Pastor Engineer Sunday Adebayo Babalola, is a philanthropist and the founder of Bayo and Bunmi Babalola Foundation. In this interview with journalists, he gives reasons why he established the foundation and why 1,362 pupils, students and others have benefitted from his scholarships. Uzo Nwogu was there. Excerpts:
Why did you establish the foundation and the scholarship?
It is to help people. My wife, Mrs Christiana Bunmi Babalola, and I decided to look at ways of helping society. Like the saying, ‘To whom much is given, much is also expected,’ so we decided to take out part of our resources to help people. And what can we do? We looked at it and decided to help people in terms of education. In doing that, we have also helped some of the schools with roofing and another infrastructural upgrade. It is a very good thing that we took that decision. We have been doing it for six years now.
Will the scholarships continue?
By the grace of God, as long as He gives us life, ability and capacity, we intend to continue.
The last one was the sixth edition. It took place on October 12, 2021 at its usual place at Omu-Aran, Irepodun Local Government Area of Kwara State. How do you feel about the outcome?
The outcome is very good. It was a beautiful outing and we are excited that a lot of people are happy because of the scheme. Quite a number of people saw me and said they were happy. Some of them told me, ‘my child got, ‘my son got it,’ ‘my daughter got it.’ So, such is the feedback that we want and the feedback was really very good. The outing was good, the feedback was good. From the first to the sixth editions, we have given scholarships to 1,362 pupils, students and others. I thank God for the enablement.
In fact, I felt very elated and grateful to God, the Almighty, who preserved our lives till that day. The prevision edition of this scholarship ceremony which was the 5th edition was in 2019. As a result of COVID-19, which led to the deaths of millions of people worldwide and global disruption of socio-economic, political, and even educational activities, we could not hold the scholarship ceremony in 2020. So, I was grateful to God that we all were alive to witness the epoch-making event on October 12. However, I note that some people may have lost their loved ones as a result of COVID-19 so I condole with all families that lost loved ones because of the pandemic.
I am also grateful to all those who have been organizing the scholarship events from their inception till the last one. I thank God and appreciate those who have recently joined the team as a result of the expansion. May God bless them all. They are all as important as the financiers of the foundation. Their organizational skills are excellent.
How many people benefited from the 6th edition and how much did you spend?
549 secondary school pupils and tertiary institutions students were beneficiaries of this year’s scholarship of our foundation. The beneficiaries comprise 95 pupils from Junior Secondary School 3; 64 from Senior Secondary School (WASC); 169 students from tertiary institutions and 221 others.
I invested a total of N10 million (excluding organisation costs and logistics) for the 6th edition.
How many benefited in the past editions?
Prior to this year’s edition, we have had five editions which are 2015/2016, 2016/2017, 2017/2018, 2018/2019, 2019/2020. In the past, the foundation had given scholarships to a total of 813 beneficiaries comprising 522 pupils from primary and secondary schools and 291 students from tertiary institutions. We are happy with the testimonies we hear from the students. We are also grateful to God for them.
How much cumulatively had been spent for the five editions?
This nongovernmental organisation has spent a total sum of N19.4m, comprising N17m directly to the beneficiaries and about N2.4m on logistics in the past editions.
So why is the amount spent for the 6th edition higher?
We increased the award amount to N10 million to compensate for our inability to hold the award in 2020 because of the pandemic. As a result, we have invested a total of N29.4m in the beneficiaries (excluding logistics).
Why have you invested so much?
We have made this whopping investment, not because we have all the money but as our willingness to sacrifice and a show of commitment for the educational advancement of the younger generation. We believe in Luke 12:48 that “To whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required.” We believe firmly that every child should have good education as education is the bedrock of societal growth and advancement. Education is instrumental to the emergence of outstanding professionals, business tycoons, local government, state, national and world leaders. Without education, the society, alas the world at large, will not only stagnate but retrogress. Crimes, poverty, sickness, insecurity, and total darkness will overwhelm the world without education.
