Ondo state governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, has lauded the Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Olamide Oladiji, for distributing educational materials and awarding scholarships to over 1,000 students in Ondo East/Ondo West federal constituency.
Addressing the students and major stakeholders who converged on the Oba Adesanoye Civic Center in Ondo City on Monday, the governor who was represented by his deputy, Olayide Adelami, described the Speaker as a political leader who goes beyond the mandate of his office to respond to the needs of his people.
He said, “Let us emulate Rt. Hon Oladiji’s legacy in Ondo kingdom and create a future where every child in Ondo state has access to quality education, regardless of their socio-economic background.
“We must, therefore, commend Mr Speaker for this bold and life-changing initiative, for his visionary leadership and unwavering commitment to education”
In his opening speech, Rt. Hon. Oladiji said the program, which is in its second edition, has helped to alleviate the burden of many parents and guardians by granting full scholarships to their children and wards.
The House Speaker said he decided to kick-start the program as a way of contributing to the sustenance of education standard in the state, calling on well-meaning Nigerians to support government in its drive to take education to a greater height.
He further noted that a good number of students who were outstanding in the last summer coaching he organized also benefitted from the distribution of instructional materials and scholarships.
Appreciating the Speaker on behalf of other benefitting students, a 200-level Nursing Science student of the University of Medical Sciences (UNIMED) in Ondo City, Omoniyi Peace, testified to the philanthropic gesture of the Speaker, disclosing that she has been on scholarship for 5 years.
Overwhelmed by the Speaker’s desire to sponsor more indigent students, the deputy governor decided to take up the sponsorship of Akinpelumi Samuel through university education.
Akinpelumi, a final year student of St Joseph’s College Ondo, emerged the overall best student in mathematics in Nigeria in 2024.
The high-point of the event was the presentation of cheques and distribution of school bags, books, writing materials, among other to the benefitting students.
