As families prepare for the 2026/2027 academic session, the Treasured Points of Light Foundation has provided school materials and other essentials to more than 250 children in Akinjole Town, Ewekoro Local Government Area of Ogun State.
The initiative, held on Tuesday at the Palace of the Baale of Akinjole Town, formed part of the foundation’s annual Back-to-School Outreach, which is designed to ease the financial burden on families and encourage children to return to school with confidence.
The beneficiaries, drawn from various communities in Akinjole, included children from kindergarten to senior secondary school levels. They received school bags, exercise books, stationery, textbooks, school shoes, sandals, water bottles, food flasks and lunch boxes, alongside refreshments.
The event also featured interactive and educational activities aimed at making learning enjoyable for the children.
One of the foundation’s members, Mrs Odunbosi Taiwo, coordinated a musical alphabet game in which the children were divided into two groups and challenged to sing songs beginning with letters announced by the coordinator from A to Z. The group with the highest score received gifts.
Speaking during the programme, another member of the foundation, Mrs Oluwaseun Modupeola, urged the children to take their education seriously, stressing that education was not limited to classroom attendance but also instilled knowledge, discipline and the structure required to achieve their aspirations.
She encouraged the beneficiaries to develop a lifelong commitment to learning and make good use of the opportunities provided through education.
Speaking with journalists, the foundation’s Director of Logistics and Planning, Dr Damilola Ibigbami, said the Back-to-School Outreach had been organised annually for about eight years as part of the foundation’s commitment to supporting children and families.
Ibigbami noted that the rising cost of educational materials had made it increasingly difficult for many parents to adequately prepare their children for a new academic session.
“Things have really become more expensive by the day—school bags, school shoes, stationery, books, and all that. We came here with a little token of all these items for these children, just to help reduce the financial burden on their parents and encourage them to return to school,” she said.
According to her, the foundation initially registered about 250 beneficiaries, but the number of children who turned up exceeded expectations.
She said volunteers, however, made efforts to ensure that the additional children were also accommodated.
Addressing the children, Ibigbami urged them to remain focused on their studies, describing education as a critical foundation for achieving their aspirations.
“Education is not a scam. Education will always give you a structure; it will always help you to achieve your destiny. If you embrace education and focus on your studies, the sky will be your starting point,” she said.
Ibigbami attributed the success of the outreach to the contributions of volunteers, partner organisations and donors, while appealing to individuals and corporate organisations to support the foundation so that it could extend the initiative to more communities.
The Baale of Akinjole Town, High Chief Saheed Akinjole, described the intervention as unprecedented in the community.
The traditional ruler said although he had previously supported children in the community with school uniforms, bags and sandals, the scale of the foundation’s intervention was significantly larger.
He said the excitement among the children and their parents showed the importance of the initiative, particularly at a time when many families were struggling with the rising cost of education.
High Chief Akinjole expressed appreciation to the foundation and its sponsors for bringing the programme to the community, praying for greater success and capacity for the organisation to expand its humanitarian activities.
Also speaking, the Baamowe (General Secretary) of Akinjole Town, Engr. Debi Kolawole Emmanuel, commended the foundation for what he described as a major intervention in the lives of children and families in the community.
Emmanuel said the programme was the largest outreach of its kind in the area, adding that it had provided hope and relief to families preparing their children for the new academic year.
“A lot of people who did not even have hope had hope today. They went home with school materials and textbooks, relieving stress for their parents. This is the kind of programme where people should invest their resources to touch lives and invest in the future,” he said.
For parents, the intervention came at a critical period.
One of the beneficiaries’ parents, Mrs Adeshina Adejoke, said she had been concerned about replacing some of her children’s school items, including books, bags, sandals and water bottles, which had become damaged.
She expressed gratitude to the foundation, saying the materials had eased some of the financial pressure on her family and would enable her children to resume school better prepared.
For one of the child beneficiaries, the outreach carried an even deeper significance.
The girl, who told journalists that she had lost her father and that her mother could not afford all the educational materials required for the new session, said receiving new exercise books and school shoes brought her immense joy.
She said the items would enable her to return to school better prepared and with renewed confidence.
The Treasured Points of Light Foundation’s eight-year Back-to-School initiative has thus gone beyond the distribution of educational materials, offering practical relief to families while giving children a renewed sense of dignity, hope and excitement as they prepare to return to the classroom.