Nigeria’s Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, recently aptly captured the importance of education when he said: “When a country is underdeveloped, and it is wiped out by disease and infant mortality; it is because most of the minds in that country are underdeveloped. It is because most of the minds in that country lack education. The only way to develop the human mind is education. And the only way by which man can live better than any other creature, and live up to his God-given responsibility, to develop his community, to provide enough for that community, to provide for the children is by education. Education is the ticket to the full enjoyment of all human civil, social, political, and economic rights. Education is the only ticket, so when we talk of human rights that have been declared and put into our globe, the only way to access those rights including economic rights, is by education. To be deprived of education is to be deprived of the means of the pursuit of a dignified existence where one can fully contest or collaborate with others for the benefits that life offers.”
So what are your pieces of advice to the beneficiaries of your scholarship?
To the beneficiaries, I enjoin them to maximise the scholarship to enhance their educational advancement and become useful citizens who will not only be economically self-reliant but also employers of labour. They should become change agents and contribute positively to the transformation of society. They need to make the world a better place to live in than you met it. They must not get involved in crimes, such as cultism, fraud, prostitution, money rituals, hooliganism, kidnapping, banditry, thuggery, and other vices, which will cut short their lives or make them become irresponsible members of society.
They should be studious, hardworking, obedient to legitimate authorities and have implicit faith in God, the Almighty. In addition, they should always obey God’s directives and make God the cornerstone of their lives. They must realise that their parents are hoping that they will become great and improve on their families’ fortunes. Their younger ones are also looking up to them for assistance for their upbringings. They must not fail them and God!
The education sector has witnessed insecurity as evidenced by banditry and kidnappings…….
(Cuts in) It is said that the education sector has become a major target by kidnappers and bandits for their wicked and nefarious onslaughts. Reports abound of kidnappings of pupils, students, teachers, lecturers and other support staff in our nation’s educational institutions.
It is still fresh in our memories that on April 14-15, 2014; about 276 females, mostly Christian female students, aged between 16 to 18, were kidnapped from the Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok in Borno State, Nigeria by Boko Haram Islamic terrorists. Translated directly, Boko Haram means “book is sin” or by implication that “learning or education is sin”. The irony of this is that the guns, phones, vehicles and many other gadgets that these terrorists use were made possible only by the medium of education.
Although many of the students later regained their freedom, some are still in the captivity of the insurgents. Some of them have even given birth to children and lost their direction in life.
Also on 19 February 2018, Boko Haram insurgents also kidnapped 110 girls from the Government Science and Technical College in Dapchi, Yobe State. Some of the girls have regained their freedom but the pathetic case of Leah Sharibu still rings bells in our ears.
Also, on July 5, 2021, 140 students of the Baptist High School, in Kaduna State were kidnapped. As a result of the kidnappings, the Kaduna State Government had to close many schools in the state.
Furthermore, on August 27, 2021; 136 students from the school in Tegina, Niger State, were also kidnapped by bandits who demanded ransom.
According to www.france24.com, more than 1,000 pupils and students had since December 2020 been kidnapped from schools in some states in northern Nigeria by bandits who demanded payment of the huge amounts of ransom from parents. Though many of the victims were later released, some either died or were killed in captivity.
According to The United Nations Children’s Fund, there had been 20 attacks on schools in Nigeria, by bandits with 1,436 children abducted and 16 children killed so far in 2021. The report also stated that more than 200 children remain missing.
Is it not sad the UNICEF report that there is no fewer than 13 million out-of-school children in Nigeria?
Honestly, it is heartbreaking of a past report by UNICEF that over 13 million school children were out of school in Nigeria.
Governor Mohammed Yahaya of Gombe State recently corroborated UNICEF’s report.
The governor specifically said that about 13.2 million out of school children in Nigeria, is an equivalent of seven per cent of the country’s population.
Speaking while flagging off the domestication of the At-Risk Children Project (ARC-P) in the state, Yahaya had explained that nearly 70 per cent of these children are in Northern Nigeria where the Almajiri system is widely practised.
