Oyo launches ETF, sponsors best WASSCE students
Eminent personalities and corporate organisations including traditional rulers, captains of industry, philanthropists and political class on Tuesday donated generously towards the Oyo State Education Trust Fund.
The state government also awarded scholarship and free admission to Technical University, Ibadan to the two best students of the state who came first and second in the West Africa Secondary School Examination (WASCE).
Governor Abiola Ajimobi announced the awards to the two students, Miss Irabor Isabelle Gelegu and Master Adekunle Oluwatoni Adedigba of Oritamefa Baptist Model School, who scored A1 parallel in all subjects to be the best students in Nigeria in the 2017 WASSCE at the official launch of the state ETF, held in Ibadan.
Governor Ajimobi stated that the fund would go a long way in restoring the education legacy of late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, saying that the importance of education to the growth of the state and Nigeria cannot be overemphasised.
He enjoined all citizens to contribute to the upliftment of the sector and to restore the pride of the state as the intellectual capital of the nation.
“The wealth of the future does not lie in some natural resources buried underground, but in the minds of young learners, and it is our duty to unlock and unleash these potentials,” he said.
The leading countries today, according to him, are leading because they have the best of brains; they have the mind and the right attitude.
“Since the resources that we have do not match the resources that we need, we must take more steps to get to where we desire. We must think out of the box,” he added.
Oyo ETF is therefore a crucial step in restoring the legacy of the great Chief Obafemi Awolowo who laid the example to follow, the governor said.
Ajimobi appreciated the efforts of the state House of Assembly and the board of Oyo State Education Trust Fund, led by Dr (Mrs) Onikepo Akande, for making the dream of floating a fund that would change the face of education in the state come true.
He also hailed the contributions of stakeholders towards the policy change and the consequence that led to the state having the best students’ performance in the 2017 WASCE in the last 18 years.
In his remarks, Oba Rilwan Akinolu of Lagos said all hands must be on deck to restore the glory of education in the country, noting that ETF would bring back the fortune of education in the state.
Oba Akinolu expressed gratitude to the state government for its effort towards restoring education in the state, saying, “I will contribute to this noble objective and will continue to support the ETF.”
Speaking, the ETF Chairman, Dr Akande, assured that the outcome of the fund would usher in a new dawn for education in the state, lamenting the poor state of educational facilities and personnel in the state.
She said, “Education is very critical to the progress of any nation. In the past, education was taken with a high degree of seriousness to the extent that some families had to sacrifice one thing or the other to educate their children.
“It is however a sad development to note that the state of education in this same part of the country has become so poor that we cannot be seen to be setting any pace in education as it used to be in the past,” she lamented.
“It is in view of the need to resuscitate the lost glory and to improve the quality of education in the state that Governor Ajimobi initiated the idea of the fund and we promise to be prudent with the funds,” she assured.