Igbobi College Old Boys Association Celebrates 90th Anniversary & aims to raise N1 Billion to revitalise Standard of Education at the College

The Igbobi College Old Boys’ Association (ICOBA); the umbrella body of alumni of Igbobi College Yaba held a fundraising dinner to raise one billion Naira for soft and hard infrastructural renewal of the College as part of the year-long activities marking its 90th anniversary.

(L – R) Chairman, Board of Governor, Igbobi College Yaba, Mr. Foluso Phillips, Speaker, House of Representatives of Nigeria, RT Hon Femi Gbajabiamila, President, Igbobi College Old Boys’ Association (ICOBA), Olumuyiwa Kinoshi, Vice President of Nigeria, Prof Yemi Osinbajo SAN and Co-Chairman, Igbobi College 90th Anniversary Planning Committee, Femi Olubanwo, at the ICOBA Fundraising Gala marking the 90th anniversary of the College, held at the Eko Hotels and Suites on Saturday, January 29, 2022.

The fundraiser which was held at the Eko Hotel and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos aims to raise One Billion Naira (N1 billion Naira) to revitalize the standard of education at the College ensuring that the students have better facilities, more curriculum options, and assisting in their extracurricular development.

The event was attended by prominent old boys of the College including the Vice President of Nigeria, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, and Speaker, House of Representative, Rt. Hon Femi Gbajbiamila, industrialists, captains of industry, high ranking government officials, and representative of leading technology companies. Other dignitaries present at the occasion included the past and present leadership of ICOBA, representatives of the school owners (the Joint Anglican Communion and Methodist Missions in Nigeria), and representatives of old students association of other legacy schools including the academia among others.

Speaking at the event, Prof Yemi Osinbajo said that there is a strong nexus between the kind of education students receive in school and what they turn out to be later in life. He said the values he imbibed and some of the competencies he acquired, were largely due to the total education he got at the College adding that the emphasis was on strong academic performance and discipline.

According to him, “Igbobi placed great value on academic, sports and literary achievements. You were called out on stage to receive prizes during the assembly, so you were recognized. So. if you excelled in sports, you were recognized, if you excelled in academics, you were recognized on the assembly ground. But on the same stage, you would be seriously whipped for bad behavior. So, reward and punishment were on the same stage.”

(L – R) Chairman, Fundraising Sub-Committee, Igbobi College 90th Anniversary Planning Committee, Seni Adio SAN, Chairman, Board of Governor, Igbobi College Yaba, Foluso Phillips, Speaker, House of Representatives of Nigeria, RT Hon Femi Gbajabiamila, President, Igbobi College Old Boys’ Association (ICOBA), Mr. Olumuyiwa Kinoshi, Vice President of Nigeria, Prof Yemi Osinbajo and Co-Chairman, Igbobi College 90th Anniversary Planning Committee, Mr. Femi Olubanwo, and First Vice President, ICOBA, Yomi Badejo Okusanya, Co-Chairman, Igbobi College 90th Anniversary Planning Committee, Otunba Bolaji Falase, at the ICOBA Fundraising Gala marking the 90th anniversary of the College, held at the Eko Hotels and Suites on Saturday, January 29, 2022.

Prof Osinbajo, who passed out of the school in 1975, described Igbobi College as a leveler, saying all students, irrespective of background, were treated equally. He said the teachers at the school during his days were very helpful, adding his English teacher in his first year greatly encouraged him to better his writing skills.

The Vice-President said Igbobi College had transformed lives and contributed tremendously to Nigeria’s human capital. He commended the old boys for coming up with the fundraiser to generate funds to uplift the College adding that the various interventions are yielding dividends helping in improving the standard of teaching and learning.

Earlier, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rep. Femi Gbajabiamila, commended the alumni of the school for its efforts at raising standards in the College. He said the various interventions by the older students would not only uplift the school but also impact education.

The Speaker urged friends of the school and other Nigerians to contribute to making it a center of academic excellence.

“We urge you all to join us in not only uplifting our school but promoting education generally,” he said.

In his remarks, President, ICOBA, Muyiwa Kinoshi, said the fundraiser was organized as part of efforts to improve infrastructure in the school and enhance teaching and learning adding that his association is irrevocably committed to the progress of the school and would continue to do its best to improve teaching and learning.

According to him, “The fundraiser with a target of N1 Billion Naira is only in addition to contributions towards “Infrastructural Renewal” that ICOBA members have been making since the return of the College to the Missions by the Lagos State Government. And it is on record that ICOBA’s intervention with investments in both hard and soft infrastructural projects that are focused on improving the standards of education in the College have started to yield positive fruits.”

Also speaking at the event, the Chairman, Board of Governors, Igbobi College Yaba, Foluso Phillips, made an appeal to all the old students of different schools to explore the concept of endowments, which ICOBA is spearheading with this fundraiser.

According to him, “A school endowment is an aggregation of assets invested to support its educational and related activities in perpetuity. It represents a compact between a donor and an institution and links past, current, and future generations.”

He posited that endowments provide important financial stability to the school and, even to the local community. Endowments also provide the financial cushion that enables the college to work with towns and cities to improve the quality of local schools and revitalize neighborhoods.

Igbobi College was established by the Methodist and Anglican Churches in 1932. It is still on its original site and most of the original buildings are intact. It is one of the oldest legacy colleges in Nigeria and is the alma mater of many well-known Nigerians.

Media Contact: Segun Mcmedal, Publicity Secretary, Igbobi College Old Boys’ Association (ICOBA)- 08033225251

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