Speeches

2008 Sir Michael Agbolade Otedola Foundation Scholarship Award

Nov 26, 2008 - I am delighted to be here again, almost at the same time a year ago when I visited for a similar purpose. The vision and mission of the Otedola family with respect to the founding and funding of educational institutions and providing scholarship to indigent students from Epe is commendable and worthy of emulation. I am not at all surprised because Papa has always demonstrated that visionary leadership qualities that have made him to stand out among his peers.

May I, therefore commend the former governor of Lagos State, Sir Michael Otedola for instituting this scholarship scheme under the Sir Michael Otedola Foundation for indigent students from Epe and the Management of Zenon Petroleum and Gas Limited which three years ago took over the running of the now yearly event with the seed sum of N200 million. Your effort to expand the frontier of primary and tertiary education in the State is a great service to the citizens of Lagos State and indeed humanity.

We live in a globalised, knowledge based economy in which education remains a vital and probably the best foundation and legacy that can be bequeathed to the people. In addition to land and capital, labour that is provided by well educated men and women makes for the growth and development of any country. A people and country that play with the value of education do so at their own peril. But qualitative education that enlightens people and wakes up their creative powers is capital intensive requiring consistent funding, particularly in emerging economies such as ours. The reason is simple. The available infrastructure is weak and in some cases it is virtually non-existent, requiring the need for heavy capital outlay that often stretches the resources available to government beyond its capacity. Often times, governments have to grapple with many competing priorities that must be solved in order to enhance and achieve balanced and even development. Considering its value therefore, education is and will always remain a priority in the scheme of the government and well meaning patriotic citizens.

The provision of scholarship by public and private institutions has remained the favoured path to bringing brilliant but indigent students into the education net and bridge the gap between the have and have-nots in society. At the teething age of our country’s nationhood, the Federal and State governments literally competed to provide scholarship for Nigerians students up to doctorate level in the universities. But this gesture waned with the passage of time and the mismanagement of our resources and lost of focus and priority. Now, infrastructure is stretched thin, the required resources are unavailable and the population of students seeking admission to our schools have more than tripled over the years.

As one of the chief priorities of government, education requires the involvement of all stakeholders and well meaning individuals in society. In Lagos State, where this lack appears in bold relief considering the teeming youth population of its 18 million persons, we have been addressing the problem of indigence and the financially disadvantaged group by awarding scholarship and bursary to students of higher institutions of learning in order to provide a level playing field for all children of schooling age. At the secondary school level, we continue to pay WAEC/SSCE fees for students in public schools. We recently started the provision of free text books in core subjects to pupils and students in our public schools. Apart from embarking on massive rehabilitation of our schools, training our teachers and providing them with enough incentive to do their work comfortably, we believe that providing free education in our schools will not only restore self esteem to our people but also make them active participants in the developmental process.

It is in this light that I value today’s scholarship award ceremony. It is not only a testimony of the humanitarian zeal of Sir Michael Otedola to render service to his fellow human being, but also a demonstration of the corporate social responsibility of the Management of Zenon Petroleum and Gas limited. The State government is proud to be associated with such golden deeds and laudable initiatives.

I salute your vision and call on all well meaning Nigerians in their individual and corporate capacities to emulate this gesture. It is a conscientious display of a healthy partnership that should exist between the public and private sectors so that together we can build a society in which the virtues of solidarity, justice and equity reign.

I thank you for listening and wish the beneficiaries successful completion of their studies.

“Eko O Ni Baje”

BABATUNDE RAJI FASHOLA (SAN)
GOVERNOR OF LAGOS STATE