December 27, 2017

Mr Obafela Bank-Olemoh, Special Adviser to Gov. Akinwunmi Ambode  of Lagos State on Education, has emerged the “Education Man of the Year’’ at a ceremony organised by Arch Lights Foundation Education Awards.

Bank-Olemoh, a seasoned educationist, was rewarded for his giant strides in improving the educational standard in Lagos State in which schools were able to improve their performance in external examinations.

Lagos State has been able to improve from 37 per cent pass in the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) to 66 per cent in 2016, an achievement engendered by the revolutionary team of the Ambode’s like minds which includes Bank-Olemoh.

Bank-Olemoh was also instrumental and a convener of “Parenting in the 21st Century’’, a project with an overriding purpose to equip parents as well as guardians with the right knowledge sufficient for effective parenting.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Arc Lights Foundation Teachers Academy was established to collaborate by training teachers, school proprietors and evaluators to ultimately reform the education sector in Nigeria.

The organisation seeks to set up a framework aimed at developing and improving education in Africa with focus on refining, equipping and transforming schools, educators, parents and children with low and middle-income schools.

Arc Light Foundation are the exclusive partners of LEGO in Nigeria and LEGO Education in West Africa, and are the organisers of the World Robots Olympiad in Nigeria, an annual event for secondary schools.

The award ceremony which held at the Oriental Hotel, Lekki, Lagos; also honoured Mrs Ronke Soyombo the Lagos State first Director-General on Education Quality as, “Education Woman of the Year’’.

Also part of the team that made history in Lagos, Mrs Soyombo was awarded as the “Education Woman of the Year’’.

Soyombo, a graduate of Law from London Guildhall University, pioneered the review of the evaluation schedule to enhance “Assurance Evaluation Practise’’ in Lagos State.

Mrs Amaka Ndukwe also a seasoned educator and education consultant at Chrysanthemum Home School was conferred with the “Gifted Teacher of the Year’’.

Master Jonathan Onwude the first Nigerian to move the country to the next round of the World Robot Olympiad in India was conferred with the “Most Promising Nigerian Child in Robotics Education’’ award.

Onwude, registered as an eight-year-old kid in 2015, developed his love for the problem solving and developed a knack for programming and robotics.

He participated in the World Robots Olympiads in Doha, Qatar in 2015, as an eight-year-old and went on to represent the country in New Delhi, India, and Costa Rica in 2016, and 2017 respectively.

Other recipients are the Director, Corona Schools Trust Council, Mrs Adefisayo Folashade as “Education Lifetime Achievement Award’’ which she shared with the Chief Executive Officer of Incubator Africa, Mrs Alero Ayida-Otobo.

Also, Mrs Kehinde Nwani, Mrs Yinka Ogunde, Mrs Gloria Rhodes, Mrs Bolaji Osime all bagged the “Education Lifetime Achievement Award’’.

For the “Teacher of the Year Award’’, Miss Adetola Adetokunbo, got the star price with a cash gift of N200, 000.