Category: UPLIFTing Education

Mrs. Amosun urges corporate organisations and wealthy individuals to support worthy causes by contributing their quotas in the quest to revamp our education sector. She stated this whilst inaugurating the block of four classrooms and three offices renovated by Airtel Nigeria, under its ‘Adopt-a-School’ scheme at St John’s Primary School, Ijebu-Igbo on the 9th of May, 2013.She said the initiative was in line with the policy of the Ogun State government to provide quality education to underprivileged children. “Airtel’s Adopt- a-School programme is in tandem with the policy of the Ogun State government, aimed to provide quality education to underprivileged children. As you know, Ogun State government is committed to creating a conducive learning environment where both privileged and underprivileged children would have access to quality education,” she explained. She counselled the pupils to be serious with their studies as it was the only way they could repay the company’s gesture. “It is not enough for you to dance and say thank you to Airtel. The telecom firm has extended this kind gesture to encourage you to become governors, presidents, doctors, lawyers, accountants etc. tomorrow, and you have to focus on your studies to make it worth their while” she said. The Company’s Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Mr. Segun Ogunsanya, said Airtel Nigeria was committed to alleviating poverty and illiteracy from the country through education. “Quality education offers children the best opportunity in life to realize their dreams and become the leaders of tomorrow. A great environment is also critical to the development of a sound mind. It is therefore in recognition of the importance of education and as part of our corporate social responsibility vision that we have committed to the adoption of public primary schools across Nigeria. We are adopting government–owned primary schools located in rural and semi- urban areas and providing them with requisite infrastructure and learning tools including classrooms, textbooks, furniture, school uniforms, school bags and relevant training to improve the teaching skills of our teachers,” he said.

Mrs. Amosun had also advised parents and guardians to pay more attention to the security of their children and wards. Speaking at the 4th Annual Ogun State Conference of the Counseling Association of Nigeria (CASSON) held at the Ultra Modern Hall of Babcock University High School, Ilisan-Remo on the 25th of April, 2013, the wife of the governor said security has become one major area of concern that we should pay attention to. “We should counsel our children/wards and students for them to be weary of making friends on the internet. They should also be told to be weary of strangers. The recent unpalatable stories in our society have made counseling more relevant today in Nigeria. Professionals as well as parents should be given necessary advice and guidance to address some of these security challenges. The theme of the conference: “Counseling for Security” is very apt,” she said. As a trained counselor and Grand Patron of CASSON Ogun State Chapter, the Wife of the Former Governor described the conference as one unique platform through which ideas can be shared and theories propounded to re position our society. “We need to come up with more strategies through which we can further contribute our quotas to the development of our society. We all have a responsibility to guide our society to the greater heights starting in our various home, through our children and wards” she said.

Similarly, the wife of the former governor had urged the students to embrace peace and always aspire to be the best in all their endeavors, imploring them not to focus on the reward of success but to let it serve as a motivational factor that would spur them to attain greater successes in life. She gave the advice at the 14th Redeemer’s Day celebration of The Redeemer’s Secondary School, Redemption Camp along Lagos/Ibadan Expressway, and Ogun State on Friday, 8th March, 2013. Mrs. Amosun seized the occasion to appreciate the organizers of the programme particularly the General Overseer of The Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor E. A. Adeboye and his wife, Pastor (Mrs.) Folu Adeboye for their efforts at ensuring both spiritual and educational growth of our children and also to appreciate them for their unflinching prayers for our dear State and Nigeria at large. “As the future leaders of this nation, you are expected to contribute your quota to its progress and development. Whatever you learn today would go a long way to enrich your lives and everyone around you,” she told the students.

