News

1. On this day January 2, 2002 the Imo State citizens resident in the USA and Europe, met with the Hon. Commissioner for Education, Imo State – Dr. Obinna Duruji, at his instance, at the conference hall of the Ministry of Education.
2. Those present at the meeting reflected a cross section of Imo indigenes in the various states in America.
3. At the meeting the Hon Commissioner for Education briefed the attendees on the efforts of his Ministry geared towards the revitalization of education in all its ramifications, including but not limited to library development- in such a manner that one branch is established in every local government area, the re-establishment of inter school sports competition and literary debates, and promotion of computer literacy.
4. It was clear that the Hon. Commissioner was very focused and has great vision for the improvement of education in the state. He appealed to the Imo citizens in the USA to assist him in any way they could to improve education in Imo State. These include, but not limited to the donation of computers, collection of books for the libraries and donation of cups and trophies, as well as, sponsoring of inter school debates and sports competition.
5. The Hon. Commissioner announced that he had earlier appointed committees in some states in the USA, and hoped that the committees would work closely with him to source educational resources to help Imo State in her education efforts. He also talked about the need for the Imo citizens in the USA to work with the cities in the USA, through the Sister-City programme, to establish sister cities in Imo State. Already, the city of Austin Texas USA has sister-city relationship with the city of Orlu in Imo State.
6. The Hon. Commissioner took the time to brief the attendees on the achievements of Chief Achike Udenwa administration namely: the re-activation and renovation of Imo Concorde Hotel, the new Owerri General Hospital at New Owerri, the new Imo State Secretariat Complex and equipment of Imo Airport with modern landing facilities for night and day flights. Others include the construction of International market at Orlu and the revitalization of ITC, Avutu poultry farm and Adapalm Nigeria limited. Also, the IMSU teaching hospital complex at Orlu and the establishment of faculty of Engineering at Okigwe which are on-going, are among the salient achievement of the administration.
7. In response to and appreciation of these great efforts by both the Hon. Commissioner and the Governor, the attendees resolved to support the Udenwa Administration generally, and the Hon. Commissioner in whatever way possible. Some attendees immediately pledged computers, books and trophies for sports competitions. One individual, Mr. Raymond Amaechi- Dallas based pharmacist, donated in addition to five computers for the Imo State library, a $1.3M worth of radiology equipment. The Hon. Commissioner assured attendees that all the equipment and educational infrastructure collected abroad would be shipped home at government expense.
8. The attendees suggested to the Hon. Commissioner to create an agency that will act as a clearinghouse for the contributions from the USA and other parts of the world.
9. A committee of seven was formed to work closely with the Hon. Commissioner in furtherance of this wonderful new initiative. Members of the committee are as follows: