In his quest for human capacity development, Chief Dumo Lulu-Briggs was again in Akinima Community in Ahaoda West of Rivers State, to celebrate and hand over certificates to the first graduands of the Save Our Land Initiative Skills Acquisition Centre as the centre graduated its first set of graduates from the Information and Communication Technology Department of the Centre.
It can be recalled that on the 21st of April 2018, Chief Dumo Lulu-Briggs participated in the groundbreaking ceremony and formal flag-off of the Skills Acquisition Centre powered by the Save Our Land Initiative, an organization founded by an outstanding son of the community, Mr Lemuel Iyalla, who thought it necessary to engage youths of the community in acquiring skills that would not only serve as a way to empower them but also go a long way in finding lasting solutions to the economic, social and political upheavals in the Akinima community.
During that groundbreaking ceremony, and in line with his vision and passionate belief that there is no greater responsibility than educating and equipping the next generation with tools and abilities that will help them mine opportunities from the emerging digital environment and global village of an ever-changing world, Chief Dumo Lulu-Briggs had donated twenty Computer sets and other accessories necessary for the running of the ICT Department of the centre.
Speaking at the graduation ceremony, Chief Dumo Lulu-Briggs who was visibly excited that his efforts had not gone down the drain, describing it as humbling, thanked God for giving him an opportunity to be a part of the Akinima experience, he also thanked the indigenes of the community for encouraging their young ones to be a part of the training provided for free by the centre. According to Dumo Lulu-Briggs, aside from providing ICT skills to the graduands, the beneficiaries have been set on the path of being future millionaires if they harness the skills acquired for self-development in the ever fast growing ICT culture which is now a global trend.
Chief Dumo Lulu-Briggs while presenting certificates to the 22 graduands, also presented cash gifts to them for their efforts. Chief Dumo Lulu-Briggs who said he would continue to partner with the Centre to take this developmental venture to the next phase by extending it to other LGAs, so that young men and women will crave to acquire ICT and other relevant skills which will be beneficial to them, donated an additional Twenty Five computers to the Save Our Land Skills Acquisition Centre with a cash gift for running costs of the centre.
It was also an occasion for Chief Dumo Lulu-Briggs to identify with those he fondly calls “his constituency”, as members of the Physically Challenged were on hand to interact with him, DLB encouraged all present to make the life of the less privileged and those who live in the shadows of life, like the specially challenged around them an amazing one by always being a vessel of love and encouragement to them in overcoming life’s obstacles thrown at them. Chief Dumo Lulu-Briggs granted a special request by members of the physically challenged members who appealed for the obtaining of WAEC forms to enable them further their educational pursuits. Assuring them them the forms will be made available no matter the number, he also said the 25 WAEC forms given to children in public schools across the 23 Local Government Areas through the Dumo Lulu-Briggs Youth Foundation(DYF23) will soon be distributed across all the LGAs to enable children from poor homes to register and write the forthcoming West African School Examinations.
Another beneficiary of his magnanimity was a 6-year-old girl who sang a soul-stirring welcome song, a lifetime educational scholarship was awarded her from Nursery to Tertiary education.
In his thank you address, Mr Lemuel Iyalla, founder of the centre, said that he was very proud and happy that despite the challenges encountered, the centre was graduating its first set of graduands, he thanked Chief Dumo Lulu-Briggs for his generosity and compassion to humanity and for being a strong pillar of support to not only the centre but to countless of people spread across the breadth and width of Rivers State. He noted that if there are more people who can freely give and are ready to develop society and its people like Chief Dumo Lulu-Briggs, then Rivers State and indeed Nigeria will be a better place for all. He also used the opportunity to announce that the Save Our Land Initiative was set to establish a skills acquisition centre in Akuku-Toru Local Government Area in January 2019, while two other local governments areas are in the pipeline.
The event gave me a chance to feel the pulse of the people, I randomly spoke to a cross-section of the indigenes of Akinima at the event, one common denominator used to describe Chief Dumo Lulu-Briggs who is the governorship candidate of the ACCORD Party, distinguished him as a man that understands his people and their problems. According to them, Dumo Lulu-Briggs knows the problems of his people and is daily proffering solutions to the people in his own capacity. They all assured me of their belief that a man that develops human lives and transforms society positively the way Chief Briggs does on a personal level surely will do great on a humongous level, as such deserves all support in ensuring he emerges the governor of Rivers State in 2019.
