A medical practitioner, Opeyemi Abe, has donated a multi-million-naira science laboratory to Comprehensive High School, Iroko-Ekiti, to promote science education among students in Ekiti State. 

Mr Abe, while speaking at the inauguration of the facility on Friday, said the project was borne out of his desire to create an enabling environment for more students to embrace science education.

The facility was inaugurated in memory of the donor’s late wife, Christiana Opeyemi-Abe.

Mr Abe, a consultant anaesthesiologist and critical care specialist, expressed optimism that the presence of the science laboratory would greatly assist students in learning through the theoretical and practical aspects of science education.

“As a doctor, you want others to be like you in your community; you want it to be like when you come home, you meet like minds.

“When you look around, you will see that science education is practically not available in this environment. You have teachers who are frustrated because of a lack of appropriate tools to work with.

“And for somebody in that field, you want to bridge the gap. I am trying to make a difference by bringing up young people like me who will end up like me or even better than me,” he said.

The medical practitioner, who is the founder of Blinkers and Spoilert Mobile Applications, described education as the greatest investment any society could make for both the present and future generations.

In his remarks, the lawmaker representing the Ijero/Ekiti West/Efon Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, Biodun Omoleye, congratulated Iroko-Ekiti on having a son, Mr Abe, describing him as a blessing to the community.

Mr Omoleye also described the donation as a call to service to other groups, individuals, and communities to complement the government’s efforts in developing the education sector.

He said that the donation would go a long way toward complementing Governor Biodun Oyebanji’s significant investments in educational development across the state’s 16 local government areas.

The lawmaker promised to replicate the donation by installing solar-powered lights at the school as well as rehabilitating the school’s access road.

Also speaking, the Oluroye of Iroko-Ekiti, Sunday Ekundayo, highlighted other interventions by the donor, including scholarships for students at both secondary and higher institutions.

He also said that the provision of textbooks for students, as well as financial assistance to artisans and market women in the community, was part of Mr Abe’s past philanthropic activities.

The chairman of the occasion, Bode Adewole, lauded the donor for his foresight and magnanimity.

Mr Adewole, a second-republic member of the House of Representatives, described the gesture as capable of making meaningful impacts on science teachers and on the present and future academic pursuits of students.

Victoria Babatunde, the principal of the school, expressed the school’s management’s appreciation to the donor and pledged the judicious use of the facility to achieve its intended purpose. 

(NAN)