At another occasion on the 24th of November 2012 inAbeokuta, Mrs. Amosun advised students to cultivate reading culture in order to perform excellently in their academic schools in Ogun State during the Global Reading Festival 2012 held at the Valley View Auditorium, Isale-lgbein in Abeokuta, the wife of the governor noted that it was important for students to hold on to the nuggets and principles of the “17 Secrets of High-flying Students” a book written by Mr. Fela Durotoye to improve the standard of education in the country. According to her, “You have the responsibility to yourself to always do the right thing, and when this is done you are working towards peace in the state, the nation and the world at large. ” It will be in your best interest to cultivate the habit of reading to excel in life.”Reading from the book, Mrs. Amosun highlighted the 17 secrets of high-flying students to include laws of decision, foresight, motivation, reward, concentration, sacrifice and the supernatural among others, saying it was only through hard work and determination that one could achieve greatness. A creed of promise was presented to the Wife of the Former Governor as an Ambassador of a generation that is empowered, motivated and spurred to life a life of integrity and honor. Earlier, the Coordinator of the Gemstone Global Reading Festival said the reading festival was aimed at reviving academic excellence in schools and educational institutions, which would in turn build Nigeria into the world’s most desirable nation to live. Mr. Durotoye was represented by Ogun State Director of Gemstone, Pastor Rotimi Bolaji, who said the book would be read simultaneously in 17 cities and 17 countries to encourage students to master the habit of reading in order to improve on their studies and become better students.

Wife of the Former Governor of Ogun State, Mrs. Olufunso Amosun at the Federal Polytechnic, Ilaro in Ogun State on the 9th of October, 2012, expressed her desire for equal access to education, training, science and technology for women and the girl-child as this would go a long way in empowering them and assist in the elimination of discrimination and promote the eradication of poverty. She stated this during the 6th National Conference of Women in Technical Education and Empowerment with the theme: “Enhancing Female Education and Employment in Science and Technology for Sustained National Transformation.” The wife of the former governor noted that the conference was a unique opportunity to re-examine our commitment towards the improvement o f women’ s participation in technical, vocational and professional education, stressing the need to help women acquire business, trade, information and entrepreneurship skill and to address the different setbacks facing women. She added that efforts should be intensified to respond to women’s clarion call in areas of research, development and scientific technology and to encourage children, most especially the girl-child, to show more interest in science and technology related subjects to enhance sustainable national development. Mrs. Amosun called on members of WITED to come up with programmes of action that would create education and training opportunities for women, saying their contributions to all fields of education and training had become more obvious hence the need to celebrate and encourage them to do more. She presented prizes and certificates to excelling female students in secondary, science subjects and asked the organizers of the event to identify the overall best student of the competition for upward sponsorship at the state level to motivate them to do more. In his address, the National Coordinator, Women in Technical Education and Employment (WITED), Engineer Francis Osiki submitted that the main o b j e c t i v e o f t h e conference was to identify problems confronting women in the areas of science and technology and to tackle them headlong to achieve a meaningful and realistic sustainable transformation. He commended women for getting more involved in science related fields, describing science and technology as a veritable tool for achieving national development which would enhance the socio- economic growth of any developing nation. Also speaking, the Rector, Federal Polytechnic Ilaro, Dr. R. A. Oloyo added that national transformation could never be achieved without paying due attention to the basic human needs and social requirements, noting that the conference would lead people particularly women to develop 21st Century skills and make them acquire values for good citizenship. Oloyo called on Nigerian youths to be awakened to the reality and importance of vocational and technical education, saying it was only through this, that the problems of unemployment among the youth and poverty among adults could be reduced.

