HOW BABAJIMI BENSON FACILITATES MTN’s N10M FURNITURE FOR SCHOOLS

 The high flying son of the soil, a lawyer, company secretary to the LSDPC and a young man from the prominent Benson family in Ikorodu, Barrister Bajimi Benson, has done it again.

Last December, he built and donated a block o toilets, running into millions of naira, to the Ajina community in Ikorodu and he is not tired yet. On Friday, March 21, 2014, he facilitated the donation four hundred chairs and desks worth more than ten million naira for students of Oreyo Grammar School and Oriwu College.
He did not stop at that. He went further to ensure the donation of desks and tables for the teachers of these secondary schools.
Jimi Benson is one young man, who last year, clocked forty years. He is, indeed, and one to watch out for, to occupy political space in Ikorodu division. Today, Ikorodu people are drafting him for the House of Representatives seat in the next dispensation.

With all his pedigrees including, donation to parties, construction of projects for the community and his keen interest in APC, he should be a good representative for us in the House of Representatives. Those representing us are busy building houses and telling the people that there is no money in the portfolio they handle; yet, they have refused to resign. There is no doubt that one day, nemesis would catch-up with all of them. Last March 21, the commissioner for Education, Mrs. Olayinka Oladunjoye, commissioned chairs, tables and desks for the students and teachers of these schools.
During the handing over ceremony of the items at the Senior Model College, Igbogbo recently, they were received on behalf of the Lagos state government by the Lagos state commissioner for Education, Mrs. Olayinka Oladunjoye, who immediately commissioned them.

While commissioning the furniture and other education materials, including mathematical sets, rain-coats, exercise books, school bags, etc, the commissioner commended Barrister Jimi Benson, who was unavoidably absent at the event but was represented by his wife, Mrs. Jumoke Benson and his younger brother, Engr. Jaiye Benson, for facilitating this materials through MTN for the schools. She said if nobody had made demands for the items, MTN might not have known anything about the needs of the benefitting schools.

She therefore, appreciated the facilitator greatly and thanked MTN for its contribution to the development of education sector in Lagos state. She also assured the facilitator that the beneficiaries would maintain and use the items very well.
At the junior section of the college, students were already seated comfortably on the furniture provided, while their teachers were teaching. The commissioner, therefore, commissioned the items and inspected some of the classes, where the items were being used.
The visit also allowed the commissioner to inspect the college facilities such as the school's animal farm, fishery section, science laboratory and school field, among others.
The team, which comprised the Honourable Commissioner for Education and her entourage, MTN representatives, Jimi Benson family members, principals and teachers later moved to the second benefiting school of the day, Oreyo Grammar school, Igbogbo. It was a great reception right from the school gate as the students and their teachers, along with cultural groups, orderly lined up to receive the honourable commissioner and other guests.

The furniture, which include tables, chairs and other education materials, were arranged neatly on one side of the school's field, while parents were seated under a canopy. In her brief address, Mrs. Oladunjoye said that MTN has donated the items for the school on the request of Barrister Jimi Benson. She again commended the facilitator and thanked MTN for its laudable contributions to the education sector. Thereafter, she cut the tape to signal the commissioning of the furniture and other items donated.
While addressing the pressmen at the event, the MTN representative, Education Portfolio Manager, Mr. Victor Orie-Ononogbu, revealed that five million naira (N5,000,000,) was the cost of the furniture to each of the schools that benefited from the donations.
He said that the donation was meant to complement the efforts of the Lagos state government in developing education in the state. He also pointed out that this was not the first time that MTN is contributing to education, as it recently provided laboratories for schools and Technical workshops for Ikorodu Technical College.

According to him, with the furniture, the students would have more convenient chairs and desks in their classes, while their teachers would also enjoy sitting on their new furniture, which will be in their staff rooms. The MTN officer concluded his address by promising that MTN would continue to provide basic needs of Nigerians, as long as Nigerians continue to patronize MTN.
Photo sessions and signing of visitors’ register by the honourable commissioner ended the event in both schools. Some of the dignitaries at the event included, Mrs. Jumoke Benson; Engr. Jaiye Benson; Secretary, Ikorodu Local Government, Comrade Japhet Odesanya; Tutor –General/permanent secretary, Education District II, Mrs. Margaret Titilayo Solarin; Zonal Director, Zone I, Ikorodu, Mrs. M.O. Adesoye; and principals of the benefiting schools, teachers and parents.