The Founder and Chief Executive Officer of the Ernest Bebenimibo Foundation (EBF), Dcn. Ernest Bebenimibo, has lamented the persistent challenge of teachers' absenteeism from official duties in rural riverine schools in Delta State.

Bebenimibo made the observation during the Foundation's Phase 2 Street2School project visit to primary and secondary schools in the riverine Warri South-West council area of the state from Tuesday, October 28, to Wednesday, October 29, 2025.

The schools visited are Igade Nursery and Primary School in Diebiri/Batan Clan, Ikpere Secondary School and Ikpere Nursery and Primary School in Ode-Igborodo (Ugborodo). Others are Toriyo Primary School, Opuedebobor; Egogo Primary School, Ijaghala; and Oweijubiri Primary School, Ikantu, all in Gbaramatu Kingdom.

During the tour, over 2,800 pupils and students benefitted from the distribution of learning materials that comprise two 2,000 school bags, 10,000 branded notebooks, 1,000 Branded Mathematical Sets, and writing materials consisting of pencils, biros, erasers, and sharpeners.

Asides gifting pupils and students with learning materials, the Foundation's Founder also motivated them with the message of "Hope", using his background of education in the creeks to inspire them to "Dream Big", while reminding them that their tomorrow is more brighter than their today.

Speaking to the news media at the end of the tour, Dcn. Bebenimibo, accompanied by his wife, Mrs. Loveth, decried the situation where teachers that are assigned to schools in riverine areas abscond from their duty post.

He noted that such act is detrimental to learning and works against the objective of the Street2School project of the EBF as pupils and students armed with learning materials lack instructors to guide them.

"If you go to the local government headquarters, you will see numbers of teachers that are assigned to a particular school. So, what I would advise is that the local government authority has a lot to do. Even the local government representatives, the councillors, and the CIE, they have a lot to do. And even the community reps, they have a lot to do by reporting back to the local government education authority.

"Even we, on our own as NGO, we have been doing this. At the end of every Street2School programme, we report back to the local government headquarters, that look at teachers that are assigned to a particular school. We went there, and we saw only two or one, whereas about 10 to 15 teachers are assigned to that particular school," he added.

The EBF Founder tasked stakeholders to play their role collectively to help curb the persistent challenge "to see that teachers that are assigned to schools must be in that school to impact the lives of our children."

Speaking further on the reach of the Street2School initiative, he said, "In time past, we expand our coast to Bayelsa State, to Ondo State, to Edo State and other interior villages cut across Delta Central, Delta North and Delta South.

"One of our vision next year, if Jesus tarries, by the special grace of God, we will be launching out of Niger Delta, even out of Nigeria to those ECOWAS countries bordering Nigeria so that we will be impacting the life of students and people in Africa as well," he revealed.

View photos of EBF visits to Toriyo Primary School, Egogo Primary School, and Oweijubiri Primary School, in Opuedebubor, Ijaghala, and Ikantu respectively, here: 

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