All protocols duly observed.
Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, I congratulate every one of us for making December, the twelfth month of the Gregorian calendar. No doubt, we have enjoyed the grace of God in a tremendous manner. May we not know the cost of oxygen and pray that we shall continue to appreciate the favours of God in our lives.
At the Executive Committee level, we appreciate your prayers, support and encouragement all the time. We shall never take your covert and overt gestures for granted. We also hope that we can always count on your support in 2024. May God spare our lives, Amen.
I wish to inform you all that we have employed another teacher for English Language as part of our efforts to improve the result of our school’s final year students. We are also planning to employ some part time teachers, who are Examiners, in some critical subjects early in the New Year to assist in preparing the final year students and strengthen their understanding of examination methodologies.
On your behalf, I want to thank members of the Education Committee for rising to the various challenges in the school.
Furthermore, we are currently finalising the program approval and funding process for the establishment of a bespoke Digital Unit in the school, for the use of our students. The importance of digital knowledge cannot be over-emphasized in this age and time. It is quite disturbing that we do not have a single functional computer in the school for the use of these students.
Ladies and gentlemen, this is a critical situation as lack of knowledge of the use of computers is a major factor in our students’ inability to gain admission to higher institutions since the admission tests are CBT based. We have a preliminary estimate of about N3 million for the procurement of 20 computer sets, accessories, and minimal networking to jumpstart our DIGITAL CENTRE.
I want to renew my appeal to members for voluntary contribution either in kind or cash so that we can meet up with our target of acquiring 20 SETS OF COMPUTERS for the School before 1st January 2024. You can please chat with me on +234-807-709-9000 or the Secretary on +234-803-454-2416. My brothers and sisters, this is a task that must be accomplished. May God help us all.
Let me quickly appreciate those who have indicated their intention to assist us in this connection. At the appropriate time, we shall publicly acknowledge your contributions.
Like I indicated in my November address, there is a scheme on the way to deforest the school compound and make productive use of the land for the purpose of investment and teaching. In this connection, we are optimistic that this pilot project will prove that our school has a tradition of productivity and entrepreneurship.
By the grace of God, all our health and general enlightenment programmes will be put in place early in the New Year as all arrangements have been concluded. I believe we have a lot of successful professionals in our midst whose background and experience can benefit not only the buddies and their families but also the present students in the school. Information is power; in fact, it is the most potent tool of progress. As it is usually put, whoever is not informed will be deformed.
At this juncture, on behalf of the Executive body, I wish to rejoice with those individuals and families who marked their birthdays or celebrated marriages of their children and had the obsequies of any of their parents during the month that has just ended. We pray for continuous blessings in our midst
As I always state, Atakunmosa High School has become a global family, and we must take full advantage of it with TECHNOLOGY as an enabler. During my international travels which I am just rounding up, I had interactions with many buddies, attended a wedding function in England and was hosted to several luncheons and dinners in the United Kingdom and the United States of America. I attended a Virtual Meeting of the leadership of the North American Chapter and had interactions with my people of various strata. I also got a present from one of our seniors who was so delighted at my visit. May Almighty God continue to bless you and meet you all at the points of need.
I wish to implore all of us to please take things easy in this last month of the year. As we felicitate and appreciate the grace of God, let us moderate our activities and embrace HEALTHY LIFESTYLES. Let us be conscious of the fact that this is not the best of times and remember the less privileged and the needy members of our society as a way of moderating our activities. I pray that there will be no evil report from anyone by the grace of God.
At the risk of repetition or sounding like a broken record, I would like to reiterate my monthly appeal on the Group Life Insurance Scheme. I am an advocate of spending a known sum of money to address an unknown loss, hence my request for our full participation.
My brothers and sisters, I wish to express our deep appreciation to you all for being there for us.
December 2023, HERE WE COME!!!!
THANK YOU ALL.
Lateef A. Bakare, FCA, FBR