Osinbajo Warns of Education Decay As Igbobi College Launches N10bn Endowment Fund

Funmi Ogundare

Former Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo Tuesday, warned that Nigeria is paying a heavy price for the neglect of its education system, saying that many of the nation’s schools are broken and underfunded.

Osinbajo made this known at the 94th Founders’ Day celebration of Igbobi College, themed: ‘Building Generational Strength for Educational Institutions in Nigeria’, and moderated by Professor of Strategy and Development, Anthony Kila.

Osinbajo said national leadership failures often reflect weaknesses in foundational education, adding that the foundations of leadership are laid long before adulthood.

According to him, the roots of effective leadership extend beyond public office. By the time a child turns 18, their ethical instincts are already likely formed.

“The discipline of waking up at 5:30 AM and the ‘lights out’ rules in secondary school are what actually build great leaders,” he said. “The habits that sustain adults are formed in school, not improvised later in life.”

Osinbajo used the occasion to advocate endowments as a strategic tool for sustaining educational institutions.

He described an endowment as a pool of funds or assets donated by individuals or corporations and set aside to support schools over the long term.

“Many great institutions are backed by large endowments that sustain their operations for decades,” he said. “Endowments are not just about financial provision; they are about sustaining standards, cultures, values and norms. It is not just continuity, but continuation of an ethos and a world.”

He recalled that Igbobi College, founded in 1932 by Anglican and Methodist missionaries, was itself built on endowment support.

While the school charges fees, the former vice-president explained, the moral and civic environment that shaped generations of students was made possible by earlier philanthropic sacrifices.

He recalled his own career in public service, attributing his principled stance in government to values instilled during his secondary school years.

“I served in several governments, but I was never able to be sycophantic,” he said. “Ingrained in me is an abhorrence of empty praise. Yet we learned respect for hierarchy, balance and self-respect.”

Osinbajo reminded the alumni association of its education’s generational impact.

“Every investment in a school is an investment in the future of the country,” he said. “Our early leaders did not emerge by accident; they were shaped by schools deliberately protected from volatility.”

In response to the institution’s challenges, the Igbobi College Old Boys’ Association (ICOBA) unveiled a N10 billion Endowment Fund to revitalise the school and secure its legacy for the next century.

The 12th President of ICOBA, Chief Yomi Badejo-Okusanya, announced that the fund would finance new hostels, upgrade science laboratories and introduce advanced learning technologies.

He assured stakeholders that professional asset managers, Chapel Hill Denham, would oversee the fund to ensure accountability.

“We don’t want anyone to use the money anyhow,’” he said, urging the alumni to contribute generously.

Quoting an Igbo proverb, ‘Good soup na money kill am’,  he emphasised that quality requires investment and long-term commitment, even encouraging contributions from the estates of deceased alumni.

Representing the Governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education, Jamiu Tolani Alli-Balogun, pledged government support for initiatives such as ICOBA’s fund.

“When a school like Igbobi produces disciplined individuals, it helps the government save money on social problems and strengthens the leadership pipeline for the nation,” he said, linking educational quality to infrastructure management and national development.

Chairman of the lecture, Mr Ademola Adeyemi-Bero, described endowment as a shift from “short-term intervention to long-term institutional stability,” underscoring the need for structured, professional management of educational assets.