The Speaker of the Oyo State House of Assembly, Adebo Ogundoyin, on Tuesday commissioned and officially handed over a newly constructed and fully furnished secondary school to the Ministry of Education.
The project, facilitated and donated by the Speaker, is the first secondary school in Temidire community, a cluster of about 46 villages previously without direct access to post-primary education.
Speaking on Tuesday at the ceremony held to commemorate his 39th birthday, Ogundoyin described the occasion as both historic and deeply personal, saying the gesture was “Promise made, promise kept.”
He recalled that the initiative was conceived during his 2023 electioneering campaign after residents lamented the absence of a secondary school in the area.
Before now, pupils who completed their primary education in the community’s two private and eight public primary schools had to travel about 30 minutes by motorcycle to Eruwa township or cross into neighbouring Ogun State to attend secondary school. The situation, according to teachers and community leaders led to absenteeism, lateness, dropouts and exposure to safety risks.
The Speaker noted that the hardship discouraged many children from continuing their education after primary school, with some abandoning schooling altogether for farming and other informal engagements.
The newly commissioned school comprises two blocks of well-ventilated classrooms, administrative offices including a principal’s office and staff rooms, modern toilet facilities with running water for students and teachers, and a motorised borehole to serve the school.
The classrooms have been fully furnished to ensure immediate take-off of academic activities.
Ogundoyin confirmed that the school would commence full academic operations in September for the new session.
“With this commissioning and handover, our children no longer need to endure long and risky journeys in search of education. This school has put an end to that suffering,” he said.
The event also featured the distribution of school bags, textbooks and writing materials to pupils donated by the Forum of councillors in Ibarapa East Local Government to congratulate the Speaker on his 39th birthday anniversary and signalling readiness for the first intake.
Ogundoyin used the occasion to reaffirm his commitment to grassroots development across Ibarapa East Constituency, listing ongoing and completed projects including a primary health centre at Lagaye, boreholes across communities, youth empowerment initiatives and another secondary school project nearing completion in Ojonamo, Lanlate.
The Speaker urged parents, teachers and students to take ownership of the school, describing education as the most powerful tool for empowerment and societal transformation.
The state Governor, Seyi Makinde, who was represented by the Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Hon. Olayiwola Olusegun, commended the Speaker for what he described as leadership by example.
The governor reiterated that investment in education remains the most rewarding commitment any government or individual can make, stressing that no resources committed to human capital development are wasted.
He highlighted ongoing reforms by the state government, including employment of teachers, free textbooks for public school students, distribution of free WASSCE past questions to SS3 students in both public and private schools, digital learning initiatives and continuous teacher training.
According to him, these interventions have begun yielding results, with Oyo State ranking among the top performers in recent national examinations and meeting key UNESCO benchmarks, including budgetary allocation to education and student-teacher ratio.
Makinde urged the Temidire community to safeguard the new facility against vandalism and ensure proper maintenance, while reaffirming the state’s zero tolerance for examination malpractice.
The Commissioner noted that the state government through the Ministry of Education would wait to officially receive the request of the community on what name to call the school, assuring that whatever they proposed will be promptly approved as the school is expected to officially resume and begin academic activities by September, 2026.
One of the teachers who pleaded to speak on condition of anonymity, commended the Speaker for the project. she described it as landmark achievement and a milestone for the community development.
”I will use this opportunity to say thank you to our Right Honorable Adebo Ogundoyin for giving Ibarra-Kwais and Temidire and its environment this great opportunity and this great blessing. Because this secondary school itself is a great opportunity and a blessing to Ibarra-Kwais and Temidire and to the other villages around this very area.
”Because with this school now, many of the pupils around this very area, most especially the secondary school pupils, many of them find it very difficult to move to school, most especially in the morning. Many of them after primary school, they stop because it’s not always easy for them to go to the school in the morning.
”By the time you see them outside, you see them in the morning wearing their school uniform, always happy that they are going to school.
”But by the time they get to the bus stop, it’s very difficult for them to move down to school, to transfer themselves to the school from Temidire to Eruwang. And when they are coming back in the afternoon, it’s another problem entirely.
”Because between 8 and 10 o’clock, you see them outside wearing their school uniforms, waiting for the bus service to just assist them to move down to Eruwa, just for them to go to the school.
”Before you know it, they would have finished the first and second period in this school before they get to the school. So which are the most important parts of the day? English and Mathematics. Because many of the English and Mathematics are majorly the first two subjects.
”And most of these pupils are still outside, waiting for who to transfer them to school. And by the time they are coming back home in the afternoon, school closes around 2 o’clock. Some of them will still be at the Eruwa Junction, looking for who to bring them back to Temidire.
”They will still be there standing till around 6 o’clock, which is another challenge. And the next day, you can imagine a child that was outside till 6 o’clock yesterday, telling you the next morning that I’m going to school.
”And such a child will still stand outside till 10 o’clock and again the next day, that I’m going to school, coming back the next day around 6pm. Before you know it, if that child does not have any other intention in Eruwa, for going to Eruwa daily like that, such a child would want to stop and prefer to go to the farm.
”They would prefer to go to the farm just to have other businesses to assist their parents than to go to the school. But with this now, many of them will come to the school and they will have all their normal subjects. With this, it will help their communication skills, it will help them in calculations too, with the mathematics and also with the English,” the teacher said.
Also speaking, Chairman of the House Committee on Education, Hon. Femi Fowokanmi, said the long-term impact of the school would surpass any form of direct financial empowerment.
“If the Speaker gave each student one million naira, it would not make the kind of lasting impact this school will give,” he said.
In his goodwill message, Chief Olatunji Adio, the Otun Olori of Temidire Community, expressed gratitude to the Speaker, lamenting that previous letters written to successive administrations over the past 20 years requesting a secondary school yielded no result.
Highlights of the event were the cutting of the Speaker’s birthday cake, official handing over of the school to the Commissioner for Education on behalf of the state government, presentation of school bags, text books, writing and teaching materials to students and teachers of the school.
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