AUnited States of America-based philantrophist from Amaeke Alayi, Mr. Elendu Eugene Elendu, has established a N10 million endowment fund for first class graduates from the community wishing to pursue Doctor of Philosophy programme in Nigeria.
Eugene Elendu disclosed this during the inauguration of a multimillion naira library he built and donated to the community in Bende Local Government Area of Abia State in memory of his late parents, Chief and Lolo Elendu.
“This project is in honour and memory of my father, Chief Benard Aka Elendu, who retired as a headmaster, and my mother, Lolo Rose Oyiridiya Elendu, who stood solidly behind him throughout our family’s trying period,” he said.
Elendu said that the gesture was aimed at immortalising his parents, who laboured under severe financial challenges to provide education for his siblings and himself, and to pay back to the community for its support.
He appealed for a partnership between the Abia State Government and the Elendu Foundation for the management of the library, which is equipped with computers and Internet connection.
Inviting individuals, business organisations and governments to assist in equipping the library, he lamented the abandoning of a post o f f i c e built by the community and handed over to the Federal Government.
The philanthropist, who called for a general review of the country’s education policies to produce job creators rather than job seekers, noted with dismay the level of infrastructure decay in the community.
Elendu said that it was disheartening that despite the people’s support for the ruling Peoples Democratic Party in the state, the community had remained neglected by successive governments.
In his welcome address, the chairman of the occasion, Christopher Ogbodo, a chartered accountant, said libraries were essential to the promotion of reading culture and also critical to the improvement of literacy.
“I am therefore making a call to action to all different sectors of the community and society as a whole to partner with this monumental gesture by the Elendu family in making this a reality” he said.
Speaking with The Point, a donor during the occasion, Nnamdi Nwodo, described education as the greatest investment in youths, and appealed to stakeholders to emulate the gesture of the Elendu family.
In his comments, the chairman of the Library Inauguration/Handover Committee, Rev Father Gabriel Iheke, noted that the library would provide learning opportunities for students in the community and its environs.
Abia State Governor, Okezie Ikpeazu, who was represented on the occasion by the Commissioner for Youth Development, Hagler Okorie, expressed appreciation to the philanthropist.
