Adedoyin Ajifolokun Memorial Foundation (AAMF) Celebrates Outstanding Students at Scholarship Awards Ceremony

In a continued effort to support academic excellence and ensure quality education, the Adedoyin Ajifolokun Memorial Foundation (AAMF) hosted its annual Scholarship Award Ceremony in Ere-Ijesa, Oriade local government, Osun state, recognizing some of Ijesaland brightest young minds.

The program was held on November 14th, 2024, at the Adedoyin Ajifolokun Memorial Hall, Prinaj Hotel, Resort and Suites, Ere Ijesa, Osun State.

This initiative, which is the AAMF little way of encouraging students to be more serious in their studies and to encourage increment in the patronage of public school education in Osun State, encompasses Interschool science based quiz competition organized among public senior secondary schools in Ijesa North Federal Constituency (Obokun/Oriade), to honour the best schools from each local government as well as the overall best three schools from the constituency. Also, the overall best three (3) students were awarded Scholarship to tertiary institutions..

Key Attendees and Notable Guests

The ceremony was graced by several esteemed guests and stakeholders, including the Osun State commissioner for Education, Hon. Eluwole Sunday Adedipo and the Director Science, mathematics and technical in the Osun State Ministry of Education.

There were also the presence of traditional rulers that included HRM Oba Adeyemi Adediran, Owamiran of Esa-Oke, HRM Oba Akeem Olusayo Ogungbangbe, Owaloko of lloko-ljesa and HRM Oba (Engr.) Olufemi Agunsoye- Elegboro of ljebu-Jesa and HRM Oba Adebisi Owoeye- Olodogo of Odogo-ljesa and the royal host HRM Oba Augustine Alowolodu, the Elere of Ere-Ijesa.

Teachers and students from various schools of the local government areas were also in attendance.

Driving Positive Change through Education

Hon. Eluwole Sunday Adedipo, Osun State Commissionner for Education, delivered an inspiring speech emphasizing on combating social vices among Nigerian students in both tertiary institutions and secondary schools as he urged the new scholarship recipients to take full advantage of this opportunity, encouraging them to pursue excellence, and contribute positively to society.

Prof. Akingbehin, in lecture titled "The State of Educational System.in Nigeria, applauded AAMF unwavering commitment to education, even amid economic challenges.

"Poverty is not is not a barrier to educational breakthroughs, a golden fish doesn't have a hidden place and if you are brilliant, you are brilliant". He said as he encouraged the students

Prof Akingbehin also decried the situation where the Ere-Ijesa Community High School could not produce a science student under the present educational system operating in Osun State.

"At the preliminary stage of the competition, I was informed that there is no student offering science subject in SS3 of Ere-Ijesa Community High School. This is a case for concern." He lamented

Investment in Youth Education: A Catalyst For Future Development

Full Text of A Paper Presented by Mr. Wale Idowu rpa, at the ceremony

What is Investment?

Investment is the use of money and other tangible and intangible assets for a Venture for the purpose of making profit.

Investment in Education however, is the deployment of money and other resources which include time, efforts, goodwill, intellectual property etc. to build schools, pay teachers, register with regulatory authorities etc.

Education is a service sector. Investment in the education sector is largely to produce educated and skilled men and women who will contribute to the socioeconomic and political development of a community or a Nation.

In the case of AAMF, (a nongovernmental and nonprofit organization), the foundation is investing in a social service without any profit motive. Their aim is to assist the beneficiaries, their families and the overall development of our nation.

The three lucky schools receiving monetary awards are expected to use the bounty for the upgrade of the school infrastructure.

What's the difference between AAMF and Olasore International School?

What areas of your school need priority attention?

Back to the issue of elementary school.

I, Michael Adewale IDOWU finished my primary education at St. Mary's Catholic School, Ilesa. It was originally a Missionary school with preponderance of Catholic faithful parents. The tradition then was for graduating pupils to transit to St. Lawrence Catholic High School thereby sustaining the legacy of Catholicism embedded in the character and integrity of the school.

In those days, there was allegiance to those primary schools both within and outside the school. Every pupil took it as a duty to protect the image of their schools.

Looking back, many of those schools produced Professors, Ministers, Governors and even Presidents under whose noses the primary education collapsed.

Gradually, secondary education became a victim of mismanagement and unattractive to these policy makers including teachers who now prefer to train their children in private fee paying schools.

Today, the public university system is fastly losing its verve such that a sitting president and his Vice established their own universities in gross violation of moral and ethical principles.

Whereas, the legendary Awo, Chief Obafemi Awolowo as the Premier of the western region enrolled all his children in public schools in Ibadan.

