Chairman/CEO of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM) – Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, in a goodwill message, has commended United Kingdom based charity - IA Foundation, for its work in removing obstacles that prevent children from getting a good education.
The goodwill message came ahead of the Foundation’s Black Tie gala which holds in London on Saturday 8 February 2020 - organised in its quest to expand the frontiers of quality education amongst poor communities in Nigeria.
The charity’s Founder - Mrs Ibironke Adeagbo pointed out that recent United Nations (UN) statistics indicate that the population of “out of school” children in Nigeria has risen from 10.5 million to 13.2 million - the highest in the world.
Mrs Ibironke Adeagbo
Mrs Ibironke Adeagbo
“We need to change this narrative and very quickly too, the education crisis in Nigeria is one that requires urgent, collective and concrete action to surmount,” she stressed.
Whilst admitting that IA-Foundation cannot claim to be the solution to this problem, she added that: “we do believe that we are a part of the solution because education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today.”
Adeagbo explained that the Foundation is currently working in four keys areas which include awarding bursaries to students that are experiencing hardship; educating the girl child; helping students with learning difficulties; and institutionalising awards for excellence and setting up endowments in education.
Funds raised from the upcoming charity events will be channelled to these good causes, she said.
Already, the Foundation has established a broad and growing footprint in the Nigerian education sector through its programmes.
According to Adeagbo, “We believe our work in Nigeria, gives us the leverage to positively impact the lives of millions of children in Nigeria. We are developing a range of partnerships to help improve education outcomes. We are currently working in Lagos, Ogun and Nasarawa States.
IA Foundation
“So far in our first year of existence, we have set up an endowment fund for the best graduating Accounting student at Olabisi Onabanjo University, to improve the quality of Accounting graduates from the University.
“We have donated learning resources to schools in Ogun State. We have paid for JAMB forms and WAEC examination fees for children from deprived backgrounds and we have donated funds to help children with Special Education Needs (SEN)/learning disabilities.”
She said the IA Foundation has also visited an Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp in Nasarawa State to donate resources to children ‘out-of-school’ in the camp.
An accounting graduate from Olabisi Onabanjo University, Nigeria, Adeagbo has a post-graduate diploma in Information Management from London South Bank University in the UK. With three accountancy qualifications and 24 years post-qualification experience in the UK, she currently works as a Finance Director in the education sector.