The satellite office of VCI was officially commissioned in Minna, Niger State, Nigeria on Saturday May 8, 2021. The ceremony was attended by various heads of the health and education ministries, the representative of His Royal Highness, the Emir of Minna, twelve secondary schools within the Minna metropolis, other distinguished guests.
The occasion witnessed speeches from Dr. Victor Yisa, President, VCI and other distinguished guests. Dr. Yisa thanked the guests and various schools represented for their presence. He enumerated the objectives of VCI as a nonprofit dedicated to assisting the community through the provision of quality eye care, education and other social and community driven projects. He announced the purchase of 4.3 Hectares of land along Minna - Bida road where the permanent site of the organization will be located.
The tape cutting was conducted by the Alhaji Isiaku Abubakar, the Director of Planning and Research in the ministry of education, Minna. On behalf of the Commissioner for education, he congratulated the organization for the giant step it has taken and expressed the support and appreciation of the education ministry towards the laudable goals and objectives of VCI.
The Educational Initiatives Project of VCI was the highlight of the occasion. Twelve secondary schools within the Minna metropolis including the Special Needs School, Minna were represented. The students treated the guests to inciting and enlightening debates on the topics: "Providing support to families during a global pandemic" and "How can avoidable blindness be eradicated in our society" The overall winner of the school's challenge was Nazir Sulaiman from Father O'Connell Secondary School, Minna. All the twelve schools were gifted a printer and a box of copier papers each, with cash prizes of N80,000 (Eighty Thousand Naira) each to the top two schools in the debate, N75,000 (Seventy Five Thousand Naira) each to the two schools that placed second, N60,000 (Sixty Thousand Naira) each to two third placed schools and N50,000 (Fifty Thousand Naira) each to the other five schools. The Special Needs School got a cash gift of N100,000 (One Hundred Thousand Naira). In addition all the eleven students that participated in the debate got cash gifts of N10,000 (Ten Thousand Naira) each. The 18 students of the Special Needs school that participated in songs and a drama skit all got N10,000 (Ten Thousand Naira) each.
In addition the organization pledged to sponsor the WAEC, NECO and JAMB examination fees of the 11 students that participated in the debate in the debate. In total the financial contribution of VCI to the schools and students was about N1, 600,000 (One Million, Six Hundred Thousand Naira)
Another highlight of the occasion was the presentation of a motor cycle to a recipient Mr. Ndaba Isa to facilitate his business. There was a raffle draw and various prizes were won.
All the guests and invitees were feted to lunch to mark the end of the ceremony. It was indeed a remarkable opening ceremony.
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