The decay in education which started with the elementary education gradually infested all the strata of education up to the tertiary level in the name of liberalization policy.

Back here in Ijesaland, the elites of yesteryears, Onibonoje, Fadahunsi,

Makinwa, Familusi allowed their children to mix freely with us as classmates.

We matched and sang together.

Pade mi ni Paadi....

At other times we compared our schools thus*Ilori olowo, Otapete onijekuje, Paadi ajebo etc.

The decay in the education sector started manifesting with the incursion of military administration which collapsed Parliamentary system of government. Then, came a new crop of bourgeoisie who believes that there children must elitist and distinctive.

This was the reason why Nigeria spent $1.5t on foreign education in 2021.

Little wonder that the nation's currency continues it's free fall!

It must be stressed that both the public and private schools have ample space to coexist but there is nowhere in the world where public education is subordinated to the private system.

On the part of the parents, how many of those sponsoring their children with the humongous fees abroad will be ready to part with a quarter of the fees for the transformation of domestic institutions?

It is clear from the foregoing that successive governments in Nigeria have failed the youth thereby destroying their future.

It is also an incontrovertible fact that Nigeria is in dire need of a leader that is bold, courageous, compassionate, perceptive and widely experienced to change perennial narrative of a people on the downward slope.

I submit that Nigeria earnestly desires a crisis manager that is in a hurry to work with a rescue team to pull through this emergency period in our education life.

What next?

A countless number of seminar papers have been presented plus numerous speeches coupled with myriads of policy propositions without effective implementation.

Instead, we have been witnessing injurious policies which often to policy somersaults.

Example is the extermination of Grade Two College system which serves as the harbinger of natural teachers.

What about the elevation of University education to the detriment of technical education which is the bedrock for manufacturing and economic development!!

THE AAMF OPTION

Investment in youth education takes different forms and is generally geared toward fulfilling different purposes.

The types of education which attracts investment include but not limited to primary, secondary, technical, tertiary and seminary.

Upon completing the cycle of education, we are presented with any of the following; clerical officers, literary giants, vocation and skilled labour and manpower developers yet the greatest obstacle to fulfillment of dream of education has always been poverty.

This is the juncture where the role of AAMF becomes messianic in the life of the six students and three beneficiary-schools.

This gesture of the Foundation is iconic though the process of picking the beneficiaries desires reconfiguration particularly with respect to the application of Quiz competition as the basis for measuring competency.

In today's world, technology is central to the new education order. So also, skill acquisition complements academic training.

School to Work paradigm has influenced the expansion of the education curriculum in favour of Vocational training from the primary school.

Attention should focus on the latent talent of the students henceforth. The creative ability of some students can propel Cottage production.

For practical purposes, I advise that the next phase of AAMF project should challenge the Students creativity.

Luckily, we have Technical Colleges around us. IJESA sponsored students of Leventis Foundation have also been churning out modern farming equipment in air of mechanized farming.

Quiz competition is a good elixir for building students confidence and invigorates mental alertness as well promotes general knowledge.

Owaloko of Iloko-Ijesa Oba Akeem Ogungbangbe's goodwill message

"Successful regimes especially in Osun State have tried their possible best to revive the educational sector but the truth is that they were coming from the background of imported ideas without looking at the real homegrown solutions" Oba Ogungbangbe said while referring to the era of Osun Mega schools.under the school merger system. He appealed to the government to employ more teachers to relief some of the traditional rulers that use their meagre resources to employ PTA teachers in the public schools located in their domains. He also hammered on the maintenance and renovation of the existing school structures to make public schools attractive. "We need to do what will stimulate the students to go to school. He argued as he advised the students to think about their tomorrow in taking actions today.

The scholarship award ceremony saw the beneficiaries students being officially presented with their grants. This comprehensive support covers tuition, book allowances, and a stipend, and will continue annually until graduation as long as the scholars maintain the required academic performance.

The program provides recipients with financial relief, allowing them to focus fully on their studies and excel.

Elefosan Grammar School, Ipetu-Ijesa emerged as best schools in Oriade/Obokun Federal Constituency. Second place went to Ijebujesa Grammar School, ijebujesa as Imesi-ile High school, Imesi-ile clinched the third position.

The best students for the scholarship award into the universities are; Omotayo Oluwasanmi of Elefosan Grammar School, Ipetu-Ijesa, Chibueze Christian also of Elefosan Grammar School, Ipetu-Ijesa and Olajubu Ruth of Imesi-Ile High School, Imesi-Ile.

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