The dream to establish the OANDO Foundation was sown about eleven years ago when the GCE, Oando, Mr. Wale Tinubu, drew inspiration from the words of two great men on the importance of education.
First was the late South African President, Nelson Mandela, who described education as the most powerful weapon for changing the world. The second man was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States, Benjamin Franklin’s quote, which says that “Knowledge is the one investment that keeps paying dividends”
Inspired by the two great leaders, the management of Oando PLC, one of Africa’s leading energy solutions providers, made the bold move to invest in education with the Oando Foundation.
The mission was to improve the learning environment and to make learning easier and attractive to students in Nigerian public schools.
Today, the little seed that was inspired by those two great men has not only germinated, but it has also grown beyond the foundation’s expectation and bridged the gap by transforming the lives of more than one million lives of Nigerian children through education.
Since its establishment in 2011, the inspired Hands have dedicated their time, talents, and resources to putting smiles on the faces of Nigerian school pupils, teachers, and indeed the larger community.
The boss of Oando, Wale Tinubu, who is very proud of the foundation’s achievements in the past 11 years, showed his excitement when he wrote on his Twitter handle last Tuesday, “The role of education for peace and development cannot be overemphasized. Without inclusive and equitable quality education and lifelong opportunities for all, countries cannot break cycles of poverty and inequality.
“I am constantly inspired by Oando Foundation’s 11-year journey. We set out to bridge the education gap in Nigeria with infrastructure development, scholarships, and teacher capacity building. So far, we’ve impacted the lives of ~2M Nigerians.
As we commemorate #EducationDay, I look forward to both public and private sector players collectively reimagining the future and committing to the transformation of education to build more sustainable, inclusive, and peaceful futures. #InternationalDayofEducation.”
The foundation, over the years, has conducted four career talks, schools rehabilitation across Nigeria, while it has also donated educational aids and it also awarded and sponsored scholarships across the nation. Through its scholarship program, it has impacted thousands of students from a poor socio-economic background, while beneficiaries have recorded remarkable strides, performing above 70% average consistently; others have represented their states and local governments in different academic competitions.
Because of the foundation’s belief that education is constantly evolving and so should the teaching methods, it has also successfully supported the professional development of teachers and headteachers in school management, modern pedagogical practices, and subject content knowledge.
