An 80-year-old man, Chief Olatunde Abudu, has set up a college aimed at empowering the less privileged and resuscitating the dying virtue of charity among Nigerians. Abudu, who spoke with newsmen at the site of the school- Maiyegun College, Abeokuta, Ogun State, said that the conception and delivery of the five-phased college located in the outskirt of the historic city were being driven by charity.
Abudu said that his desire to see poverty reduced among the less privileged in the country through qualitative education also informed his decision to float the school. Describing the school as a fulfilment of a vision and a mission mooted about 20 years ago, Abudu said that the charity would be included in the curriculum of the school. According to him, the unique selling point of the college scheduled to take off in September will be its priority to give full scholarship to the indigent, ICT-driven learning and teaching of French Language.
‘Our scholarship is not going to be enjoyed by the most brilliant only but the needy; the whole essence of conceiving this total child development educational institution, which is going to be fully boarding, is to relive the virtues in our old values. It will afford the children to fit into the society and meet the challenges of the changing world,’ said Abudu. Abudu, who was flanked by the school Principal, David Jennings, former Rector, Ogun State Polytechnic, Adebisi Adebayo and an architect, Samson Popoola, said the continuity of the noble objectives behind the establishment of the college would be sustained through resources from Abudu Foundation.
The principal, a South African, said that the school would provide first class teaching, learning and accommodation facilities that would make the parents and students proud. According to Jennings, the junior secondary school 1 and 11 will start-off in September, adding that the virtues of discipline, hard-work and sense of patriotism which are the hallmarks of schools like the Abeokuta Grammar School, Baptist Boys High School and other top rated schools in the country would be replicated in the college. He, however, added that the college would be better off because it would be ICT-driven while French Language would be a compulsory subject. In order to inculcate the virtues of patriotism and selfless service in the pupils, Abudu disclosed that the eight hostels in the college would be named after foremost Nigerian nationalists, including late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Tafawa Balewa, Chief Denis Osadebe, Ahmadu Bello, Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, Margaret Ekpo, and Nnamdi Azikiwe.
