Map of Cross River State in South South Nigeria
PATRICK ABANG, Calabar –
Sylvester Egboigbe of the Brotherhood of the Cross and Star in collaboration with the Universal Men’s Fellowship have volunteered to construct a line of toilet facilities for Government Technical College Biakpan in Biase LGA.
The Government Technical College, Biakpan, has been with out toilets after it was establisheed in 1978.
The school has a population of over 500 students from local communities in Biakpan, as well as Etono and Eziafor communities in neighbouring Abia State.
The students and teachers defecate in surrounding bushes, making the environment unfriendly.
To this end, over the weekend, the church’s fellowship performed a foundation laying ceremony, which was one of the highpoints of their annual religious pilgrimage held in Biakpan, which is situated in the hinterland of Biase LGA of Cross River State.
Eboigbe said it was embarrassing to see the students and teachers run either to neighbours houses or nearby bushes to ease themselves.
“Our intervention therefore is a way of paying back the school as a Corporate Social Responsibility because they usually and freely allowed them to use their facilities each time we approached them”.
“We were also very concerned that for 43 years neither the school nor the community could readily intervene to help the increasing population of the students, so that open defecation in the environment could abated.”
Reacting to the intervention, the principal of the school, Nkamenyin Okokon Okon, expressed deep gratitude for the help rendered to the school.
He said such concern and intervention were a big relief to them, which will avert further embarrassment to the staff and students of the school.
One of the community chiefs, Egwu Ogban also expressed happiness for the intervention, saying the community was quite appreciative. He described it as a well thought out project, praying God to enable them complete it soon.