When Erin Jogun Ola Foundation Hosted Ramadan Lecture In Lagos, 8 Year-Old Pupil, Others Get Empowerment Gifts

TAIWO ADELU

 Prince Ifalade Oyekan (2nd right) with some of his friends at the Ramadan Lecture organised by Erin Jogun Ola Life Foundation in Lagos recently

The first day of June, 2019 was meant to be a Ramadan Lecture day put together by Erin Jogun Ola Life Foundation at Idi-Omo Lane in Isale Eko, Lagos Island, but it later turned to a day when luck smiled on some people who came to witness the occasion.

Erin Jogun Ola Life Foundation, a Non Governmental Organisation (NGO), with its humanitarian spirit organised the lecture to celebrate the Muslim faithful who were observing the month-long fasting with the theme “Doing Good Deed”. It was a lecture where the organisers were expecting attendees of 450 people, but because of the popularity of the people behind the foundation and most especially the initiator, Prince Ifalade Oyekan, more than 800 people showed up at the occasion.

Fadilah Sheik Kabir Oladimeji and his team

“As being our practice, we set aside the first day of June to identify with our Muslim brothers and sisters with a lecture led by respected Chief Missioner/Founder of Alimuf, Fadilah Sheik Kabir Oladimeji. We were not surprised with the turnout of people to the lecture because we know that Erin Jogun Ola Life Foundation is really connected to the people at the grassroots,” said Prince Oyekan.

He told P.M. EXPRESS that Erin Jogun Ola Life Foundation could not organise an event without putting smiles on the faces of people who came around. He said: “People must not attend our event and go empty handed; that is one of our philosophy. Despite the fact that we ensured that everybody went home with one gift or the other, we made arrangement for specially packaged gift of empowerment for some selected people.

“We didn’t choose these set of people by our own, but by Divination, they were lucky to be the chosen ones. What we did was that we wrote some numbers and secretly and randomly placed these numbers on the seats where people who sat on these seats would not know anything and even we also would not know who would sit on those seats. By the time we asked people to stand and check their seats if there were numbers written on papers on their seats, the lucky ones were unveiled.

“Eight set of lucky people won an empowerment/vocational training for six months, which will be solely sponsored by Erin Jogun Ola Life Foundation. Among these luck winners was an eight year-old pupil of Metropolitan Champions School, Master Hamid Al-Amin, who is currently in Primary 2 going to Primary 3. I could see the excitement on the face of the young boy and most other people who thanked God on behalf Al-Amin.

“The question on the lips of people at the lecture was how would Al-Amin, a Primary 2 pupil go for an empowerment training for six months? To the surprise of everybody, we already had answer to this question.

“We have converted the six month training to a year school calendar scholarship for Al-Amin. What this means is that Erin Jogun Ola Life Foundation will pick the bills of Master Amin Al-Amin when he is promoted to Primary 3 next session from September, 2019. Though the costs will be higher than the six month training package we had earlier planned for our lucky winners, we believe that young Al-Amin deserves whatever we do for him,” Prince Oyekan said.

“We also had among the lucky winners, some elderly women who won’t be able to go for the training because of their ages, but we had told them to bring any of their children who would be available for the training,” he said.

Prince Oyekan said that the major focus of the foundation is to constantly mobilise the people of Lagos, especially Lagos Island towards good causes that will ultimately translate to community development.

“As a younger generation, the foundation is out to change the perception people have on Isale Eko. We want to tell the world that we are no longer a community of thugs, violence and all sort of societal ills. We are educated, civilised and hospitable people,” he said.

P.M. EXPRESS reports that Erin Jogun Ola Life Foundation for Community Development, a registered NGO with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) in Nigeria, is out to celebrate the philanthropic qualities and life well spent of the late Oba of Lagos, Kabiyesi Adeyinka Oyekan II

Other important dignitaries who graced the Ramadan Lecture included Chief Adesoji Ajayi-Bembe (Obanikoro of Lagos), Chief Omogbolahan Durosimi (Suenu of Lagos), Chief Lamina Olaseni Sasi (Sasi of Lagos), Prince Taofeek Adewale Adele (Chief Legislature Officer, Lagos State House of Assembly). One of the beneficiaries of the six month empowerment training is Kuburat Oshodi.