Preserving the Legacy of Abosede Olayinka Abiodun through Lakepoint Youth Educational Foundation

For many within Nigeria’s academic ecosystem, the late Abosede Olayinka Abiodun stands tall as a shining exemplar of noble ideals and an unwavering commitment to a lofty dream—achieving excellence in Nigeria’s educational system by aligning passion with purpose. This year marks the 10th anniversary of his passing and 31 years since he established the Lakepoint Institute, a consulting firm with a vision to bridge gaps in Nigeria’s education system and align it with international best practices. In honour of their father, his sons—Olufemi, Oluwatobiloba, and Oladunni Abiodun—are preserving his legacy by founding the Lakepoint Youth Educational Foundation, a vehicle to uphold and extend his lifelong dream. The vision is simple yet profound: to provide two children each year with access to quality education for twelve years of their academic journey. Esther Oluku reports

What would move a modest school teacher from the classroom to the world learning and gathering international best practices in education and adapting them to the Nigerian context with the hope of building a system which is internationally informed and locally relevant, equipping children with the skills and competencies to thrive in a constantly changing world? It was the dream of late Abosede Olayinka Abiodun who was born in Ebute-Metta, Lagos, on July 1, 1945. 

Late Abiodun began his academic journey at Surulere Baptist Primary School before proceeding to Baptist Academy, Lagos for his secondary education. He obtained a university degree from the University of Lagos and went further to the University of San Diego, California, where he bagged a Master’s degree in Education (Curriculum and Instruction).

Begining his career in 1971, Late Abiodun devoted the first 20 years of his professional life to public service. Starting out as a science teacher in Shamolu, his career trajectory took an upward swing taking him to the state Ministry of Education where he served as the Executive Secretary, Schools Management Committee with responsibility for administering 96 primary and secondary schools in Lagos State, Nigeria; Founding Co-ordinator, Schools Management Board, Staff Development Centre; Head of Curriculum Department, Ministry of Education; Chief Inspector of Education; and Chairman, State Task Force on the Implementation of the National Policy on Education (6-3-3-4), roles which he took on with grace and candour. 

He also was the professional Co-ordinator for the Establishment of Model Colleges; Professional Co-ordinator for the Preparation of Lagos State Education Policy; Member of the Lagos State delegation to the Joint Consultative Committee of Education (JCC) and the National Council on Education (NCE) meetings, playing an active role in the design and development of the National Curricula for Primary and Secondary Integrated Science. In 1991, Abiodun stepped down from public service to pursue private practice.

Beyond Career, a Journey in Purpose

Beyond a sterling career as an educationist in public service, perhaps late Abiodun’s dream for quality education across Nigeria’s school system outweighed the comfort and privileges of public service driving him to broaden his research in international best practices in education and bringing home his blueprint for a reformed educational system at par with global standard.

With decades of practical experience and extensive international research under his belt, late Abiodun founded Abose and Associates, a full service educational consulting outfit firm that serviced Basic Education (early childhood, primary, and secondary) in the areas of School Established and Management, Standard Monitoring and Quality Assurance, Human Capital Development as well as Design and Development of Educational Programmes and Resources.

His company became the bridge between educational theory and practical implementation, serving schools across multiple states. Abiodun’s legacy rests not on a single achievement but in his approach to multiplying impact beyond a single school system.

Between 2012 and 2013, Lakepoint Institute conducted intensive rebranding workshops for Lagos State’s Ministry of Education creating a blueprint that transformed the Inspectorate Department into an independent Quality Assurance Directorate, a structural change that continues improving education long after his passing.

His production of the Lagos State Education Year Book chronicled educational landmarks from 1967-

2012, ensuring that institutional memory would guide future generations of educators. Principals he trained still lead institutions and the curricula he helped develop still guide classrooms today. 

Lakepoint Youth Educational Foundation

For Abiodun’s children, Olufemi, Oluwatobiloba and Oladunni, preserving the legacy of late Abosede Olayinka Abiodun is a commitment to ensure that the ideals their father believed in- the invaluable gift of quality education- live on, hence, the founding of the Lakepoint Youth Educational Foundation.

