As part of its commitment to advancing education and community development, WACT-APM Terminals Nigeria has commissioned and handed over a newly renovated 10-room teachers’ quarters in its host community of Ogu, Ogu/Bolo LGA, Rivers State, on Wednesday.
Originally built by the company in 2012, the facility has now been upgraded to provide teachers with more modern, comfortable and conducive accommodation.
The project, which falls under the company’s thematic area of education and infrastructure development, is designed to provide decent and comfortable accommodation for teachers serving in the community.
By improving teachers’ living conditions, the initiative aims to boost their morale, encourage retention, and ultimately contribute to raising the standard of education in Ogu.
The Chief Finance Officer, APM Terminals Nigeria, Courage Obadagbonyi, explained that the renovation of the quarters demonstrates the company’s dedication to both education and community development.
He noted: ‘’Education is at the core of what we preach in WACT and our parent entity, the APM Terminals Group. The upgraded teachers’ quarters reaffirm our commitment to CSR initiatives within our four thematic areas: education, health & environment; training & development and infrastructure development.
“We believe that teachers need to be taken care of. If they are not in the right frame of mind, the impact on the students will be minimal. With the rising cost of accommodation, we hope that they find suitable shelter in this project and give the best to the students, their parents, the Ogu Community and society at large. Our shared commitment to growing side by side with the Ogu community remains the bedrock of our CSR initiatives.’’
Also, WACT-APM Terminals Nigeria Community Relations Manager, Justin Okwuofu, emphasised the importance of the project in supporting teachers and sustaining education in Ogu, noting that the project the company was commissioning was built in 2012 to assist teachers, who were teaching in the community, to have a good residence in the community.
He said: “But because over the years, the project had worn out and dilapidated, we felt the need to have a conducive living environment for the residents, and that was why we embarked on the renovation.
“A lot of things have been done on this project, and we believe that with this project, teachers’ retention in the community will be improved so that they can have an impact on the students. So, this is an infrastructure that we have embarked on to assist the community to also grow further.”
In his goodwill message, the Secretary of the Ogu Divisional Council of Chiefs, Chief Lawrence Tokuibiye Ogobo-Inuma, applauded the company for the project, describing it as a timely intervention that would have a lasting impact on the community.
Tokuibiye added: ‘’We want to appreciate WACT. They are one of the companies that have never taken their CSR projects for granted, and their presence has been so felt in our community.
They have empowered our youths, women, etc, and so many other projects have been put up in the community by them. This facility is going to create a lot of impact in terms of accommodating our youths, making them comfortable and able to concentrate on their teaching.’’
