UNILAG Professor Launches Foundation to Support Indigent, Brilliant Students

Uchechukwu Nnaike

As part of activities marking his 60th birthday, Mike Adebamowo, a professor of Architecture at the University of Lagos (UNILAG), has unveiled the Professor Mike Adebamowo Foundation (PMAF) to support indigent university students through school.
Adebamowo, the Executive Director of UNILAG Business School, said the occasion hinged on the grace of God, which he has enjoyed in all ramifications of his life from childhood to adulthood.
He said he enjoyed many scholarships, which enabled him to complete his university education easily without any burden on his parents. So, to celebrate his 60th birthday, he called on relatives and friends to partner with him to set up the foundation to help the less privileged, especially the indigent students in Nigerian universities.
He said the aim is that no student will be short-changed or stagnated because of finances, adding that the foundation will mentor the students to build their character and build a better society.
Adebamowo said the foundation is starting with N60 million and hopes to seek support and grants both locally and internationally to extend the scholarship to other levels of education.
“We believe our own little way in setting up this foundation will be to give back and raise a godly generation, who are also morally sound and with great intellectual acumen that will come up with innovations, among other things,” he said.
The Chairman of the board of trustees of the foundation, Pastor Toks Oshokoya, said in addition to granting financial support to indigent students in any Nigerian university, the foundation will ensure continuous monitoring and evaluation of the progress of the beneficiaries, avail them a job-related ecosystem and mentorship.
He said the foundation will rigorously work through very open processes as developed by the board of trustees in selecting and considering beneficiaries.
Oshokoya added that interested students will register and establish engagement with the foundation. He said the foundation would pay the school fees of each beneficiary, and the allowances to provide for feeding would be paid into the student’s account.
He said the committee will monitor and evaluate the beneficiaries’ total progress yearly, adding that the foundation will celebrate its milestones with lectures on education, leadership, and social responsibility.
Former Vice-Chancellor of UNILAG, Prof. Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, said the foundation is needed, especially considering the country’s current economic situation.
He called for foundations that would provide financial support, mentor the students, and follow up to ensure their well-being.
The Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Management Services), Prof. Lucian Chukwu, said the celebrator showed exemplary and trailblazing leadership in all his responsibilities at the university and commended him for his efforts in the academic community.
In his brief remarks, chairman of the occasion, Air Chief Marshal Paul Dike, extolled the virtues of the don, describing him as an accomplished scholar and a man after God’s heart.
He noted that his humility and love for humanity is worth emulating.
According to Dike, the foundation will further set him high as a trailblazer and that such legacy is what is required by great men of his type, in this period of the nation’s history.
The Overseer of the Citadel Global Community Church, Pastor Tunde Bakare, described Adebamowo as an iconic architect and scholar.
He recalled how they met years ago, and how, when he wanted to build his church, Adebamowo’s design was chosen because it aligned with his vision, after other architects’ designs were rejected.
He lauded the don’s architectural prowess and his dedication to the project.
In an exhortation titled ‘The four dimensional man’, Bakare stated that one goes through four phases: baby – child – boy – man.
He also said that the first 30 years of a man’s life are years of receiving from his parents, after which he progresses to becoming a husband – father – provider. He said it is the duty of the man to be faithful to his wife and loving, kind to his children.
While describing Adebamowo as an embodiment of these virtues, he advised him not to relent as he continues his journey on earth.