According to the brothers, real systemic change and true success is not measured by personal achievement but by systems developed by people to continue a pattern of positive change long after the initiators are gone. As such, the first project of the Lakepoint Youth Educational Foundation is the Abosede Olayinka Abiodun Memorial Scholarship Fund.

Powering the Dreams of Nigerian Children 

The Abosede Olayinka Abiodun Memorial Scholarship Fund is a project targeted at giving selected Nigerian children access to quality education. Speaking on the vision behind the foundation, Oladunni, drawing from a forecast by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), stated that the prospects of exponential growth of Africa’s children population by 2050 presents both huge opportunities and potential risks. He stated that to reap the positives, there exists an urgent need to invest in the education sector and empower children with access to quality education which would set them up for a world of opportunities constantly being redefined by technological and social advancements.

This investment, he said, is a moral imperative, which if not made will result in lost opportunities for countless children, the risk of the Nigerian child being left behind in the world of the future and the possibility of a generation of children whose parents may not be able to afford the cost of quality education which would have risen astronomically in the coming years. 

He said: “25 years from now, two out of every five children that is born around the world will be born in Africa and the vast majority of them will not have access to the same trajectory defining opportunities that our parents ensured that we had access to. 

“Worse still, they will be entering a world that is radically different from ours. Technological progress is accelerating at a dizzying pace. This presents both a huge opportunity and the risk of being left behind, of being forgotten, of being washed away by the tidal wave of technological and social advancement. 

“This risk is greatest for a generation of children that haven’t even been born yet, and close to half of that generation is on the African continent with us. In order to have any semblance of a chance, they’re going to need access to a quality of education 10 times as good as we have right now.”

The Lakepoint Youth Educational Foundation will contribute to solving this problem through the Abosede Olayinka Abiodun Memorial Scholarship Fund by giving two children each year the chance to twelve of years of quality education (six years of primary education and six years of secondary education), equip teachers with better tools to make them better educators, and help students in school learn well and learn better. 

This, Oladunni said, is an opportunity to pay forward the investment their parents made in them while preserving their legacy that a high quality education can serve as a foundation to build a life of purpose and prosperity.

Raising N1billion for the Abosede Olayinka Abiodun Memorial Scholarship Fund

As a fund birthed to exist in perpetuity, the Abiodun brothers are targeting to raise N1 billion to keep the vision running for the long term. The brothers have committed to make financial investments needed to sustain the programme while calling on partners who believe in the vision to join hands in making quality education accessible to Nigerian children.

To make good on Quality Assurance, the Foundation is partnering with their alma mata St Saviours School, Ebute-Meta, for the first six years of primary education. 

Expressing optimism on the project, Oluwatobiloba stated that every student onboarded on the programme should be rest assured that the fund will give them access to quality education for the period of 12 years.

“We estimate a billion naira as a good place to keep the programme going long-term. However, we do plan even at the very begining without external funding that the first cohort of students will be funded by our own donations. We are going to start there and as the fund blossoms more, we are going to take on more kids. 

“One thing that is very important to us is that every child who gets into this programme is able to complete their primary and secondary education. The whole idea is that when we get them in there, we will cede the amount that it would take to cover their education as an investment. 

“We hope to make it a yearly programme. At the moment, we are going to start with this year and next year, we will definitely have as well. We are already locked in for the next four or five years. Now it depends on how the donations come. That is the fund that we are trying to raise to keep it in perpetuity. We already have a primary school partner that is St. Saviour’s School, Ebute-Metta. We want to make sure that its the same standard of education we are able to provide these students,” he said.

Inspiring Hope through Philanthropy  

While beneficiaries of the Abosede Olayinka Abiodun Memorial Scholarship Fund will never have the chance to meet the patriarch of the Abiodun family, the system put in place by his children to carry on his dream will forever be etched in the lives of beneficiaries as a testament to the goodness which can emanate from the human soul and how dreams when nurtured could blossom beyond the heart in which it was birth, inspiring hope and optimism for the future.