IGS students display literary skills at 3rd Spelling Bee

National president of Ibadan Grammar School Old Students Association (IGSOSA), Mr Gafar Ojetola, has charged old students of the school to always think about what they can do individually to support the educational career of current students.

He said that is the culture and tradition of the Ibadan Grammar School Old Student Association.

The newly-installed president stated this in his remarks at the third edition of the annual Spelling Bee of the school, held recently at the Emmanuel Alayande Hall of the school.

He commended the sponsor of the initiative, Mr Jide Ogungbadero, a member of the 1965/69 set, for thinking it right to always support the school and students in this regard, saying this is the  legacy of the founding fathers as an institution.

The national coordinator of the annual competition, Mr Hakeem Suara, hinted that the Spelling Bee competition was sponsored by the Urban Books and Technology, Inc., which is the brainchild of Mr. Olajide Ogungbadero, in commemoration of his 72nd birthday.

He added that the Spelling Bee is also meant to stir up the reading culture in the students of the school, in order to prepare and motivate them to seek higher educational opportunities and a better life, preventing them from being involved in criminal activity.

According to Mr Suara, the Spelling Bee is the benefactor’s way of giving back to his alma mater and reaching out to the current students whose academic progress he is very passionate about.

In his remarks, the principal of the senior school, Mr Johnson Oladejo, stressed that the Spelling Bee programme has really fostered a healthy academic rivalry among the students since the last three years it had kicked off in school.

“The annual Spelling Bee is a programme that we always look forward to,” he said.

He noted that apart from the two laudable programmes, the benefactor had been sponsoring the students for the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) and Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) and had been giving a sum of N100,000 bursary award to outstanding students of the school who are able to gain admission into any university in Nigeria.

He thanked Mr Ogungbadero for this initiative, hoping that these efforts will continue and wishing him a happy 72nd birthday

In the same vein, the principal of St. Lukes College (beside IGS), Mrs Deborah Salami, also applauded the benefactor, through Urban Books Technology Inc., for coming to the rescue of a 12-year-old student in her school, who was involved in a ghastly road accident at the New Garage Area in Ibadan few weeks ago, which resulted in the amputation of one of her legs.

She thanked the coordinator for spreading the joy over to her school, by clearing the hospital bill; paying for all the prescribed drugs and for taking up the feed allowance of the girl, wiping off the tears of her mother, a widow, who is left with four children.

At the end of the competition, six winners emerged and they were rewarded with a sum of N50,000, N30,000 and N20,000 each as the first, second and third positions, respectively, with a copy of the Oxford Advanced Learner’s dictionary each, among other consolation prizes..

An highlight of the event was the inauguration of a set of 50 pairs of tables and chairs donated to the school by the Urban Books and Technology Inc., and giving of N50,000 bursary award to 10 university undergraduates of the school.

The programme had in attendance some of the old students of the school including, Professor Ogugua Charles Aworh; chairman, IGS Ibadan branch, Prof. Siji Adeogun; former chaplain, IGS, Venerable Femi Oyewusi; representative of Local Inspector of Education, South East Zone Mrs Risikat Awowoyin; principal of the junior school, IGS, Mr Akinpelu Akinkunmi; and former chairman, IGS, Ibadan branch, Mr Bola Raji and the younger sister of the benefactor, Mrs Yewande Onamusi, among others.