Ex-Minister, Abitoye Seeks Support of Old Students For Aquinas College

By Oluniyi Akintunde, Akure

A former Minister of State for Education, Dr. Adewumi Abitoye has called on old students of schools in the country to contribute to the development of their alma mater.

Abitoye said assistance of old students would go a long way to save the schools from decaying.

Dr Adewumi Abitoye

The former minister made the call at the weekend when the 79-84 set of old students of Aquinas College, Akure, Ondo state, was donating two giant generating sets and other gifts to the school.

Commending them for remembering the school that helped in shaping their lives, Abitoye urged other old students to emulate the set.

Abitoye, who is also an alumnus of the college, flayed the continued agitations for the return of secondary schools to the original owners.

According to him, if government returns the affected schools to their original owners, it would take education far away from children of the poor.

He said: “By the time we were here, the school was being run by the Catholic Mission and it was very beautiful. We learned a lot. Fortunately, the standards are still maintained up till today. That shows you that we had a good foundation.

“I find it difficult to support the idea of returning schools to their original owners because of the children of poor people. Once the schools are returned, tuition fees will be high. Parents will be running here and there to get money to finance the education of their children.”

The principal of the college, Pastor Ayibiowu Babasola, commended the 79-84 set for contributing to the development of the school, urging other old students not to forget the college.

President of the 1979-84 set, Bolujoko Osindeko, said: “We came to give back because of the values the school impacted into us.

“If you want society to grow, you have to come back and give. It is also meant to encourage the pupils to develop the spirit of giving back to where their lives are given value.”