TWO outstanding alumni of the Government College, Ughelli (GCU) were honoured last Sunday in Lagos at its Man of the Year award ceremony which is for alumni who have distinguished themselves in various areas of human endeavour.
The award night was in recognition of the two recipients, Nduka Obaigbena, Chairman of ThisDay Group and Arise TV and Allen Onyema, Chairman of Air Peace, for their contributions in both the media and aviation sectors of the economy respectively.
Obaigbena, a recent recipient of Nigeria’s national honors, Commander of the Federal Republic (CFR), was honoured with the Mariner of the Century award while Onyema received the Man of the Year award as great Mariners of the school that has also produced other distinguished Nigerians.
Obaigbena appreciated the award while he reminisced on how he entered secondary school at Edo College, Benin City in Edo State some 50 years ago and five years later, went to higher school at Government College, Ughelli in Delta State which was a major moment in his life.
He recalled that they had a school magazine, and joined other students to be at the forefront of activism in the school leading to the formation Black Cultural Movement.
Speaking also at the ceremony, the Air Peace boss said he is very proud of GCU, adding that without the school, he would have been nothing today as he actually discovered himself in GCU.
After receiving the awards, both recipients expressed gratitude to the leadership of the Government College, Ughelli and stated that they remain proud to be Alumni of the school.
They also called on the private sector and other Nigerians to support Nigeria’s education sector as the government cannot do it alone.
Obaigbena said: “We all have to wake up, join hands together and save education in this country.
“We have to ensure that we find a means to salvage education because the government alone cannot fund education.
“Old boys of every school must first take over their schools as trustees and raise funds for the school.”
Onyema said the same thing: “No government in the world can fund education alone, especially tertiary education, but you can do that at the primary and secondary school levels. At the tertiary level, it is difficult to depend on the government alone to fund education.
“So I call on the corporate citizens and the corporate world to show a little more CSR towards helping the funding of education, even if means charging more education tax.”
He added that education is the key to everything we desire.
The Chairman of the Board of Trustees Government College Ughelli class of friends, Cyril Ogude, noted that both recipients had established themselves as high achievers and deserved to be celebrated.
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