All protocols duly observed.
I am happy to welcome you all to the month of February 2025. God Almighty has been merciful for keeping us and members of our family alive. It’s His Grace for which we are grateful and will continue to praise Him. Reminds me of one of the Cherubic songs affirming that PRAISING HIS GOD’S FOOD! (“OPE L’ONJE RE”). Gradually, the year is rolling by as time waits for no one. We must be up and doing all the time to ensure that we keep fit and engage in activities that would be beneficial to us and those around us. May God give us the grace to be able to do the right thing at the right time.
It is no longer news that our Association is unique in several spheres. We need to thank God for the kind of school we attended and the type of persons we are. Personally, it always gives me joy to remember that I am a product of Atakunmosa High School, Osu. With our upbringing as students of AHSO, solid foundations have been laid for our future and it’s easy to recognize these values as we grow older and experience real life and LIVING IN THE WORLD.
Let me commend our sense of loyalty and commitment to the development of OUR SCHOOL. It has been an amazing one !!! Notice my use of “our school” !!! Is AHSO not Our school? Of course, IT IS !!! THAT’S OUR BAKERY, OUR SOURCE !!! I pray that God will not make us a river that forgets its source, Amen!
The recent call for contribution towards meeting the 2025 Education Budget was necessitated by the fact that we needed to keep the flag flying. Thank God that our efforts towards making the students better children are yielding good results. We need to continue to support the school in whatever form we know. We should be determined to make life better for those coming behind. On this note, I want to appreciate very sincerely those individuals who have made generous donation contributions to this purse. I pray that Almighty God would continue to bless you and your respective families. I should also like to seize this opportunity to appeal to all other Buddies to please “SHAKE BODY” by dropping their contributions. We have enough scriptural lessons in giving and giving according to our endowment by God. Allah (SWT) has described Himself as One with the knowledge of the unseen or the hidden, hence I am encouraging us to give generously so that God can also give us out of His abundant treasures. Money, of course, is the lifeblood of any Association. I pray that God of provision would continue to provide for our needs.
The Vocational Programme is gradually coming up. We have enlisted the interest of over seventy (70) students across various trades. However, we are working on the strategies of formally teaching these Trades in the school and ensuring that the students later sit for a National Certification Examination. The school authority is in possession of the syllabuses for about 8 Trades, and the feasibility of teaching them is being worked out, and along with the practical requirements. Shouldn’t we proud that we conceived our VOCATIONAL EDUCATION PROGRAM before the Federal Government of Nigeria announced its own program? If indeed, FGN copied us, is that not good thinking? It is also necessary to let you know that the Library Development Project has taken off with donation of books from individuals and some publishers. The School Authority has also been mandated to include on the school time-table a compulsory Library Period for each arm of the classes. During this period, all the students in the concerned arm are expected to move to the LIBRARY to study quietly under the guidance of a teacher. This is with a view to making them read independently and getting accustomed to private reading culture.
I wish to renew my appeal for volunteers for the purpose of our Agriculture and Investment Projects in the school and beyond. We need men and women of ideas to assist us in this important area. It is imperative for us to look inward on how we can generate money to run the Association soon.
The sustainability of
all our activities and programmes is very important to the future of our Association. May God help us all.
May I also use this opportunity to call on all SETS, and various CHAPTERS to enlist the interest of more members particularly the “younger generations” to come on board. We cannot afford to miss the various opportunities ahead and the need to make the Association more viable in the near future.
On behalf of the Executive, I wish to sympathize with the entire members of 1983/1988 Set of the Association on the death of Late Mrs. Christiana Tomi Makinde (nee Adeyeye). May God comfort her husband, children and the entire members of her family. May her gentle soul rest in peace.
Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to continue my appeal for good and meaningful relationship among us. Let us look after our friends and colleagues. And please we should not fail to assist or lend a hand wherever it is possible. We cannot help the dead so it is only when we are living that we can take advantage of our co-existence. I pray for divine protection on all of us and the entire members of our family. I rejoice with all Buddies who celebrated their birthdays during the month of January. May the Lord increase your strength, wisdom and give you good health and a long life.
Congratulations to you all.
Finally, Ladies and Gentlemen, please let us stay safe, take good care of your health and remind someone to do so.
Thank you all
Lateef A. Bakare FCA, FBR
February 1, 2025