No fewer than 461 junior and senior secondary school students in Lagos received educational materials worth N20million from the Felix Ebenezer Opata Foundation.
The educational materials were presented to lucky students from Education District 1, at the maiden outreach of the Foundation.
Speaking at the event, Chairman of the Foundation, Mrs. Catherine Opata, said the outreach was to support the educational aspirations of 461 secondary school students across Lagos State Education District 1, particularly in Alimosho Local Government Area.
According to her, the Foundation believes that education is one of the most powerful investments Nigeria can provide for the future of young people, which will benefit the society at large.
She added: “Every child deserves the opportunity to learn, develop their talents and build a meaningful future, regardless of their circumstances.
Mrs. Opata said the Foundation is happy to contribute its own modest way to the educational journey of the students.
She charged the 461 students to make good use of the educational materials and urged them to study diligently.
The Head of Operations of the Foundation, Mr. Fredrick Opata, said the learning resources were directly handed over to the students, which includes school bags, writing materials such as mathematical sets, calculators, exercise books, biros, and textbooks, to equip them to learn with confidence and purpose.
He said the vision of the Foundation is rooted in the hope: “Nigeria where every child, regardless of their socio-economic status or location, has access to quality education, enabling them to fulfill their potential and contribute to the nation’s growth.
“We believe education is more than admission into a classroom, it is an opportunity. It is dignity. It is a pathway out of hardship. That is why this outreach is not just a donation; it is a commitment to change the future of children in our communities.”
The head of operations stressed that the second phase is designed to take the Foundation’s impact to a much larger scale. “our ambition is to reach more than 5,000 children annually, expand our work to over 20 communities, train more than 300 teachers, and equip over 1,000 young people with practical skills.”
He appealed for financial support from strategic partnerships for sponsorship, learning resources, teacher training, community engagement and impact measurement.
Responding to the Foundation, which was named after him, Mr. Felix Ebenezer Opata, traced the journey of the Foundation to 40 years of his supporting people in need.
Opata described the occasion as an emotional one that touches his heart because it reminds him that a little act of kindness carried out in one’s life time can leave footprints that will guide others long after he took the first step.
He disclosed that he encountered people whose dreams were almost shattered by poverty, children whose education was threatened by their parents financial circumstances.
“What I never fully imagined was that the little seeds of compassion I had been planting over the years were being noticed by my own children. They watched. They observed. They saw that the little concern I had for people who were struggling, and they saw how reaching out to others had become part of who I was.
“This is more than the establishment of a Foundation. It is the beautiful testimony of children who have chosen to preserve their father’s passion for humanity and give it a future beyond his own lifetime.”
Opata said the inauguration of the Foundation outreach programme is much more than distributing school bags, textbooks, and writing materials.
He acknowledged that there are many talented children whose opportunities are limited, not by a lack of ability, but by lack of finance and through the Foundation, it will bridge that gap.
According to him, the Foundation is committed to reaching children and young people whose dreams are threatened by financial hardship.
“We want to support brilliant and deserving students who have what it takes to gain admission into universities but lack the financial means to pursue their dreams.
“We also want to assist children whose parents cannot afford basic school materials, even though these children possess the ability and determination to succeed,” Opata noted.
The highlight of the outreach programme was the presentation of the educational materials to the 461 students.
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