CSTSS RINZE, AKWANGA , NASARAWA STATE CONDUCTS HER 2ND EDITION OF CAREER WEEK WITH SERIES OF EVENTS

By Mary Ojiji.

In a series of events mapped out to celebrate her career week which started from the 8th to the 11th of November, 2023, had several events which includes Excursion to Abuja, Workshop and training for staff, Career day and road walk exercise for the students.

The French students of Command Science and Technical Secondary school (CSTSS), Rinze, Akwanga Nasarawa State, were taken on an excursion to three locations in Abuja to gain more knowledge and insights on the activities being carried out there. The places visited include, Le Castle Restaurant Et Bar, Area 1, Garki, Abuja, Voice of Nigeria (VON) and the Nigerian Army museum, on Wednesday, Nov. 8.
Commandant of CSTSS, Rinze Akwanga, Lt. Col. Danjuma said he took the French students on the excursion to Le Castle Restaurant Et Bar precisely to help them learn more about the language and the cuisines.

I have brought the students of Command Science and Technical Secondary School, Rinze Akwanga to Le Castle Restaurant Et Bar, Area 1, Abuja to expose them to the French culture, especially the culture surrounding La Gastronomie, that is French dishes. I visited here once and loved the ambiance and also spoke with the owner of the place who told me that students also come on excursion visits, so I took advantage of the opportunity to bring the students of the French club here to expose them, I understand the importance of French to expose these students from this early stage to the French Language, let it be at the back of their mind that this is an important language”. He said.

At the French restaurant, the CEO, Isaac John, said, Nigeria is the only Anglophone country in the middle of Francophone countries. He added that he opened the bilingual restaurant to cater for foreigners who visit Nigeria and need a place to eat what they are used to, as well as to teach French students about the different foods so that when they see it somewhere, they will say they have seen it before in Nigeria.

Away from the French restaurant, the student headed to the Voice of Nigeria Complex as the next stop for their excursion. By way of Introduction, it was said that the Voice of Nigeria’s vision is to become the international radio broadcasting service of first choice to for anyone genuinely interested in Nigeria and Africa. The students were taken to different departs to see their activities and learn from them. They were taken to the ICT department, News room, Languages department, Live studio and recording studio.

The Director General of the Voice of Nigeria (VON), Jibrin Baba Ndace, welcomed the commandant and students of CSTSS Rinze, Akwanga, he said he believes the visit will have a lasting impression on the students. In his words,

“I am glad that you decided to come with your students to VON and I hope that this will have a lasting impression on all of you, so you are welcome here, and first I want to encourage you that the stage you are in is very important and you shouldn’t take it for granted, whatever you are being taught by your teachers, it is important that you take those lessons, and part of what you are to grow up with is similar is similar experiences like having excursions which will reinforce what you know and what you have been taught in school. I also want o encourage you to take interest in what we do in Voice of Nigeria and when you are done with school, and I hope that you’ll also grow up one day, go to school and also come to work in the voice of Nigeria and continue from wherever we stop”.

The Commandant appreciated the DG for hosting them and congratulated him on his appointment as the new Director General of the Voice of Nigeria. Also he informed the DG that he has finished writing a book and very soon hell be invited for the book launch.

The students were taken to the Nigerian Army museum as the last place of the excursion. They were shown different historical artifacts about the Nigerian Army and some other artifacts that came up before the Nigerian Army, also some ancient war items that were bought by some of the emirates in Northern Nigeria and their significance.

The Director of the Museum, Brigadier General A.A Ahmed, encouraged the students to step down the information they have acquired to other students.

The next activity to mark the Career week was the 2nd edition of teachers workshop to strengthen and enhance their capacity in the areas of teaching and building a better nation, and it was held on Thursday at the multipurpose hall of Command Science and Technical Secondary school, Rinze, Akwanga, Nasarawa State.

