Preserving our father’s legacy

Just about a quarter of a century ago, I walked into a classroom as a five year old, cranky that I was being forced to go to school by my parents who obviously didn’t know anything because if they did, they’d know that playing at home was a much better use of my time. 

As I pulled out my notebook to do whatever it is 5 year olds do with notebooks on the first day of primary school, I read the front cover which said “being the best”. What our father saw that 5 year old me did not, was the transformational impact of a quality education on a child’s life and future trajectory. The Yoruba people have a saying that roughly translates to: “What an adult can see sitting down, a child cannot see even standing on their tip-toes”. 

25 years from now 2 out of every 5 children will be born in Africa and the vast majority of them will not have access to the same trajectory defining opportunities that our parents ensured we had access to. Worse, they will be entering a world that is radically different from the one we are in today. Technological progress is accelerating at a dizzying pace and this presents both a huge opportunity, and a massive risk. The risk is of being left behind. Of being forgotten. Of being washed away by the tidal wave of technological and social advancement that is accelerating all around us. 

In order to have any semblance of a chance, they are going to need access to a quality of education 10x as good as they have right now for at least a 10th of the cost and we simply don’t know how to get there from here. It is for this reason that my brothers and I have come together to launch the Lakepoint Youth Educational Foundation. 

The foundation’s mission, building on the labours of our heroes past, is to ensure that every child has access to a high-quality education that can serve as a foundation upon which they can build a life of purpose and prosperity. And we plan to do this by providing kids access to better education, helping kids learn more at school, helping educators teach more effectively, and ultimately reinventing education. 

Taking each pillar one by one, step by step

It is with great pride and gratitude that we launched the Abosede Olayinka Abiodun Memorial Fund and the Lakepoint Youth Educational Foundation. To get this off the ground, we will be starting with our first pillar and quite literally just giving some kids access to the exact education that got me in a position to be standing before you today. 

Thank you all for reading.