The Rotary Club of Akure has donated a block of six classrooms, including a library, toilets, laboratories, and staff rooms, to a community high school in Akure North Local Government Area of Ondo State.
The outgoing District 9126 Governor of the Rotary Club, Mr Kayode Olowolagba, officially handed over the project to Imafon Community High School.
Speaking at the ceremony, he described the initiative as a capital-intensive one and noted that the community was fortunate to benefit from such a significant gesture.
“What a budget of government could not do for a very long time for this community to acquire secondary school education, we have done it.
“We can imagine what the failure of not having secondary school in this community would have brought on its children.
“With the coming of this school, many leaders will be raised because many of us grew up from this kind of environment.
“This facility with the equipment will assist the children in acquisition of knowledge and that is why I congratulate the Rotary Club of Akure for this great initiative by constructing a whole building and donated it,” he said.
According to him, what the club requires from the students and teachers of the school is judicious and effective use of the facility.
He added that the club had other commitments and other areas in different capacities to attend to, promising that the club would also initiate ICT facility in the school.
Also speaking, Dr Funkeakpo Batife, the District Governor-Elect, asked the community to collaborate with the school’s management in maintaining the facility.
Batife noted that the Rotary Club initiated the establishment of the school before the state government’s eventual intervention and approval.
He encouraged well-meaning individuals to join the club to further enhance its impact on society.
In her remarks, the immediate past President of Rotary Club of Akure, Miss Idiat Ibrahim, narrated how the club applied for the district grant for the completion of the project in the 2023/2024 Rotary year.
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Ibrahim added that a sum of N4.2 million was eventually approved for the club in Akure to complete the project.
She thanked the initiator of the project, Dr Deji Akinwalere, all past presidents and the immediate past district governor, Mr Sagab Ahmed for making the dream of the club come through.
In his words, Akinwalere, the past President of the Rotary Club of Akure, recalled that the club saw the danger in denying hundreds of children in the community education, hence the intervention.
Akinwalere, whose tenure initiated the project, explained that with N12 million raised during his investiture as a president, the project started and with a grant of N4 million in 2025 from the Rotary Foundation, the project was completed.
According to him, following the club’s intervention and commencement of the project, the state government approved the construction of an additional six-classroom block, which accelerated the development.
He added that the establishment of the school was conceived by the club as a gateway to a brighter future for generations to come.
The Past District Secretary, Mr Dayo Omotoyinbo, harped on the good use of the facility, stating that the community had lost hope until the club intervened.
Gov. Lucky Aiyedatiwa of Ondo State lauded the Rotary Club of Akure for its developmental strides towards humanity and betterment of the society.
Aiyedatiwa was represented by the Administrative Secretary of the state’s Ministry of Education, Dr Ige Akindele.
The governor added that the club had rendered selfless and impactful services to the state over the years, asking the club to continue along the trajectory to achieve excellent society.
He expressed optimism that the donation would alleviate the challenge of overcrowding and motivate the students to aspire for greatness.
In her remarks, the school’s principal, Mrs Temitope Oyedokun, expressed appreciation to the Rotary Club, stating that the donation would significantly enhance teaching and learning.
She assured that the facilities would be put to effective use.
Similarly, the Vice Chairman of the Parents-Teachers’ Association, Mrs Abooluwa Alade, said the association was deeply grateful to the club.
She noted that without its intervention, it might have been impossible for the community to have a secondary school.
She described the gesture as a generational blessing that had brought smiles to the faces of children, and she called on other individuals and corporate organisations to support the school.