Such development is sad and retrogressive. In this time and age, every child should be educated. That is what will move our nation forward. Having over 13.2m out-of-school children is not good. A country that cannot educate its citizens is bound not to progress; it is bound to go down. Education is the bedrock of development and having over 13 million out-of-school children is the height of retrogression. The development would further worsen Nigeria’s already heightened insecurity. Insecurity has already exploded, and things are not normal. There are robberies, banditries, killings, and kidnappings all over the country. Nigeria is no longer sitting on a keg of gun powder. The gun powder has already exploded.
What are the causes of this over 13 million out-of-school children?
What caused these over 13 million out of school children are a lack of planning, no patriotism and insecurity. The resources we have in this country are enough to make all sectors functional and people comfortable. Most of our leaders and Nigerians are self-centred. We have enough resources to grow all sectors of the nation. We can plan things very well so that we can have a good balance but lack of patriotism and lack of planning are inhibiting factors.
Simply put, the over 13 million out-of-school children are part of insecurity in this country as some of them either have become or could become tools in the hands of insurgents and bandits.
So what is the solution?
People in government should start thinking of and ensuring that they do the right thing. There was a time when nomadic education was implemented in this country. If they could try to educate nomads, I do not see why the 13.2 million out-of-school children cannot be educated.
The FG said it has spent billions of naira on its National Home-Grown School Feeding Programme.
President Muhammadu Buhari in his address to make Nigeria’s 61st Independence anniversary said the National Home-Grown School Feeding Programme is currently being implemented in 35 States of the Federation and the FCT.
He had added that over 103,000 women have been engaged and empowered as cooks under the programme, while about 10 million pupils were being fed across public primary schools in the country.
So, it is therefore sad, or rather ironic and pathetic, that Nigeria is said to have 13.2 million out-of-school children while some are attending school and are being fed. This puts the future of the country in jeopardy. The said population of out-of-school children is actually more than that of some countries. And these out-of-school children would eventually make living in Nigeria very difficult for those being educated and for the children of the elites who are sent abroad to school.
Also, there was a United Nations’ report that one million Nigerian children may have avoided school in September 2021 amid kidnappings?
(Cuts in) It is another mindboggling issue the report by UNICEF that one million Nigerian children were afraid to return to school in September 2021 over the fear of attacks by bandits.
The report put the number of children who were supposed to be in school at 37 million but lamented that families and communities were fearful of sending them back to their classrooms due to the spate of school attacks and students’ abductions in the country over the past months.
UNICEF’s representative in Nigeria, Peter Hawkins, said in a statement: “A child’s first day of school should be an exciting event for parents and children, a landmark moment in their young lives, signalling new learning and new friends that will impact their futures. This moment is being stolen from around a million Nigerian children this year, as insecurity threatens their safety and education.”
“It is unacceptable that communities should be worried to send their children to school over fears that they will be abducted from what should have been a safe space.
“Insecurity must end so that children can return to their normal lives and benefit from all the important things that attending school brings to them.” I totally agree with Hawkins.
There is no alternative to in-person learning because it creates competition among students, and it is impossible for each family to have all laboratories in their homes.
Has open grazing not turned some pupils to Internally displaced persons?
Reports abound that as a result of the activities of bandits, and clashes among herders and farmers, many children have been turned into orphans. Many of them also suffer starvation and have no one to take care of them. Many of them are now sheltered in Internally Displaced Person’s camps and so do not have access to formal education.
According to a report by an associate research professor with the Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution, Joseph Ochogwu, more than 300,000 Nigerians have been displaced in Benue, Plateau, Nasarawa and Taraba states because of farmers and herders crisis in Nigeria.
Ochogwu’s research was titled, “Trends and Dynamics of Conflict between Farmers and Pastoralists in Nigeria’s Benue Valley.”
