By Desmond Tunde Coker
The First Lady of the Republic of Sierra Leone, Her Excellency, Dr. Fatima Bio officially commissioned the Beamay Nursery and Primary School at the Wilberforce Barack in Freetown.
The move was made by the efforts of the Wives of the Armed Forces Cooperative Society in collaboration with Orange Sierra Leone, under the patronage of the CEO of Sonatel Group, Sekou Drame and the CEO of Orange SL, Sheku Amadu Bah.
In his statements as the host, the Chief of Defence Staff of the Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces, Lieutenant General P. K. Lavahun, thanked Orange Sierra Leone for undertaking the renovation of the school and referred to it as a timely.
He commended the leadership of the Wives of the Armed Forces Cooperative Society for the idea of establishing such a vital facility citing the significance of education for better society.
Speaking during the handing over of the refurbished school to the Army Wives, the CEO of Orange Sierra Leone, Sekou Amadou Bah said that as a company “we understand the essence of giving back to the communities in which we operate. That is why we did not hesitate to provide the philanthropic support required to this local community school to create a positive impact on children’s lives and to foster educational sustainability.”
He said that Orange Sierra Leone received the request from the army wives association, to support with renovation of the school. “We were compelled to take action to refurbish the school due to the deplorable state of the building that made it unfit for learning, because we recognize that good facilities and good infrastructure are important for producing good school outcomes.”
“Today, we are happy to say the refurbished school with 7 classrooms will host about 280 pupils giving the children of the Beamay school better facilities for an effective learning environment to nurture the leaders of the future,” he added.
He however stated that if a community is to improve its economic and social well-being, its needs to invest in human capital development by providing a good education to children.
“We are happy and proud to formally hand over this learning facility to the School Administration together with Her excellency the First Lady of the Republic of Sierra Leone. I am confident that the pupils of the school will make full use of these new facilities to improve their education and contribute to their country’s progress by achieving full and rewarding lives in the future.”
CEO of Sonatel, Sekou Drame said that “This project is a reflection of Sonatel and Orange’s group commitment towards fostering sustainable development in education to build seeds for the future.”
Given the keynote address, the First Lady, Dr. Fatima Bio expressed appreciation to Orange Sierra Leone and the Wives of the Armed Forces Cooperative Society for creating an ideal learning environment for the children of service personnel in Wilberforce. She commended Madam Lavahun’s leadership and stressed the importance of unity for the nation’s growth.
She further thanked the Army Wives for inviting her as the guest speaker. The First Lady lauded Orange and Sonatel for elevating the school’s standards to meet higher educational benchmarks.