Ekiti First Lady Expresses Passion For Education, Plans Pet Project

By Ayodele Oni

Wife of Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Olayemi Oyebanji, has promised to collaborate with the state chapter of the Non-Governmental Association for Literacy Support Services (NOGALSS) to strengthen the education sector in the state.

Dr. Oyebanji who gave the promise on Tuesday when she received in audience members of NOGALSS led by the state Chairperson, Alhaja Fausat Ahmed-Yusuff, also assured the association of her support to fulfill its mandate.

She said she is duty-bound to assist NOGALSS as a National Patron of the Association and as the First Lady of Ekiti State, noting that she is very passionate about issues that border on education being an academic and a scholar in Education Management.

Dr. Oyebanji expressed her readiness to share ideas with NOGALSS to move the body forward and urged for patience concerning some demands tabled before her which she said would be sorted out one after the other.

The First Lady assured the Association that she would liaise with the Chairman of the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Prof. Femi Akinwumi, on the issue of office accommodation and the collapsed classroom being used for adult literacy class in Ado Ekiti.

Dr. Oyebanji disclosed that she would need the partnership of NOGALSS for some of her programmes already in the pipeline which she would carry out in collaboration with the Ministry of Education.

She said: “I am one of you, before I became First Lady, I was a National Patron of NOGALSS and I hope you know that. I have been going for meetings in places like Ibadan, Lagos whenever they have meetings.

“In the course of soliciting support for my husband, we met so many groups of which NOGALSS was one, we worked together and God helped us. I want to assure you that by the grace of God to do the best of my ability whatever I can do to support NOGALSS during my own time, I will support you.

“One as a National Patron of NOGALSS and two, as the First Lady of Ekiti State and as an educationist. Anything that has to do with education, I am very passionate. That is why you see me working with the Ministry of Education on girl-child education.

“I have programmes that I have lined up; I have a programme that I want to do with secondary school boys and girls because of my passion for education. By the grace of God, we are going to do many things together, we are going to collaborate.”

Speaking earlier, Ekiti NOGALSS Chairperson, Alhaja Ahmed-Yusuff identified the needs of the body to include an office accommodation, a bus for mobility, classrooms and vocation centres across the state, soft loans for members and starter packs for graduands.

The NOGALSS chief said the office accommodation with modern equipment and the bus would ease administrative works and enable officials to supervise and monitor centres across the state.

She advocated that NOGALSS be made part of decision making process in the area of adult and non-formal education in Ekiti State and annual subvention to aid its operations.

Alhaja Ahmed-Yusuff revealed that NOGALSS has over a thousand affiliate NGO groups in the 36 states of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory to serve as a liaison body for all NGOs with adult and non-formal education in the country.