WorldStage– As the frontier of the global push for general literacy and quality education continues to pace for expansion across the world communities, Need Schools Foundation Programme (NSFP), a contemporary educational Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) is emerging with a unique approach that distinguishes it among the crowd of its peers.
This uniqueness, clearly enunciated in its charter, acknowledges education as a cornerstone for personal growth, community development, and national prosperity, and recognising the challenges of access, quality, and equity in Nigeria’s education system, the Need Schools Foundation Programme (NSFP) is said to be established to address these gaps.
Founded under the leadership of Cornelius Oluwole Sanwo and Dr. Oluremi Kayode, NSFP is dedicated to creating sustainable, inclusive, and transformative education opportunities for children and youth across Nigeria.
To achieve the intent of the programme the founders envisioned, to empower communities through accessible, inclusive, and quality education, ensuring every child has the opportunity to achieve their potential; while also running on the mission to leverage resources and partnerships to improve educational infrastructure and opportunities in underserved communities.
It equally holds dearly in mind fostering a love for learning by creating and supporting initiatives such as school construction, library development, book drives, and teacher empowerment as well as to inspire long-term change through advocacy and innovative approaches to education.
Driving these efforts are two individuals with sound and requisite background in the field they have chosen in impacting education to people for full purpose of it.
Mr. Wole Sanwo is a visionary finance professional and a Fellow of the Chartered Association of Certified Accountants (FCCA) with a keen interest in supporting the delivery of Board Corporate strategies/operations with decades of experience within the UK social housing sector in permanent roles and most recently in interim /consultancy positions whilst transitioning to non-executive roles.
Outside of work, Wole is passionate about giving back to his community and cofounded(current Board chair) a vibrant old schools’ network, NSF (UK), www.nsf.community considered to be the largest secular network of Nigerians in the UK diaspora where members have raised thousands of pounds for school projects back in Nigeria. Wole is an alumnus of Igbobi College Yaba Old Boys Association (ICOBA EUROPE).
His counterpart in running the affairs of the programme, Dr. Remi Kayode, also a Board Director of NSF(UK), is a skilful professional with a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Energy Management & Forecasting, an experienced analyst and trainer with a demonstrated history of working in both the public and private sectors and a member of the International Institute of Forecasters. She has great interpersonal skills and is very passionate about giving back to her community and supporting the younger generation in achieving their potential.
Remi was the first president of her alumni -Government College, Ikorodu Old Student’s Association (GCIOSA-UK), where she currently serves as the Project Director. She is also involved with the Young Women in IT (YWiIT) based in Nigeria, an organization dedicated to raising the level of young girls’ involvement and attainment in IT and the digital world.
NSFP’s partner organisation , NSF(UK) recently celebrated a decade of success, according to the duo, covering the period 2012-2022, and showcased the organization’s humble beginning as a London 2012 Olympic Legacy, its growth and its impact in the UK Nigerian Diaspora community and its support for Education in Nigeria.
NSFP, registered in Nigeria (Reg. No. 7402353), is a non-profit organization committed to bridging educational gaps by providing critical learning resources, promoting literacy, and supporting students and teachers with the tools to thrive in today’s competitive world.
“We work in partnership with NSF(UK) to leverage in much needed educational resources in to the Nigerian education ecosystem,” Mr Sanwo and Dr Kayode stated.
According to them, their recent and ongoing work include – In Phase 1 of a Book Drive initiative, conducted in partnership with Book Aid International (UK) and NSF(UK) through which they claim to have successfully distributed books valued at over ₦95 million to secondary schools across Nigeria.
“We are now preparing for Phase 2, with a focus on extending our reach to underserved states, particularly Abuja, Delta, Lagos, Ogun, Gombe, Kano, Kogi, Sokoto, and Yobe.”
Speaking further on their efforts, they said “In addition, our programmes promote academic excellence by encouraging participation in national competitions such as, Have Your Say, and international literacy competitions, such as the UK Queen’s Commonwealth Essay and by hosting educational seminars and workshops to empower both students and educators.”
“Looking ahead,” they disclosed, “we are also working with the UK Financial Times to expand access for Nigerian schools through: The FT for Schools Initiative, schools which provides free digital access to Financial Times content in over 130 countries. At present, only a handful of Nigerian schools benefit despite the country having more than 30,000 secondary schools. NSFP is committed to increasing that reach significantly.”
Further to their pursuit of maximizing the objective of the organization is the collaboration with UK Financial Times on FT Student Advocate Programme, a global virtual work experience opportunity for secondary students aged 16–18, designed to give young people international exposure and skills for the future workplace.
‘Our work with NSFP has already received international recognition, having been featured innUNESCO’s Country (Nigeria) Initiative for Sustainable,” they enthused.
On projects NSFP is running, Book Drive is mentioned as taking a significant priority, with promise of different titles of books to be donated to libraries in Nigeria
They recalled that on 4th of April 2024, NSFP had entered into a partnership with Book Aid International to promote reading culture through the delivery of new books to mainly secondary schools in Nigeria. “BAI donates yearly one million brand new books to communities around the World including libraries, schools etc. NSFP will aim to deliver to the 6 Geopolitical zones in Nigeria,” Mr Sanwo and Dr Kayode stated.
Also on 11th June 2024, according to them, NSFP was allocated a first batch of 2,500 books with an estimated value of £47,000 (N95M in local currency.) “The books covered the following categories: Development, English Language Skills, Fiction (Adult), Leisure Reading, Professional (Business and Finance), Secondary, Teacher Training, Teenage Fiction and Vocational/Technical. These books were delivered to over 30 secondary schools in Nigeria. More batches are expected to be delivered later,” they assured.
