African Brands Review Celebrates Educators, Advances Anti-Bullying Campaign 

Funmi Ogundare

The African Brands Review (ABR) weekend  honoured schools alumni association alongside professors and fellows of the African Principals, for their contributions and driving sustainable education development.

The honorees are four assigning professors, including the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Research, Innovation, Strategy and Administration (RISA), Caleb University, Imota, Prof. Adetutu Ajayi; Consultant Radiologist, Prof. Philip Ibinaiye; Director of the Directorate of Research Management and Innovation, Lagos State University College of Medicine (LASUCOM), Prof. Adejuwon Adeneye and a distinguished Professor in the Institute of Education, Faculty of Education, Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, Babatunde Adeyemi; nine fellows, nine beneficiary schools, and eight honorary fellows.

The organisation also rewarded students who participated in its inter-school debates competition on bullying, which examined how parenting and childhood attachment influence students’ behaviour and their likelihood to bully others.

Oriwu Model College, Ikorodu emerged winner with 58 points, Federal Government College, Port Harcourt, came second with 57 points, while Grace High School, Gbagada, came third with 56 points. They received cash gifts.

Speaking at the African Brands Review International Conference and Awards, themed, ‘Managing Schools of Value: The Economics of Talent Management and Education Policy in Nigeria,’ in Lagos, the Chief Executive Officer, African Brand Review, Mr. Joseph Ayodele, described the turnout of the awardees at this year’s ceremony as impressive, noting that it is the first time the organisation is honouring its fellows and professors.

He revealed that a U.S.-based university has offered to list all African assigning professors in the International Council of Chartered Professors, marking a major milestone for the initiative.

APCI last held the African Professors Assembly in 2019, but disruptions in Nigeria’s university calendar delayed subsequent editions until stability returned in the past two years.

The convener noted that African Principals Conference Initiative (APCI), national campaign against bullying in schools, launched in 2019, has recorded significant progress.

The National Week of Action Against Bullying, introduced in 2024 to compel schools to hold awareness activities, saw participation triple in its second year.

“We also introduced inter-school debates on bullying this year,” he said, adding that the 2025 theme examined how parenting and childhood attachment influence students’ behaviour and their likelihood to bully others.

He said many schools now buy APCI’s book on ‘ Understanding Bullying’, which has contributed to a noticeable drop in incidents.

He cited Federal Government College, Akure, whose principal was honoured for maintaining an open-door policy that allows students report bullying directly.

Ayodele stressed the need for alumni and school supporters to focus on improving academic outcomes, not just donating infrastructure, while urging principals to prioritise value-driven school management.

The convener emphasised Nigeria’s mother-tongue teaching policy scrapped by the National Council on Education (NCE), saying that this was achieved after education stakeholders, including his organisation, provided data showing the model was impractical for a country with over 500 languages.

“Commissioners of education across the country endorsed the recommendation. Sustaining mother-tongue instruction in hundreds of languages would create massive duplication of effort and strain limited education resources,” he stated.

Ayodele explained that APCI’s research, published in its latest magazine, helped rationalise the policy shift and also informed its push for teachers to be recognised as essential service providers, a recommendation that many states, including Lagos, have yet to implement.

“Even Federal Government Unity Colleges are not implementing it faithfully,” he added.

In her remarks, the Chairman of the Lagos State Teaching Service Commission (TESCOM), Mrs. Victoria Peregrino,  reaffirmed the state government’s commitment to strengthening teacher quality and improving school management practices, describing talent management as a critical economic investment for Nigeria’s future.

Peregrino, who was represented by the Director of Policy, Planning, Research and Statistics at TESCOM,  Dr. Bukunola Adunni, explained that no education system can outperform the competence of its teachers and school leaders.

She stressed that recruitment, development, motivation and retention of qualified personnel must remain a top policy priority if schools are to deliver meaningful value to learners and the national economy.

She said the discussions are timely as governments pursue reforms to make education more efficient, competitive and economically viable.

Peregrino noted that managing schools for value requires ensuring that every human, material and financial investment leads to measurable improvements in learning outcomes, workforce readiness and social transformation.

“Efficient resource use, accountability, strong teaching standards, data-driven planning and closer alignment between government policy and school-level implementation, are essential for our education system to remain responsive to the rapidly changing demands of the global economy,” she said.