A UK registered charity, Ibironke Adeagbo Foundation has raised over twenty-three million Niara to support out-of-school children in Nigeria.
The money was raised during the 4th Annual Black-Tie Charity Ball organized by the Foundation in London, themed Securing the Future. The event was largely attended by Nigerians in the UK from all walks of life alongside businesses.
While delivering her remarks, the Founder and CEO of the Foundation, Mrs. Ibironke Adeagbo reiterated the urgency of the need to salvage the future of Nigeria through collaborative social investment in the educational sector, especially one that is targeted towards reducing the 20.2 million out-of-school children in the country.
Mrs. Adeagbo who is a chartered accountant in the UK described the Foundation’s impact of providing quality education for 100 indigent children across 9 states in the Nigeria, distribution of over 3,000 learning resources, impacting over 100 households as a drop in the ocean amidst the millions of children who are not in school. She urged the audience to be a part of the army of impact makers whose donations would contribute to securing the future of not just the children but also the nation at large.
IA-Foundation is also registered in Nigeria and have continued to move from street to street across the country to identify out-of-school children and place them back in school.
Also, while delivering his keynote address titled: Securing the Future: the Imperative of Quality Education for All, the Founder of Nigerian Global Business Forum, Prince Afolabi Andu said providing education for one child in a family can be the game changer for generations from that family. He described Nigerians as people with great potentials to thrive and excel if given the opportunity and appealed to the individuals and corporate organizations to create an opportunity for the thousands of children on the street by supporting educational initiatives.
In another goodwill message, former CBN Governor and 14th Emir of Kano State, HRH Sanusi Lamido Sanusi thanked IA-Foundation for bringing the attention of the world to the state of education in Nigeria, with a view to mobilizing resources to address the issue in part. Emir Sanusi noted that it is not enough to send a child to school, but very important to examine the quality of education that they are receiving. ‘It is important to have the teachers, the facilities and the curriculum. In Nigeria, we have horizontal inequalities where certain regions are more disadvantaged than others; with Northern Nigeria having the highest rate of out-of-school children.”
Earlier, the High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Amb. Sarafa Tunji Isola who was represented by his wife, Mrs. Isola , emphasised the importance of being intentional with this menace, as this could have a negative impact on the human capital of the country, as lot of children are not getting education and those being educated are harvested by other countries.
Earlier, the Board Chairman of IA-Foundation, Mr. Jide Olagundoye congratulated the executive team of the Organization for the impact they have made over the years. He reiterated the Foundation’s commitment to it’s vision to reduce the barriers to education in Nigeria.
To see images from the event, click here
The event also featured Raffle Draw and American auction.