(Abuja, May 23, 2017:) The African Ambassadors Group in Nigeria over the weekend donated several learning materials and equipment to the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) School for The Blind Children in Abuja.

The donation forms a part of this year’s Africa Day observance, being held under the theme ““Harnessing the Demographic Dividend through Investments in Youth”.

According to a release from the Liberian Embassy in Abuja, the donation, valued at N4.7 million (four million, seven hundred thousand naira), included 100 realms of Braille papers, 100 realms of embosser papers, 100 guide or mobility canes and 15 parkins Braille machines.

His Excellency, Solaheddine Abbas Ibrahima, High Commissioner of Cameroon in Nigeria and the Dean of the Africa Diplomatic Group, led the  group of African envoys to the brief ceremony which was held on the school’s premises in Jabi, Abuja.    

Other African ambassadors who represented the rest of their colleagues included His Excellencies, Professor Al-Hassan Conteh of Liberia, Stanislas Kamanzi of Rwanda, Belkacem Samaili of Algeria, and Dr. Attia S.E. Alkhoder of Libya.

Others included His Excellencies, Mahamane Amadou Maiga of Mali, Job Obiang Esono Mbengono of Equatorial Guinea, and Dr.  Peingeonjabi Shipoh of Namibia. Mr. Ernest Kgopa, Counsellor at the High Commission of South Africa, represented His Excellency, Lulu Louis Mnguni.

Ambassador Ibrahima presented the donations on behalf of the group during the indoor ceremony attended by students and staff of the (FCT) School for The Blind Children.

Mrs. Regina Dung, the Head Teacher, thanked the African Diplomatic Group for caring for their educational needs and bringing the items at the right time and at the right place when they lacked them.

Mrs. Dung remarked: “Let me also add this: Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see. I would also like to thank all the ambassadors and high commissioners who have made it possible for these items to have been donated to this our dear institution. I cannot really express how much these items mean to me and the children in particular. This is something that we will cherish for a long time”.

According to her, the school’s enrollment currently stands at 138 pupils, with nearly all of them boarding, supported by 25 teachers.

Both a male and female students demonstrated the effective use of one of the machines respectively amidst admiration from the group of African ambassadors and high commissioners.  

The school choir also entertained the heads of the African missions with beautiful songs.

The Head Teacher and staff, along with two of the students, then took the African envoys on a tour of the school’s facilities to climax the event.

Africa Day is an annual commemoration of the May 25, 1963 founding of the Organization of African Unity (OAU), which was succeeded in 2002 by the African Union (AU).