The President, Ekiti Association Houston, United States of America, Pastor Bolu Alabi, has expressed the association’s commitment to promoting the culture of academic excellence in Ekiti State through spurring younger ones.
Alabi, who spoke in Ado Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital on Saturday, during the first annual prize-giving ceremony of the association, where a sum of N1.6m was shared among the 32 best JSS3 students, said, “The aim is to encourage academic excellence, healthy competition and to ensure our students are the very best they can be.”
The president of the US-based group, who lauded Governor Biodun Oyebanji for his good deeds in different sectors including education, said, “We are here today to contribute our quota to the development of the state.
“The award is for the very best students in the last JSS3 examination. The students are currently in SSS1. As an association, we want to be part of the good things going on in the state. That is why we are awarding prizes today to the best students in 32 secondary schools across the 16 local government areas of Ekiti State.
“This maiden edition is to kickstart what we believe will eventually become an annual award. Our ultimate goal is to get to a level where we will be giving awards to the best JSS3 students in every secondary school in Ekiti State annually. By the grace of God, next year, the number of schools will have increased,” Alabi said.
A US Fulbright Scholar, Prof. Wole Olaiya, in his lecture titled, ‘Education in a season of japa’, advised the beneficiaries and indeed secondary school students to “shun distractions and strive to achieve the education that will help to build your character.”
