Encomiums have followed the donation of two million exercise books to public primary school pupils in Lagos State by an All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain, Alhaji Abiodun Sunmola.
The philanthropist, who started the distribution with schools in Kosofe Local Government Education Authority (LGEA) penultimate week, said he had put mechanisms in place to ensure he meets the two million books target.
Speaking at the presentation of some of the books at SUBEB Hall, Maryland, Sunmola said he had purchased printing machines to facilitate smooth production and distribution of the books.
“I have procured a line of machines to produce the exercise books, not for sale but purposely for free distribution to our children. This has been my vision for a long time. Initially, I employed the services of commercial printers to produce them for me in their factories but often get disappointed because they often failed to deliver on schedule. Today, we don’t have to rely on them and we can plan our production to meet the time of our needs,” he said.
Officials of the Lagos State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), teachers, parents and others praised Sunmola, who has initiated so many projects to improve teaching and learning in public schools since 2007 – with many of them calling on others to emulate him.
The projects include: distribution of school uniforms and writing materials to pupils in Kosofe, provision of mid-day meals to 1,000 pupils of Araromi Primary School, Gbagada, repair and distribution of classroom furniture to 40 schools in Kosofe, Agboyi-Ketu and Ikosi Isheri Local Government Development Associations, construction and rehabilitation of classroom blocks, among others.
SUBEB Chairman, Mrs Gbolahan Daodu, described the septuagenarian as a role model.
She said: “Words cannot be enough to express our gratitude to this great leader, philanthropist per excellence, and passionate Nigerians who has always been concerned about the growth of our schools. This man is a role model and source of inspiration to many of us. The most singular exemplary thing he has done is the school feeding programme that he has been doing since the last five years in Gbagada where over 1,000 pupils are fed daily. Before he started, there were only 300 pupils but now the population has grown to over 1,000. And he has expanded it to other schools – though not food but biscuit and water.”
Attesting to the effectiveness of the school feeding programme, Special Adviser to the Lagos State Governor on Primary Education, Mrs Abosede Ottun, who served as a head teacher of Araromi Primary School, Gbagada, said the measure retains more pupils in school and keps them in better health.
“When he started, we realised that it is a retention strategy. When a child eats, that child continues to listen. We used to rush children to the General Hospital regularly but with the feeding, it stopped. In some schools, we started biscuit and water; and as long as the pupils go to school, they get biscuit and water so they are retained in school,” she said.
Chairman, Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), Kosofe chapter, Comrade Felix Orisaheyi, said many of Pa Sunmola’s projects addressed areas of neglect in schools.
“How I wish other Nigerians would do same. What he has done was left undone for many years. As a teacher, I want to commend him . He gave gifts to our retiring head teachers after 35 years of service,” he said.
