‘Let us fund what lasts, commit for the long term’

(Being a goodwill message delivered by Ambassador Dr Olatokunbo Awolowo Dosumu, Chairman, Advisory Council, Odu’a Investment Foundation at the foundation’s annual showcase event of the Byte Busters Coding Club in Ibadan on Friday.)

It is my honour to greet everyone gathered for the Byte Busters Coding Club Showcase — students, teachers, parents, project assistants, partners and friends. Today is not simply an event; it is an audit of progress and a preview of possibility. In two years, this flagship initiative of the Odu’a Investment Foundation has moved from blueprint to daily practice across our communities, giving young learners the confidence to build, to present and to collaborate.

I commend Professor Seun Kolade and the DEFINED leadership team for exceptional stewardship, and I thank our headteachers and mentors who make learning safe, structured and joyful. I am equally grateful to the Foundation’s Board members and the many volunteers whose patient work ensures that resources reach the classrooms where they matter most.

What stands out to me is not only the quality of the projects on display, but the growth they represent. We have witnessed pupils who began with the very basics now working in teams to produce functioning applications and customised websites. Along the way, they have learnt problem-solving, communication, time management and responsible digital behaviour — the habits that make technical skills useful and trusted in real life.

Byte Busters is also about fairness. Talent is universal, but opportunity rarely is. By situating learning within schools and strengthening local capacity, we are making sure that geography and income do not decide a child’s digital future. This approach — practical, accountable and inclusive — will remain our operating standard as the programme scales.

The next phase is about scale and reach — taking Byte Busters deeper into under-served communities across all six South-West states so that many more pupils can access these path-breaking opportunities. We will prioritise expansion to schools and neighbourhoods where digital access is lowest, strengthening centres with devices, connectivity, and age-appropriate progression routes for 11–16s: micro-certifications and badges, inter-school hackathons and mentoring circles. This way, our pupils will build confidence and continuity into post-secondary options. This is how momentum becomes a movement — and it is where the commitment of our six owner states is decisive.

I therefore invite our state governments and other stakeholders at home and in the diaspora to join us in expanding this work. Commit for the long term. Fund what lasts. Help us strengthen the pipeline from classroom curiosity to career capability.

To our young innovators: your effort has brought us here. Keep learning, keep building, and keep lifting one another as you go.