GCI old boys open renovated science labs as ₦15bn school fund takes shape
- Emadeb Energy boss Adebowale Olujimi funded and equipped Government College Ibadan's Chemistry and Physics labs.
- Governor Seyi Makinde inaugurated the project and four others executed by old boys on 17 October.
- The old boys association is driving a ₦15 billion fund to rebuild the school it now helps run.
Old boys of Government College Ibadan (GCI) gathered on campus on 17 October for their annual general meeting and reunion, and the day included the inauguration of a renovated and fully equipped Chemistry and Physics laboratory project funded by one of their own.
The laboratories were financed by Adebowale Olujimi, Group Chief Executive Officer of Emadeb Energy and a member of the Class of 1985, and his wife, Olugbesoye Olujimi, an executive director at the same company. Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde inaugurated the Olujimi project alongside four other projects executed by old boys.
The school now runs under a partnership in which the Government College Ibadan Old Boys Association (GCIOBA) helps develop, manage and operate it, with the state government's backing. The association thanked Governor Makinde for the opportunity.
Why the labs mattered
Olujimi said he and his wife visited the school about a year ago to see what needed fixing, and met the principal by chance on a weekend. That tour led to the decision to take on the two science laboratories.
He said the labs were once among the best anywhere, and had fallen far from that standard. "I just felt like we can do better," he said at the ceremony.
The company's Head of Human Resources, Uduak Ugbodaga, who oversees its Emadeb Development Foundation, said the investment should be measured not in naira and kobo but in what it adds to learning and student development. The exact sum was not disclosed; the reports described it as running into millions of naira.
Olujimi recalled his school days on the hockey pitch and the 100-metre track near the laboratory block, and said GCI stood out from other schools he has visited because of the steady partnership between the state and the old boys.
He also praised the association under its president, Dr Babalakin, for raising billions of naira from individual pockets, naming Nigeria LNG, Aradel Holdings and several class sets as contributors.
What happens next
Babalakin, a lawyer and Chairman of Bi-Courtney Group, leads the association's drive for a ₦15 billion transformation fund aimed at making GCI Nigeria's best secondary school in infrastructure and academic excellence. The fund is still being built up, the reports said.
Olujimi described the laboratory project as a starting point and pledged yearly engagement with the school and the state. He urged current students to stay hopeful, saying the future leaders of the country are among them.