Lt. Col Zando Danjuma, Commandant of the school, said he organized the 2nd edition of the workshop after seeing the great improvements the first edition had made on the teachers.

“this is the 2nd workshop we have had since my assumption of duty in March 2022, and I am impressed and happy because there was actually some level of change and improvements which was why we decided that there was need to reinforce and consolidate on those gains that were made after the conduct of the first workshop because I usually say that we ignore the teachers sometimes, making the to give and give, they have other needs too, they need to be retrained, they need to be in touch with global best practices, because evolutions, innovations are happening in several fields of the academia both technologically and even the trends in the society and there is just that need to understand the minds of the new generation of learners and how to get across to them better, so that is why there was a need for this workshop to take place. And I am really excited that this workshop happened and we hope to keep doing more because our teachers are the backbone of this school and without them we wont have any students here, we have students so we need to equip the teachers to give in their all and to enjoy doing what they are doing”.

Delivering his lecture titled, Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, the guest speaker, Dr Odagboyi Isaiah Amedu, Deputy Provost Academy, college of education Akwanga, stressed that as teachers, there are levels to improve intellectual capacity, such as educational training. He said they should always teach their students so that they can remember and apply what they have learned in class. Also, Dr Amedu said as a teacher, you must stand up if you do not want education to die in the country. His words,

“of this sliding down world, a teacher must stand up, the teacher must rise to his responsibility, if you do not do it, when this house collapse, it will collapse on all our head. Destroying any nation does not need the use of atomic bomb, or long range missiles, it only requires lowering the quality of education and allowing cheating in examination by the students”.

On their parts, Miss Mercy Lumumba, a staff in the school said the workshop is an eye opener to her and other staff. Mr. Dadu John Ayuba, the V.P Academy, expressed appreciation to the commandant and said he learned a lot in the area of lesson plan design from the guest speaker.

On Friday, the 10th of November, the students of Command Science and Technical Secondary school, Rinze Akwanga Nasarawa State, had a career day lecture. Commandant of the school, Lt. Col Zando Danjuma said he came up with this to motivate the staff and students so they can progress in their academic pursuit.

“This has been a rewarding week for the staff and students f the school, with a series of career lecture by different resource persons. Overall, the career week has been rewarding, the aim and objectives of it has been achieved with the kind of response from the students, they were prompted, enlightened and motivated, it was also a learning process for some of the students who were used as moderators, discussants and anchors for the various programmes. The kind of response, questions they asked, and interactions was really encouraging”.

The guest speakers in their separate lectures on different topics such as, Plotting your way to success: preparing for University and further education, Personal hygiene, Navigating the future: exploring career paths, skills and opportunities, and lastly an awareness campaign from NAPTIP.

Mr Onofiok Ekong, who spoke on Plotting your way to success: preparing for University and further education, said, after you know what you are interested in, what you are passionate in and what you can do, that is when you can start researching and checking career paths.

Talking about Personal Hygiene, Nurse Josephine Udolugh stressed that everybody needs to take care of his or herself to prevent us from getting diseases or getting sick, because as simple as brushing your teeth is, if you do not do that, you will develop dental caries and end up in the hospital. Good personal hygiene will help boost your self esteem and confidence.

On her part, Chief Root Commander B.N. Gambo of the Federal Road Safety Corps, Akwanga Command, said, when navigating the future and exploring career paths, skills and opportunities, mentoring is very important to grow more in your career choice and always try to adapt to change.

A special guest, HRH, Abubakar Salihu Badawuru, the Sarkin Ibi from Taraba state who graced the event admonished the students that they should see this as a huge opportunity to build themselves and make their parents proud.

The head boy Imran Abdullah and head girl, Periyemi Praise Kefas of CSTSS Rinze Akwanga, said they have learned a lot from the career day and got more inspired by the guest lecturers and they will highly recommend Command Science and Technical Secondary school, Rinze, Akwanga, Nasarawa state to students who are looking for a better future.