Harvest Lunch, Dance for Catholic Church of Assumption
Azuka Ogujiuba
It was almost a year ago that we wrote about the Catholic Church of Assumption, Falomo, Lagos’ Annual Harvest Lunch and Dance event, which held at the Civic Center in Victoria Island, Lagos. Those of you that read our article and attended will fondly recall that the event was a great success, in addition to being a lot of fun. This year’s edition of Harvest Lunch and Dance comes up tomorrow, Sunday October 16, and it will also be hosted at the Civic Center. Although we understand it promises to be even more entertaining than the previous year’s, but the main purpose of this event is to raise funds for Phase 2 of the Church’s school project, Mater Ecclesiae College, Epe.
The Church is headed by the Parish Priest, Reverend Father Paul Kehinde Ijasan. The school was founded as the Church’s contribution to bridging the gap and raising the standard of education in our country by providing high quality education of international standard. In order to ensure that international standards are instituted and maintained, foreign religious affiliation is being sought with the assistance of His Grace, Most Rev. Dr. Alfred Adewale Martins, the Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Lagos.
Although founded and promoted by the Church, admission to the School is open to bright students of all religious persuasions and even the irreligious. The school is situated on 15 acres of land in Epe, which, while a fast growing area, is still serene enough to provide the sort of environment that students need to thrive and excel. The School opened last year and the pioneer students resumed in September 2015. Monies raised from this year’s fund raising activities will be channeled towards providing additional classroom blocks, science laboratories, library, recreational facilities, etc.
The objective of the Church is to establish qualitative, co-educational, boarding secondary school for the Nigerian child. The school is being run by the De La Salle Brothers who are known for their discipline, academic standard and morals. Admission will be on merit by competitive entrance examinations. There is an ongoing plan for a Scholarship Fund, which – when it has been set up – will accommodate children who succeed at the entrance examinations, but cannot afford the fees.
The Chairman of the 2016 Harvest Planning Committee is Mr. Bernard O. Longe, the retired transformational Group Managing Director of First Bank of Nigeria Plc (as it then was) and presently the Managing Director of TY Holdings Limited. He also serves on various boards. The Vice-Chairperson is Mrs. Lanre DaSilva-Ajayi, a renowned fashion designer. Her designs have been shown both locally and by the biggest fashion houses in Europe and in the United States. The Chairperson for this year’s Lunch & Dance Committee is Ms. Lara Alagbada – a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria. She is an Executive Director at Hariri & Klinton Nigeria Limited, a company that specialises in providing financial services such as audits, financial advisory and tax services. Prior to that, she was the Pioneer Managing Director of Zenith Pensions Custodian Limited – a subsidiary of the Zenith Bank Group. She also served as the Deputy Coordinator of the Manufacturing Sector of the Vision 20-2020 Committee.
This year’s Lunch & Dance promises to meet and even exceed last year’s in terms of the exciting line up of events and celebrities. The celebrated Demola Olota will be the main band. There will be musical performances by other famous artistes like the dynamic Cobhams Asuquo, Timaya and Waje. The duo of Michele Dede and Toke Makinwa will be co-MCs along with our very own Bafor Amatesero. There will be comedy, variety shows to further entertain you along with raffle draws, which can have you smiling home with very exciting prizes. In addition to all these, you will have the satisfaction of knowing that your contribution/donations towards this event will help to shape the lives of some Nigerian children.
