The Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Igbobi College Old Boys Association, Bode Thorps has called for more commitment towards making education affordable to Nigerians through a partnership with the Old Students Association of primary and secondary schools across the country.
Mr. Thorps who was speaking with Voice of Nigeria in Lagos during the 2023 Annual General Meeting of the association said that the Old Boys of Igbobi College known as ICOBA have continued to give back to the school, especially in infrastructural development and ensure that teachers are well remunerated.
He called on the Old students of other schools in Nigeria to always give their support to their Alma Mater to help make education more affordable in the country.
’’The cost of educating Igbobi College students is not fully on the parents or guardians. The old boys are helping to lower the cost through their support. We also ensure that teachers are well remunerated because if teachers are well paid, they will teach more and treat the students better,’’ he stated.
One of the members of the ICOBA, Abayomi Alabi, urged the government to liaise with old students from different schools in Nigeria to fund education and bring it to standard.
’’Government alone cannot fund education so they must be in partnership with Old Students of schools across the country. Things have changed and so with tuition fees, parents are finding it difficult to meet the demands of training their children. We need to bring in scholarship schemes to help make education more affordable in the country,’’ he said.
On his part, one of the members of the ICOBA Board of Trustees, Ambassador Remi Esan harps on the need to standardise public schools in Nigeria by investing in teachers and infrastructure.
‘‘Public schools in Nigeria should have dedicated staff. One of the projects we had in Igbobi College was staff quarter because if you want to attract quality teachers, then you must create that kind of incentives,’’ he explained.
Highlights of the AGM were the commissioning of some infrastructural projects by ICOBA executive members and the election of new executive members of the association in which Mr. Olufemi Olubanwo emerged as the new President.
Dominica Nwabufo
