Concerned with the falling standards of education, the Wife of the Former Governor of Ogun State, Mrs. Olufunso Amosun, in her bid to motivate students to pay more attention to their academics, applied the reward system strategy as a catalyst, hoping to motivate students to perform in their SS3 examinations. This she did by notifying all students well ahead of the examination period and whilst the exams were going on, that the most outstanding student in each of the 20 local government areas of Ogun State, would be accompanying her abroad for a Leadership Training Program as a reward for good performance. Announcements were made on television, radio
jingles were aired and newspaper write ups were published,
As soon as the the exam results were officially released, the Office of the Wife of the Former Governor of Ogun State, through the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, approached the West African Examination Council Office to ascertain right from source, the names of the most outstanding students in government owned secondary schools from each of the 20 local government areas of the State.
On November 26th, 2012, with all necessary logistics in place, after a prayer session and send forth ceremony that had the students, teachers, parents, religious heads and spouses of government functionaries in attendance, the 20 best students were sent off for a two week Leadership and Training Program to the United Kingdom.On arrival to the United Kingdom, The student’s first port of call was the Nigerian Embassy in England. Here they were warmly welcomed by the UK Ambassador to Nigeria, His Excellency, Senator Dr. Dalhatu Sarki at the Nigeria House.
The Ambassador arranged for all high ranking officials and Ministers at the Nigerian House, to receive the students in the conference room, where each Minister introduced themselves to the students, and explained their job description to them as well as the purpose and essence of the Embassy. The students later had the opportunity to partake in an interactive session with a Member of Parliament, Amber Rudd, representing Hastings/Rye Constituency. This interaction could be described as one of the defining moments for the students as they had the rare privilege of tapping from the fountain of Rudd’s parliamentary experiences. It was indeed a huge honor and rare privileged for the students.
From the Embassy, which is in the heart of London, the students journeyed on to the Leadership Camp destination in Hastings by train, to commence the intensive 12 day leadership program. The program was intellectually challenging as it consisted of daily lessons from 9am to 3pm at Buckswood School, Hastings in the United Kingdom on most days, followed by sporting activities and other social interactions at the end of each day.
As we all know that all work and no play makes jack a dull boy, fun activities were also incorporated into their trip. During the course of their stay, the students were privileged to visit the House of Lords and House of Commons in Central London, they had the opportunity to experience live stage theatre as they watched a play at London Victoria Station Theatre titled “Wicked”. The students were taken on a tour of London on the hop on, hop off tour bus to view sights such as the Buckingham Palace, Tower Bridge, London Bridge, Trafalgar Square, Big Ben amongst other tourist attractions and also went on a river boat cruise to appreciate the view along the river Thames in Central London.
They were not allowed to miss out on the Odeon and popcorn experience either, as they were taken to the movies to watch the latest James Bond film, titled “Sky Fall”. Back in Hastings they visited the Castle and Smugglers’ Cave and they we allowed a shopping day to spend the pocket money Mrs. Amosun provided them with. All funding for the students’ flight tickets, accommodation, feeding, transportation and training programme was secured through sponsorship from various well meaning philanthropists through the Uplift Development Foundation.
On arrival, the state Former Governor His Excellency Senator Ibikunle Amosun FCA, was on hand to welcome them back home along with all the members of the executive council in Ogun State. The students were given the opportunity to recount their experience to all present and take pictures with the EXCO members. Impressed with them, the state Former Governor, His Excellency Senator Ibikunle Amosun FCA, offered all the students full sponsorship to any Ogun State University where they had been offered admission.
Mrs. Amosun is optimistic that the intent and purpose of this program, which is to improve educational standards among students in schools, shall be achieved, and she anxiously awaits the impact of the program to manifest through significant improvement in the 2013, SS3 examination results. This she says will give her the moral justification to boldly approach all well meaning citizens and corporate bodies across Nigeria to come to her aid one more time by sponsoring the program in 2013.
