Old students pledge to rejuvenate alma mater

OLD students of Moslem Grammar School, Odinjo, Ibadan, have promised to give a new lease of life to their alma mater through the execution of projects that will give it a facelift and improve the quality of teaching and learning there.

They made the pledge over the weekend at a ceremony to mark the grand finale of the 50th anniversary of the school and first Annual General Meeting of the Moslem Grammar Schools Old Students’ Association (MOGSOSA), held on the school premises.

The president of the association, Alhaji Abdul Lateef Bamigbade, in a remark, said that although the first general reunion of the old students surprisingly happened 50 years after the establishment of the school, the association had started to lay a very solid foundation for the development of the school.

“We have started the renovation of classrooms and concluded plans to do the perimeter fencing of the school because one the major challenges the school is facing is that it has a porous environment,” Alhaji Bamigbade said.

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He expressed the association’s commitment to improving the infrastructure of the school and making its environment more education-friendly.

Another member of the association, Dr Nureni Adeniran, who is the chairman of the Oyo State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), said facilities that would bring about an atmosphere conducive to teaching and learning at the school would be provided through the assistance of the association.

“The government will do what it is supposed to do to provide necessary assistance, while the old students will continue to ensure that they lend a helping hand to their alma mater and make it a better sight to behold than it presently is,” Dr Adeniran added.

The principal of Moslem Grammar School, Senior School 1, who is also an old student of the school, Alhaji Mojeed Adeleke, said he was optimistic about the good things that the old students could do for the school.

In a paper he delivered at the ceremony, the speaker, Professor Tajudeen Akanji, underscored the need for the alumni of secondary schools across the country to deploy their knowledge and experience in their areas of expertise in the better management of their alma maters.

According to Prof Akanji, who is the director of the Institute for Peace and Strategic Studies, University of Ibadan, “in Nigeria, where the government will continue to find it difficult to meet up with its responsibilities, alumni associations should play a vital role in providing assistance to these institutions.”