El-Rufai to deliver lecture at Adekunle Ajasin colloquium

Nasir el-Rufai, governor of Kaduna state, will on Thursday deliver a lecture at the 2019 colloquium in honour of  Adekunle Ajasin, former governor of Ondo state.

This year colloquium is to mark the posthumos birthday of the late sage who would have been 111 years.

The theme of the event scheduled for The Dome, Akure, is ” Promoting Economic Development , Social Justice and Rule of Law as Pathways to Stability and Prosperity in Nigeria”.

Jumoke Anifowoshe-Ajasin, non-executive secretary of Ajasin Foundation, disclosed this to journalists on Wednesday.

She said Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, the governor, will be the chief host at the occasion.

Some of the lead discussants are Adenike Osofisan of computer science department, University of Ibadan; Olufemi Adu of Federal University of Technology, Akure and JF Adeyemi, a former member of the house of representatives.

The colloquium is a two-in-one with both a scholarship programme and lecture.

This year colloquium began a few weeks ago with debate among secondary school students, the final of which comes up on November 27.

On November 26, there will be the annual presentation to Ajasin Scholars at Owo High School. The scholarship was initiated by Bode Ogunleye, an old student of Owo High School.

The programme, which was instituted as his contribution in support of academic excellence in his alma mater, involves the award of financial reward for the overall best student in each year from JSS 1 to SS 3.

The best overall SS 3 student will receive N100,000 per academic year through the duration of his/her university study for six years, while the best student in each stream from JS1 to SS 3 will receive N5,000 each with receipt of additional certificates and pins to mark their academic achievement.

The prize for the best student in the competition is an lpad  and set of books. while the second and third places attract a set of books

In an effort to build on the legacy of the late sage, Anifowose-Ajasin said the foundation concentrated on education and politics, the areas Ajasin best excelled and left indelible marks on his community and country.

She said encouragement of interaction and competition among schools in academics within the state, advocacy for integrity in politics and collaboration with ICPC in fight against corruption are among the initiatives that the foundation embarked on.