Gbenga Sodeinde in Ado Ekiti
The Deputy Speaker, Ekiti State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Hakeem Jamiu, has urged secondary school students in his constituency to be ready to defy the odds to reach the pinnacle of success despite their humble background.
Jamiu, who said achieving success is a challenging task, urged the students to take their studies seriously and remain focused on pursuing their dreams of becoming somebody.
He also advised them against joining bad gangs and involving in vices that could terminate their lives untimely.
The deputy speaker made the remarks in his hometown, Igbemo Ekiti, during a constituency engagement/career talk with secondary school students in his Irepodun/Ifelodun constituency II, to flag off his re-election campaign.
The event, initiated by a humanitarian organisation, Foluke Akosile Foundation (FAF) and supported by the deputy speaker, attracted students and teachers from towns like Awo, Iropora, Eyio, Esure, Ilomu, Iworoko, Are, Afao, Araromi Obbo, Orun and Igbemo.
Although the deputy speaker had procured JAMB forms for students in the constituency and facilitated the employment of many youths into teaching and civil service in the last three years, he said the students’ outreach was a means to give back to the communities he represents at the state parliament and to imbue the students with determination to succeed in their studies and achieve greater things in life.
In a lecture, ‘with determination and discipline, You can become that great person you wanted to be’, the legislator recalled the suffering and inconveniences he endured as a boy growing up in a village who was determined to succeed despite the odds.
He used the forum to warn the students and other youths of Ekiti State against involvement in criminal activities like drug abuse and Internet fraud, otherwise known as ‘yahoo-yahoo’, which he described as an erosion of values of hard work, perseverance, the dignity of human person and ethos of “Omoluabi” in Yoruba land.
He regretted that decorum, modesty and decency, which were in abundance in those days, are gradually being relegated as a society now has teenage students without means of legitimate income coming home with exotic cars and the formation of an ‘association of Yahoo boys’. He added that mothers now encourage their children to commit internet fraud and organise prayer sessions and spiritual fortification.
Jamiu warned that such a dangerous path could lead to the sudden loss of lives of young leaders of tomorrow.
The deputy speaker revealed that he and Governor Biodun Oyebanji, who was his schoolmate at Awo Comprehensive High School, Awo Ekiti had parents who were teachers but rose from a humble beginning to be where they are today. He urged the students to draw inspiration from their stories and follow the path to greatness to make history in their generation.
