Wife of Oyo governor charges parents to encourage their children to take their education seriously

The wife of the Governor of Oyo State, Mrs Olufunke Tamunominini Makinde, has called on parents to complement the efforts of the state government in education by encouraging their children to take their education seriously. She added that parents and students should also take advantage of scholarship opportunities.

Mrs Makinde said this when 12 successful students in Ibadan received scholarships from the IITA Women’s Group. The awards presentation ceremony took place at the Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in Ibadan, Oyo State, on Tuesday.

Fifty slots were available for Ibadan, however, only 12 passed the qualifying test. 

Speaking to this, Mrs Makinde who was represented by Mrs Aderonke Adedayo, Special Adviser to Oyo Governor on World Bank Intervention, noted that “I was slightly alarmed to hear that only 12 were taken in the vicinity of Oyo State. I wondered that do people not understand that scholarships change lives? I use this medium to appeal to people who know that they really could use a scholarship to apply. No one is saying you are poor or shirking your responsibilities. I would jump at it if I were in their shoes. I want to hear that more people applied next year.”

She added that education had suffered a lot due to the covid-19 pandemic. 

However, “this administration is doing everything it can to see that the quality of education improves. This state provides extramural lessons, past exam questions. While the government is doing everything it can including ensuring that no one is paying fees for the education of their children at the primary and secondary school level, to whom much is given much is expected, let parents also encourage their children to take their education seriously. You can take a horse to the water, but you cannot force it to drink. Oyo State is doing its best to see that children get an education.”

Speaking at the event, the wife of the director-general of IITA and leader of the IITA Women’s Group, Mrs Charlotte Sanginga, noted that the awards had grown from its small beginnings in 1992 of awarding scholarships of N100, to its present status of providing up to N153,000 scholarship money to a student.

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Mrs Sanginga said the award has been sustained through donations from management and staff of IITA, individuals as well as the IITA Women’s Group. She praised women of the group for their efforts at raising money to contribute towards the scholarship fund. 

The scholarship award has three categories namely Junior Secondary School (JSS), Senior Secondary School (SSS) and Post-Secondary School (PSS).

Sanginga said JSS awardees receive $250, SSS awardees $300; and PSS $350, all in the equivalent in naira.

She said the awards are spread among all IITA stations within and outside the country.

One of the past recipients, Mary Joseph, appreciated the IITA Women’s Group for the scholarship which she said enabled her to successfully complete her secondary school despite the financial challenges faced by her family.