Ochogwu stated that Nigeria’s Benue valley consisting of Benue, Plateau, Taraba, Nasarawa, Adamawa and Kaduna have experienced escalating tensions between farmers and herders.
According to him, these have resulted in deaths, loss of livelihoods, displacements, and disruption of states’ economies within the area.
He also noted that the conflicts were primarily a contest over land and water. He added that conflicts were threatening food security and stability in Nigeria.
Children, who are supposed to be in schools, are also victims of these conflicts.
So what should the Federal Government do about these challenges?
The Federal Government should find lasting solutions to the herders/farmers clashes. Ranching should be the best solution as practised in modern climes.
Should FG resuscitate grazing routes and encourage open grazing?
Resuscitation of grazing routes will be counter-productive in the search for a solution to the herders/farmers conflicts.
Open grazing is a thing of the past. It is outdated. It is just like asking us to come and start riding bicycles from Lagos to Sokoto. They used to do it. Who wants to do it now when you can fly? Open grazing is primitive. Those laws should be abrogated and new ones that make modern ways of doing things be adopted.
It is just like asking us to use the slide rule to calculate when we already have CASIO calculators. Even today, scientific calculators out of date because they are on our phones. Producers of scientific calculators will not sell today.
So, all you need is to have a phone that has a calculator which at the same time carries out other functions for you. So why must you now insist that I want to have a scientific calculator? That is what you are doing. By going back to a law that was created many years back. The law may have been created based on the exigency of that time. But times have changed. And people in authority should quickly start thinking of how to change those things that have become outdated.
In developed countries, nomadic cattle rearing is not allowed because it is primitive and retrogressive. Governments at all levels should come together and solve the situation. I was reading statistics of cattle farming worldwide, Nigeria is not even in the statistics. You have the Netherlands, Russia, The United Kingdom (UK), Germany, and the United States of America (US). Nigeria is not even in the top 20. And we are using the same cattle to create problems. Those people who have more than 100 times what we have in Nigeria are not having any problem.
Many stakeholders across the country, including herders, have accepted that open grazing is anachronistic, less productive and profitable and very risky. Many of them have even called for the replacement of open grazing with ranching.
The controversy among Nigerians, including state governors and political leaders, on anti-open grazing laws enacted by some states and being implemented by some governors, is unnecessary.
Herders will benefit more from the adoption of ranching. It will also drastically reduce or stop herders/farmers conflicts, boost national food security, improve the safety of lives of Nigerians and accelerate national socio-economic growth and development.
Our children will be spared of the attendant loss of their loved ones as a result of the deaths of their parents, guardians, or sponsors. They will also be spared from the disruption of their academic activities.
You are from Kwara State, what is your advice to the Kwara State Government under Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq?
Though there are reports that the Kwara State Government under Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq has started rehabilitating some schools in the state, some of those works and plans are bogged down with budgetary crisis and allegations of contract scams.
In addition, there are still many schools with dilapidated classrooms. Many of the schools are not secure enough and have insufficient teaching and support staff who complain of poor remuneration and lack of motivation. Some of the schools are overpopulated and within an environment that is not conducive for learning.
Also, stroking religious disharmony by the Governor’s insistence on the imposition of hijab in Christian schools is retrogressive and condemnable. Nothing must be done to ignite religious crisis and endanger the harmony and peaceful coexistence of the residents of the state.
Are the challenges you identified both at the national and Kwara State level insurmountable?
The challenges enumerated above, both at the national and Kwara State levels, are not insurmountable. We can overcome them and bequeath an efficient, effective, and affordable education legacy to the younger generations.
The government, the private sector, corporate organisations, donor agencies philanthropists, faith-based organisations and all other stakeholders should collaborate to birth solutions to these seemingly hydra-headed challenges.
The scholarship scheme is the humble effort of our Foundation to be a change and solution agent. We recognise that there are other stakeholders, including philanthropists, donor agencies, corporate organisations, socio-cultural and religious groups as well as governments that have contributed and are still contributing to educational development and advancement. Bravo and more grease to their elbows.