…congratulates maiden graduands of Navy Military School
Governor Umo Eno has commended the productive engagements in educational development between the Nigerian Navy and the Akwa Ibom State Government and has promised to continue sustaining the partnership.
Pastor Eno was addressing a gathering which had the top brass in the Nigerian Navy, led by the Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Emmanuel Ogalla, at the graduation and passing out ceremonies of the 1st batch of graduating students, Nigerian Navy Military School, Ikot Ntuen in Oruk Anam, Akwa Ibom State.
Governor Umo Eno who had earlier been led on a tour of facilities in the school, in the company of the Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ogalla, Flag Officer Commanding (FOC) Eastern Naval Command, Rear Admiral O K Oluwagbire, and the Commandant of the Nigerian Navy Military School, Oruk Anam, Capt A. A. Yabo, during the ceremony, thanked the Navy for choosing Akwa Ibom for the establishment of the College.
The Governor acknowledged that the School was established to groom young able bodied boys with the right mix of academic excellence, values and discipline, maintained that the Navy Military School, in just six years of existence has grown in leaps and bounds to become the most sought after Navy Secondary School in the country, and ascribed the feat to quality of personnel, ambience of the institution, academic performance and the drills which he described as spectacular.
“We have also seen the outstanding works that they have done, I have had conversations with the Commandant of the school, he is doing extremely well with his teaching staff and we will be celebrating the commandant and the teaching staff.
“We have also been told that they are in need of staff Quarters so as to bring in all of their staff. The Government of Akwa Ibom State is donating one storey building block to support them.
“The Akwa Ibom Government has contributed in the past and I am told we have done about eight buildings including the laboratories, hostels, halls and pipe borne water. We will continue to support what we have seen here today.”
The Governor made a case for the introduction of some elements of military training in the state conventional schools to instill discipline in the students and directed the Commissioner for Education, Mrs Idongesit Etiebet, to make available two hundred and fifty thousand naira to each of the best graduating students
The state Chief Executive used the occasion to congratulate the young sailors on their successful completion of their academic programme and military training spanning six years and commended their discipline and determination during the training.
He wished them the best in their academic and military career, advising them to showcase themselves as good ambassadors of the institution and never to forget their earliest beginning in the state in their journey of life.
“To all other graduands and others that made the silent drill and the unarmed drill and all of the graduands that are here, the Government, through the Honourable Commissioner for Education will make available Ten Million Naira to you so that you can have happy hour after a very serious season because after every warfar
“Finally, let me Congratulate you and wish you the very best in the future, both in your academics and in your military pursuits. I have no doubt that you will be great ambassadors of this school, the State and the Nation. Wherever the journey of life takes you, please don’t forget that you had your training in Akwa Ibom and always remember Akwa Ibom as you move along.
Governor Umo Eno announced arrangements to establish Model Primary Schools equipped with state-of-the-arts facilities and personnel across the three Senatorial Districts with a replication of the model schools in the ten Federal Constituencies of the state.
He stated that the pilot model school is under construction at Christ The King Primary School, CKS, Wellington Bassey Way , Uyo and pledged his administration’s determination to provide conducive learning environment as well as align the curriculum with the realities of Information And Communication Technology, ICT, Sciences, Mathematics and Arts to produce graduates that will compete with their peers elsewhere in the world.
“As you all know, education is not preparation for life, but life itself, which is the reason why education advancement is a critical pillar of our ARISE Agenda.
“We are determined to provide conducive learning environments, align the curriculum with the realities of the ICT, Sciences, Mathematics, Arts and produce future graduates that will compete with their pears elsewhere in the country.
“We will establish model primary schools across the three Senatorial Districts and later, ten Federal constituencies. The model of the school will soon be opened at the Christ The king Primary School at Wellington Bassey Way , close to Government House because charity must begin at home.
The Governor who pointed out that Education at both Primary and Secondary levels remain free and compulsory for public schools across the state, stated that his administration has paid West African Examination Council, WAEC, fees for students in public schools in the state and commended the students exploits’ in the last WAEC examination
Impressed by the outstanding performance of the young sailors, the Governor undertook to pay WAEC fees for students of the Nigerian Navy Military School participating in next year’s examination and announced the donation of a one storey building to address the accommodation need of the institution to compliment the eight buildings including hostels, laboratories, halls and pipe borne water already provided by the state government in the institution.
“Education at Primary and Secondary levels remain free and compulsory. We recently paid the WAEC fees for our students and I am told the pass grade has inched up considerably. Let me add that because of the outstanding performance that we have seen today amongst this set of junior sailors, we will, as part of our supports to the school undertake to pay next year WAEC fees for all of our students that will be from this school.
The graduation ceremony featured awards presentation to the young sailors in the areas of Best in Academics won by Ys Edozie Chibuike; Best in Military Courses,Ys Abdullahi Yusuf ; Best in Regimentation, Ys Umahaba Enoch; Best in Leadership Ys Muhammed Sadiq and Overall in Academics and Military Training, Ys Edozie Chibuike.
Other events that spiced up the ceremony were Parade, Unarmed Combat Display and Silent Drill Display by students of the institution.
