PROTOCOL
The Chairman of this occasion, Professor Patrick Muoboghare; the Honourable Commissioner of Education in Delta State, the Special Guest of Honour, His Royal Majesty, Atuwatse II, the Olu of Warri; my lords spiritual and temporal; community leaders, the principal [Mr. Emmanuel Oleju], staff & students of Egbokodo Secondary School; distinguished ladies & gentlemen.
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I salute and bring you warm greetings from the Chairman & other Trustees of Hallmarks of Labour Foundation, on this auspicious commissioning and hand-over of an Ultra Modern Science Laboratory to Egbokodo Secondary School, Warri. I am particularly gratified that this project is dedicated to the memory of my father — Uwangue Bernard Edema Otuedon-Okome, a community welfarist with a very generous heart – who passed unto glory some four months ago at a super-ripe age of 103. It is my prayer that we will live long and as fulfilled as he did.
Hallmarks of Labour Foundation was set up, in 1996, to:
- Identify Nigerians who have achieved success through hard work, honesty and integrity in their fields of endeavour.
- Project these Great Nigerians as Role Models of rewarding and fulfilling honest labour.
- Promote positive attitudes among the youths in particular; encouraging them to reject fraud, greed and impropriety as means to success.
In 2008, the Foundation turned a search light on the youths, focusing largely on young talented Nigerians; to mentor and provide them platforms to achieve their full potentials. In the process, the Young Achievers’ Awards was initiated in 2011to contribute to:
- Improved standards of education, especially in science, technology and communication – through healthy competition among schools.
- Development of leadership skills in young Nigerians.
- Generation of a crop of young Role Models for their contemporaries.
With the central theme “Positioning Tomorrow’s Leaders to Achieve their Maximum Potentials”, the Foundation has donated a range of educational equipment and welfare facilities to deserving schools and students. Included here are:
- Laboratory equipment and Desktop Computers to the best-performing institutions in the 2011 West African School Certificate Examinations [WASCE] — Lumen Christi International High School, Uromi, Edo State and Air Force Comprehensive School, Agbani, Enugu State.
- A fully-equipped computer room to the best performing school in the 2012 WASCE — Presentation National High School, Benin City. On the nomination by the award winners, the Foundation donated a functional bore-hole and desktop computers to a disadvantaged institution, Queen of Apostles Nursery & Primary School, Shinge-Lafia, Nassarawa State.
- The HLF Secondary School Scholarship Scheme, which took off here in Warri in 2008 under the tag “Iwere Educational Rejuvenation“ has yielded tremendous fruits. To date, over eighty (80) students have obtained their West African School Certificates under the Foundation’s sponsorship, while forty (40) of its scholars are currently enrolled in a number of post-primary schools in Delta and Lagos States. We urge parents and guardians to encourage their wards to pick up the Foundation Scholarship forms which come out annually and work hard to pass the qualifying examination. The scholarship award is strictly on merit.
We are here today to commission and hand over this ultra-modern science laboratory, indeed one of the best in Nigeria, to Egbokodo Secondary School. It is our prayer that the students here will find inspiration from this facility to motivate them to become great scientists.
We congratulate you, the Principal, staff, students of Egbokodo Secondary School as well as the Egbokodo community; and urge you to protect and utilize the facility well.
We also express our profound gratitude to our partners, Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited and Oilmen’s Invitational Golf Tournament Foundation for their continued support that has enabled the Foundation to fulfil its mandate.
I thank your Majesty, Atuwatse II, the Olu of Warri, the Hon. Commissioner of Education, my Lord spiritual and temporal, our leaders of tomorrow, particularly, the students of Egbokodo Secondary School and all young people here present. It is for your sake that we have all gathered this morning. God bless you and thanks for coming!!!
PATRICIA OTUEDON-ARAWORE [Mrs.]