As part of her pet project and furthering the ideals of House of Oduduwa Foundation of Ooni Adeyeye Ogunwusi, reigning Queen Moremi Ajasoro recently visited some schools in Ijegun, a Lagos suburb. Omolara Akintoye reports.
QUEEN Moremi Ajasoro, Miss Shola Shittu visited some schools in Ijegun, a suburb of Lagos to celebrate their End of Session activities in a bid to identify with indigent children.
During her visit to about four schools in the area, she offered scholarships to some indigent children who were having difficulties paying their school fees.
Miss Shittu, who was represented by Mrs Vivian Onyebukwa, said at the end of the tour that the gesture was in line with her pet project of caring for less-privileged children.
“I am pleased to associate myself with children in the suburbs to see and feel their pains. This is in line with the vision of his imperial majesty, the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi.
“His vision of giving back to the society is directly implemented through the House of Oduduwa Foundation and managed by Princess Ronke Ademiluyi, who sent me to this area,” she said.
According to her, “there are so many children out there who cannot afford to go to school due to one reason or the other, and that is what we have set out to do.”
At Holy Family School, Ijegun, the queen awarded scholarship to Kamoli Olajide, a student who just gained promotion from junior school to the senior school.
She said Olajide was selected because he lost his father and his mother had an accident that has literally incapacitated her from any physical job for several months.
She added that she would be offering more scholarships to more less-privileged school children through the kind gesture of the House of Oduduwa Foundation during subsequent visits.
“These children are blessings from God to our parents and we must offer a hand of fellowship to encourage them to achieve their goals; and when we do so, we are also helping to reduce crime in the society.
“If we don’t encourage these children to go to school, they would eventually be lured into youth vices such as gangsterism, cultism, cybercrime, and several other vices in the society,” she said.
Shittu also urged parents to monitor their children whenever they return home, adding that the contemporary children pick up bad traits from schools.
She further advised the three student beneficiaries moving from junior school to the senior school, Kamoli Olajide, Blessing Kelechi and Angela Obute, who have spent 12 years in school to remain focus and consistent in their studies.
Reacting to the offer, mother of one of the recipients, Mrs Adebisi Olajide, who wept with joy, thanked the queen and all who assisted by selecting her son.
“I thank Queen Moremi and Oduduwa Foundation, for giving me this great offer; may God continue to bless her and her team. I also thank Oba Ogunwusi, the Ooni of Ife, the great giver, who is promoting this project of reaching out to the less privileged in the society.
“I want to also thank the foundation, managed by the queen’s cultural ambassador, Princess Ronke Ademiluyi, who sent the queen to our local area. May God bless them and give them the spirit to reach out to more families,” she said.
The recipient, Kamoli Olajide, while appreciating the offer, said the queen has restored his lost hope of continuing with his senior secondary school education which was almost lost.
“I thank God for this offer by the queen because my mum initially said that she would not be able to continue with my senior school education.
“She said I would remain a tailor, which I have been learning after school hours for some time because there was no one to assist her,” he said.
The school’s Parents Teachers’ Association (PTA) chairperson, Mrs. Ethel Orji commended the queen for showing an act of humility and care for the less-privileged in the society.
“We are highly honoured to have the beauty queen in our midst. Coming to a local area such as ours to mix up with less-privileged children and most amazingly, offering hope to the downtrodden, shows her humility” she said.
The coordinator of the school, Mr Gerald Emejom said the visit of the queen was a boost to not just the school, but the community. He urged other celebrities to emulate her kind gesture.
A science teacher in the school, Victor Mbuba, appealed to the Ooni to assist them with computers and boost the laboratory rooms, in a bid to encourage more science children.
Also speaking, the proprietor of Alex Schools, which performed the “Queen Moremi Ajasoro” dance drama, Mr Alex Akin, commended the Ooni of Ife for promoting culture through this project of the queen.
“It is a nice thing that an oba is projecting our tradition and culture through this Queen Moremi project and bringing it down to our children in schools.
“He deserves good commendation because our children are fast losing their culture, which I believe should be tackled as fast as possible through such a programme, ” he said.
According to the proprietor of Prevailer Schools, Mr Austeen Agali, the House of Oduduwa Foundation is doing a good job by reaching the less-privileged children in the suburbs.
He noted that immediate past Miss Nigeria, Chioma Obiadi, came to Ijegun in 2017 to share the plights of the down-trodden children, and expressed joy that Queen Moremi is doing same. He then urged other beauty queens to emulate such gestures.
“It is not just enough to become a beauty queen without having to reach out, feel and witness the life of the down-trodden. This action alone has boosted the queen’s personality.
According to Mrs. Alli, the proprietor of Matoik Schools, Atan, who was a guest, the House of Oduduwa Foundation that is promoting the queen should extend this gesture to more schools.
“This visit will remain in the minds of these children and would encourage them in humility and sacrifice.” She said.
The queen also gave out gift items to school children during her visit to Holy Family Schools, Alex School, Privailer School and Patrician School, all with the suburb.
Highlight of the event was a colourful Bata dance, a specially composed song for the queen by Holy Family School and the Queen Moremi Ajasoro dance drama by Alex School.
