BTA EDUCATION FUND, CANTAGALI LIMITED AND FOODCLIQUE SUPPORT INITIATIVE PARTNER ON SCHOOL REHABILITATION AT IBEJU-LEKKI, LAGOS STATE

On August 21, 2020, the BTA Education Fund formally unveiled the newly rehabilitated school complex at St. John’s R.C.M. School, a public nursery and primary school located in Aiyeteju town, Ibeju-Lekki - a project that had been ongoing since 2018. The rehabilitation was carried out in partnership with Cantagali Limited and FoodClique Support Initiative, a domestic hunger relief charity based in Lagos, Nigeria.

The decision to renovate the school was taken in 2018 after a school feeding program was initiated by the BTA Fund and FoodClique Support Initiative. The school feeding program aimed to provide at least one meal a day for children from low-income families.

According to the founder of the BTA Education Fund, Basheer Tosin Ashafa, “I was moved by the rise in class attendance after a few months of implementing the school feeding program; and the untenable sight of children sitting on classroom floors during classes, due to broken and disused furniture, broken windows and leaking roofs.”

“Upon resumption for the 2020/2021 school session, the students of St. John’s R.C.M. primary school, Aiyeteju town, will walk into a different school. They will sit on new chairs and take lessons from new whiteboards. They will have new windows and their roofs will no longer be leaking. Their dignity will be restored and they can be proud of their school. But I am even more confident that their new learning environment will inspire them to achieve better academic results.”

The project partners also announced that the entire renovation was deliberately contracted to artisans and technicians living within the Ibeju-Lekki community. From the bricklaying, carpentry, painting, and the welding, they ensured that local labor was hired in a bid to financially empower local artisans.