In what stands as one of the biggest private infrastructure interventions in Ebonyi State this year, the Eleemosy Empowerment & Relief Foundation has handed over a fully reconstructed primary school to the Ishieke community in Ebonyi LGA complete with new classroom blocks, modern furnishings, and essential materials for every child enrolled.
The project, commissioned on Sunday May 31st, 2026, was funded by Cornelius Oroke, CEO of PaxalPay and Vice President 3 ( Strategic, membership and partnership) of SiBAN. This project among others shows the growing commitment of members within our association in driving social impact beyond business. The foundation reconstructed three deteriorating classroom blocks, added six new ones, and built a functional administrative office at the Iziola Community Nursery and Primary School now equipped to accommodate 300 nursery and primary-level pupils.
They didn't just build the school. Every classroom received modern lockers and whiteboards. Every child was provided school bags, books, and footwear provisions that carry real weight in communities where the cost of basic materials remains a quiet barrier to consistent school attendance.This is not the foundation’s first project in the area. The community borehole came before the school as a result of a strategy of investment in the same disadvantaged region.
During his interview with SiBAN, he was asked to explain his main drive for conducting this project, "In my growing years, I asked myself how I can impact my community and cause a change? Rather than using my money to spend on various clubs and other frivolities, I would use my money to impact my community and make a difference," revealed by Oroke during his interview.
He clearly explained what was at stake if such an investment was not made: "Any country does not lose its future because it lacks resources but when it misses education. No resource is more hazardous to any country than ignorance. And no resource can save any country other than education.”
SiBAN recognises members whose leadership reaches beyond their industry into the communities that will produce the next generation of builders, thinkers, and innovators.
