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<\/p>\nFormer Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has warned that Nigeria is \u201cpaying a heavy price\u201d for the neglect of its education system, describing many of the nation\u2019s schools as \u201cbroken\u201d and \u201cunderfunded.\u201d<\/p>\n
Osinbajo spoke at the 94th Founders\u2019 Day celebration of Igbobi College, where he stressed that the foundations of leadership are laid long before adulthood.<\/p>\n
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\u201cThe discipline of waking up at 5:30 AM and the \u2018lights out\u2019 rules in secondary school are what actually build great leaders,\u201d he said. \u201cThe habits that sustain adults are formed in school, not improvised later in life.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to Osinbajo, the roots of effective leadership extend beyond public office. \u201cBy the time a child turns 18, their ethical instincts are already likely formed,\u201d he noted, adding that national leadership failures often reflect weaknesses in foundational education.<\/p>\n
The event was moderated by Professor of Strategy and Development, Prof. Anthony Kila, and centred on the theme: \u201cBuilding Generational Strength for Educational Institutions in Nigeria.\u201d<\/p>\n
Osinbajo used the occasion to advocate for endowments as a strategic tool for sustaining educational institutions. He described an endowment as a pool of funds or assets donated by individuals or corporations and set aside to support schools over the long term.<\/p>\n
\u201cMany great institutions are backed by large endowments that sustain their operations for decades,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cEndowments are not just about financial provision; they are about sustaining standards, cultures, values and norms. It is not just continuity, but continuation of an ethos and a world.\u201d<\/p>\n
He recalled that Igbobi College, founded in 1932 by Anglican and Methodist missionaries, was itself built on endowment support. While the school charges fees, Osinbajo explained, the moral and civic environment that shaped generations of students was made possible by earlier philanthropic sacrifices.<\/p>\n
Reflecting on his own career in public service, he attributed his principled stance in government to values instilled during his secondary school years. \u201cI served in several governments, but I was never able to be sycophantic,\u201d he said. \u201cIngrained in me is an abhorrence of empty praise. Yet we learned respect for hierarchy, balance and self-respect.\u201d<\/p>\n
In response to the institution’s challenges, the Igbobi College Old Boys’ Association (ICOBA) unveiled a \u20a610 billion Endowment Fund to revitalise the school and secure its legacy for the next century.<\/p>\n
Chief Yomi Badejo-Okusanya, the 12th President of ICOBA, announced that the fund would finance new hostels, upgrade science laboratories and introduce advanced learning technologies. He assured stakeholders that professional asset managers, Chapel Hill Denham, would oversee the fund to ensure accountability.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t want anyone to \u2018use the money anyhow,\u2019\u201d he said, urging alumni to contribute generously. Quoting an Igbo proverb \u2014 \u201cGood soup na money kill am\u201d \u2014 he emphasised that quality requires investment and long-term commitment, even encouraging contributions from the estates of deceased alumni.<\/p>\n
Representing the Governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education, Jamiu Tolani Alli-Balogun, pledged government support for initiatives such as ICOBA\u2019s fund.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen a school like Igbobi produces disciplined individuals, it helps the government save money on social problems and strengthens the leadership pipeline for the nation,\u201d he said, linking educational quality to infrastructure management and national development.
\nChairman of the lecture, Mr Ademola Adeyemi-Bero, described endowment as a shift from \u201cshort-term intervention to long-term institutional stability,\u201d underscoring the need for structured, professional management of educational assets.<\/p>\n
Osinbajo concluded with a reminder of education\u2019s generational impact. \u201cEvery investment in a school is an investment in the future of the country,\u201d he said. \u201cOur early leaders did not emerge by accident; they were shaped by schools deliberately protected from volatility.\u201d<\/p>\n
The former vice president, who attended Igbobi College between 1969 and 1975, recalled receiving the State Merit Award and the African Statesman Intercollegiate Best Speaker\u2019s Prize \u2014 achievements he credited to the institution’s disciplined, value-driven environment.<\/p>\n
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As the college approaches its centenary, stakeholders say the \u20a610 billion endowment represents not just financial reinforcement but a deliberate effort to safeguard the standards and ethos that shaped generations of Nigerian leaders.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Former Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has warned that Nigeria is \u201cpaying a heavy price\u201d for the neglect of its education<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20049,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20052","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-from-the-grassroots"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thenewsnow.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20052","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thenewsnow.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thenewsnow.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thenewsnow.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thenewsnow.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20052"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/thenewsnow.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20052\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20056,"href":"https:\/\/thenewsnow.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20052\/revisions\/20056"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thenewsnow.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20049"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thenewsnow.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20052"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thenewsnow.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20052"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thenewsnow.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20052"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}