CBI clients she represents to be actively involved in nation building efforts in Grenada.
Okeke said, “Dr. Aisha Achiumugu is the MD/CEO of Felak Concept Group, one of the largest conglomerates in oil, gas, maritime, training, hospital services – any sector that adds value Dr. Achiumugu is there. Since she joined us in Grenada, she has wanted to continue the work that she does in Nigeria for us and our citizens.”
Achiumugu spoke of her charitable endeavours and the motivation for this.
“It’s my honour to start my charity by giving back on the education front,” she said. “Education has put me where I am, and privilege has put me where I am. So, it’s important that I put back what I’ve gotten into humanity, and I think they will do better if they have education. For women, I think that we are being marginalized. We have a lot of strengths and a lot of us have not been given opportunity and time, so advocacy and self-development is what I do, when it comes to women, and empowering skills to be given a better tomorrow.”
Project Director for Achiumugu’s SAM Foundation in Nigeria, Kiema Ogunlana, explained that the foundation, which is 10 years old, is focused on health; vulnerable children programming; empowerment and civic engagement.
“We actually work with hard-to-reach communities,” Ogunlana said. “Interventions hardly gets to such areas, and, in terms of health, we renovate hospitals and former health care centres, because we
know how important access to healthcare can be and, also, in education we work with payment of school fees, scholarships, renovation of classrooms, building of classrooms, construction, oxygen supplies in hospitals. So, we do a lot of things just to improve the lives of vulnerable people,” she said.
Ogunlana noted that they will work with a reputable non-governmental organisation in Grenada. Permanent Secretary with responsibility for Human Resources & Educational Development, Elvis Morain, expressed gratitude on behalf of the Ministry.
He said, “Let me, on behalf of the Minister for Education, the Hon. Sen. David Andrew, and the entire education family, and, by extension, Grenada, extend our appreciation for this gesture. Dr. Aisha, what you have done, is very impactful, for us at the education sector and we’ve always endeavoured to have benefactors who can contribute to the development of our society. We always say the best gift one can give to the nation is one of education. So, we are very happy.”
Achiumugu was in Grenada to celebrate her 50th birthday, which coincides with Grenada’s 50th Anniversary of Independence. She said she feels very comfortable in Grenada and praised the warm hospitality.
The items donated by Achiumugu were handed over to pre-schools in a ceremony on Friday, Jan. 26. at the Ministry of Education. Minister for Education Sen. the Hon. David Andrew and Chief Education Officer Dominic Jeremiah were present, along other ministry officials along with Students and teachers from beneficiary schools.
Speaking at the event, Okeke, who is also a former educator and consular officer with the U.S. State Department, announced that, as a personal donation, she would give $600 to each recipient school present.
Senator Andrew expressed gratitude to Achiumugu and Okeke for their investment in education and looks forward to continued collaboration.
“I’m really elated that we have this kind of generosity targeting education. As a government, we understand the priority of education. We see education as the single most important tool for transforming Grenada,” he said. “From the bottom of my heart, on behalf of the Ministry of Education and, indeed, on behalf of the Government and people of Grenada, I say a profound thank you and we guarantee you that your contributions will not go in vain.”
Aisha Achiumugu, Ph.D., and Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education with responsibility for Human Resources and Educational Development, Elvis Morain as the backpacks are handed over.Backpacks donated by Managing Director and CEO of Felak Concept Group, Aisha Achiumugu, Ph.D.Group Shot of Theresa Okeke, Ministry Officials and representatives from schools receiving the donation.Dominic Jeremiah presenting school representative with donation.
