Since its inception, the Ihezie Foundation has donated over 1.5 million books to schools in the UK and Africa. Our most recent donation took place in November 2022, with a huge gift of 80,000 textbooks provided to Obioma Central School Education Foundation (OCSEF) based in Enugu, Nigeria. OCSEF was established by Prince Ike Chioke, (a local philanthropist), in 2021 with the aim of intervening in the educational sector in Obioma town, specifically and Enugu State in general, in a meaningful and impactful manner. The Ihezie Foundation is pleased to have partnered with Prince Ike Chioke and OCSEF to make the donation possible.
OCSEF completed its first project during 2021 by building a brand-new primary school, Central School Obioma, to replace the old school in the town which was established in 1937. The new Central School Obioma has: (i) 8 Classrooms for up to 240 students; (ii) a 30-seater library plus an e-library with 8 workstations, (iii) a school clinic, (iv) a 24 workstation ICT room, (v) a 24-seater room for Advanced Computer Training of teachers and young adults, (vi) a 16-seater meeting room, (vii) a Head teacher’s office, (viii) Male and female rest rooms, (ix) water supply system with overhead tank, (xi) 16 panel + 15KVA solar powered electricity system, and (xii) internet access.
Obioma Central School stands out as part of the beautiful fruits of the age-grade system and communal self-help efforts of the Igbo people in Eastern Nigeria. It was one of the early educational institutions in the region, which helped to advance the course of numeracy, literacy, and social development of many children in Enugu. The Ihezie Foundation is delighted to support the continued advancement of students through the book donation. Central School Obioma is the primary beneficiary of the books. However, through OCSEF, many other surrounding primary, secondary, and tertiary schools, in Enugu State and across Nigeria will also benefit from educational books for their libraries.
Prince Ike Chioke is the Group Managing Director of Afrinvest (West Africa) Limited, a leading wealth advisory firm based in Lagos with a focus on investment banking, securities trading, asset management, trust services, and investment research. He is the CEO, Triple A Infrastructure Nigeria Ltd; Chairman, Royal Exchange General Insurance Company Limited; Chairman, Fitness Factory Limited; National Secretary for the Rhodes Scholarship for West Africa. Prince Ike Chioke holds a B.Sc. Civil Engineering (First Class Honours) from the University of Ife, Osun State, Nigeria and attended Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar, where he graduated with an M.Phil. in Management Studies.
Attendees at the send-off ceremony on 14th November 2022 for the shipping container of the 80,000 books included, Jerome Okolo, representing Prince Ike Chioke; Ihezie Foundation Founder, Aloysius Ihezie; Michael Bloedorn, charity trustee Craig Ihezie; Chelsea Ihezie, Lucy Orbell and other members of the team.
On behalf of the Board of Trustees of Ihezie Foundation, we would like to thank Prince Ike Chioke for this crucial partnership to positively impact hundreds of thousands of students with an amazing gift of educational books.