Airtel makes case for reading culture, donates books to school

Airtel Nigeria has donated over 1,000 books to students of one of its adopted schools as part of its Reading for Leading campaign, an initiative to encourage the reading culture among students in primary schools across Nigeria.

The telco says the Reading for Leading initiative demonstrates its commitment to promote quality education and academic excellence in Nigeria and also provide educational opportunities for less privileged children.

The book donation exercise was held on Tuesday, November 15, 2016 at the St. John’s Primary School, Ijebu-Igbo, Ogun State, a school adopted by Airtel.

Speaking during the event, Head Teacher of St. John’s Primary School, Mr. AdeniyiOdufoye, commended Airtel for its support to developing the educational sector, urging other corporate organizations to emulate the telco.

“I sincerely hope that other corporate organizations will join Airtel in supporting education and providing opportunities for children.

“I must say that since Airtel adopted St. John’s Primary School in 2013, it has raised the standard of education, here. And with this book donation, it becomes easier for children to take to a reading culture.”

Also speaking, an elated SurajudeenSukuratu, a primary six student of St. Johns Primary School, said: “Airtel Nigeria, thank you very much for providing books for me and my friends. I promise to read it and also share it with my brothers and sisters.”

In his own submission, Olukayode Samuel, a Primary five student expressed excitement, saying, “Now I have a textbook I can always use to study at home. My mummy will be happy because she likes to see me read. Thank you Airtel.”

In addition to donating books to the school, Airtel employees also bonded with the kids, taking turns to read and share in exciting educational games.

Airtel’s Reading for Leading campaign was borne out of the telco’s passion to assist less privileged children and also improve the standard of education in Nigeria. The initiative was flagged off by renowned author, ChimamandaNgoziAdichie, in June 2016.

The Airtel ‘Reading for Leading’ campaign is in partnership with Longman and Macmillan Publishers. Under the initiative, Airtel employees have purchased over 3,000 high quality and relevant textbooks for students in the company’s six adopted schools.