24th June, 2015
Eromosele Ebhomele
Funmilayo Tejuosho, the lawmaker representing Mushin Constituency 1 at the Lagos State House of Assembly, western Nigeria, on Wednesday urged parents and well-meaning Nigerians to play their roles in effectively making students in the country compete with their counterparts across the world.
Tejuosho, a ranking member of the House, said this at her constituency during the 12th edition of her free forms for the General Certificate of Education, GCE.
This time, she said she was giving out 150 forms to a selection of brilliant but indigent students of her constituency as against previous years when over 200 benefitted from each series. This is because she had spent a lot of fund in the last election that brought her into office as lawmaker for the fourth time.
Apart from the forms, she said she would engage some of the best teachers in the constituency, as usual, for free tutoring of the students to enable them pass their examination.
She said the gesture was a fufillment of her campaign promise to her constituents to continue to sponsor some of the intelligent but indigent students in her constituency.
“A lot of these children are very brilliant but their parents can’t afford to assist them in their educational pursuit,” she said.
Tejuosho said she would not just be comfortable with the beneficiaries passing their examination, but passing well. “This is like a social responsibility. The state government sponsors the WAEC examination, but many parents cannot afford GCE forms for their wards,” she noted.
She further stated that students in her constituency had won various educational competitions over the years and that she had been encouraged to continue with the free GCE forms because of the success rate recorded by previous beneficiaries.
Tejuosho told the beneficiaries that they must have self-esteem since they are preparing for the university.
She also urged them to be serious with their studies as this was the only way they could be admitted into universities.
On the selection process, she said she asked various groups and religious bodies to come up with names of brilliant students who are indigent. “This programme also takes care of the children being taken care of by aged parents,” she added.
She said she carries out her projects for the constituents using her salary since the lawmakers in the state are not entitled to constituency allowance.
Some parents to the beneficiaries who spoke with P.M. NEWs, commended her and confirmed that she had engaged in the free distribution of forms for years.
One of the parents said many of the students who did well in the last examination gained entrance into various universities. Those who had challenges with their admission contacted the lawmaker who assisted them.
A former member of the state House of Assembly, Abdulbaq Balogun, who was at the event, also commended Tejuosho for the gesture and urged like-minded Nigerians to take a cue from her.
The former lawmaker urged Tejuosho not to relent in her assistance to her constituents and her love for children just as he appealed to the students to make the lawmaker proud in their examination.
Also, Comrade Adewara Taiye Florence, the chairman of the Nigerian Union of Teachers, NUT, in the Local Government Area, while commending the lawmaker, said: “if a woman can do this, she needs to be encouraged. She needs our support.”
She lamented that many parents have become so relaxed because of the free education policy of the state. Thus, they no longer monitor their children’s educational development.
“Many of the students have misplaced priority. They should get their priorities right, concentrate and put in effort to do well in their examination,” she urged.
Sola Olowookere, one of the beneficiaries, promised to make a good use of the opportunity.
“I will tru as much as possible to make sure I read and make the lawmaker proud, get into the university and excel.
“I am very grateful to the lawmaker for this gesture and I wish we had many other people to support us like this.”