On 20th of July, 2012, the maiden edition of Spelling Bee Competition for public secondary schools in Ogun State produced its first winner in person of Master Dansu Emmanuel of Community Senior High School,Tube in lpokia Local Government of the state. The grand finale of the maiden edition, which took place at Valley View Auditorium, lsale-lgbein, Abeokuta, brought together 60 students from 60 public secondary schools across the 20 local government areas of the state, and it was witnessed by the facilitator of the competition and Wife of the Former Governor of Ogun State, Mrs. Olufunso Amosun. The keenly contested outing also produced Master Remmy Emmanuel of Salawu Abiola Comprehensive High School, Osiele in Odeda Local second runner-up. Government area of the state as the first runner-up and Covenant Harrison of St. Peter’s Comprehensive College, Olomore, Abeokuta in Abeokuta North Local Government area of the state as the second runner-up. The winner of the competition was recognized as the Most Outstanding Speller in Ogun State, and he was presented with a cheque of N250,000, a trophy, a laptop and a scholarship award for his university education. The second and third positions were given Nl50,000 and Nl00,000 respectively. Speaking at the occasion, the Wife of the Former Governor of Ogun State urged the students to focus on their studies and promised to do everything within her reach to encourage them for a better performance in academic endeavors. Education has been variously described as the bedrock of growth and development in any given society. A child who can spell correctly stands a better chance of writing, reading and speaking effectively and by implication such child will surely excel in his/her academic undertakings. The Spelling Bee Competition is designed to motivate our children for them to improve on their education standards,”she said. In his remarks the state Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Barrister Olusegun Odubela said the competition was geared towards developing practical skills in vocabulary development and to groom students for leadership position, while promoting unity and national integration. The commissioner commended Mrs. Amosun for her contribution to the success of the competition and her laudable initiatives in complementing the efforts of her husband in bringing succour to the lives of the less privileged in the society through her various Uplifting the needy programmes particularly the Uplifting SS3 Students.

Wife of the Former Governor of Ogun State, Mrs.Olufunso Amosun has expressed her desire to support projects that would motivate students to pay better attention to their studies as part of the effort of the present administration’s mission to rebuild education standards in the State. Speaking at the signing of Memorandum of Understanding between the state government and the foundation/flag-off ceremony of the maiden edition of the Spelling Bee Competition for Secondary School students in Ogun State, Mrs. Amosun said the competition was designed to improve education standards in the state public schools and facilitate intellectual, mental and physical motivation. Describing the competition as a “successful educational strategy” and catalyst to improve spelling standards among students,” she said:”research has shown that there is direct correlation between spelling ability and reading ability, as such, spelling accuracy impacts positively on reading accuracy which go hand in hand with writing skills and by extension will improve the academic performance of our students.” Mrs. Amosun, however, noted that the spelling skills of our students have suffered a great setback in this era of advanced technology and high tech gadgets like computers and mobile phones which finish off words for us as we type. According to her, “This technology has made it possible to write words accurately without actually knowing how to spell the word at all! Words have been deformed and castrated through the constant use of slangs and slogans which have evolved into frequently used words which have almost confused us into accepting them as English words. Students have gotten into the habit of reinventing words through short forms in the name of SMS messages that sometimes require the service of a soothsayer to unravel the intended meaning of these reinvented words!” She noted that the Spelling Bee Com petition was designed “to improve English Language learning in schools, paying particular attention to spellings,” adding that “the competition is aimed at encouraging academic excellence in our schools generally. We are convinced that this competition will raise the bar of educational standards in our schools.” Mrs. Amosun added that the competition would go a long way in boosting the self-confidence and the study habits of students, because “to compete and emerge as the winner of this kind of competition the student must truly have studied hard.” The competition, which is open to all secondary school students across the 20 local government areas in Ogun State, was expected to assist students in building their vocabulary, strengthen their proficiency in English Language and encourage students to constantly strive for academic excellence. The governor’s wife noted that the Senator lbikunle Amosun administration has identified education as one of the government’s five important cardinal points and as such, primary and secondary education is completely free, whilst tertiary education is handsomely subsidized in Ogun State. Building on this laudable gesture, she explained that the New Era Foundation, which has successfully organised the competition over the years in Lagos State, was partnering with her in collaboration with the Ogun State Ministry of Education, Science and Technology to stage the competition in Ogun State and make it an annual event. Also speaking at the occasion, the state Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Barrister Olusegun Odubela said the competition would promote and improve study habits among pupils and students and it would prove as a valuable tool for achieving the state’s educational goals. He charged the students to take advantage of the Spelling Bee Competition to improve on their reading habits and general academic performance, saying this would help them in all their future endeavors.