Former Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, has called on Nigerian educational institutions to adopt endowment funds as a sustainable strategy for addressing the persistent underfunding of the country’s education sector.
Osinbajo made the appeal at the 94th Founders’ Day celebration of Igbobi College, Lagos, where he described an endowment as a pool of financial resources or assets donated by individuals and corporate organisations and preserved to support institutions over the long term.
“Many of the world’s great institutions are backed by large endowments that sustain their operations for decades,” Osinbajo said. “Endowments are not just about financial provision; they are about sustaining standards, culture, values and norms. It is not just continuity, but the continuation of an ethos and a world.”
Reflecting on the origins of Igbobi College, founded in 1932 by Anglican and Methodist missionaries, Osinbajo noted that the school itself emerged from philanthropic commitment and collective sacrifice.
“While the school charges fees, the moral and civic environment that shaped generations of students was made possible by earlier endowments,” he said.
The former vice president lamented years of neglect in Nigeria’s education sector, warning that the country is now “paying a heavy price” for chronic underinvestment.
“Many schools today are broken and severely under-resourced,” he said, stressing that without deliberate and sustained funding models, educational standards would continue to decline.
Osinbajo underscored the strategic importance of secondary education in producing future leaders, arguing that discipline and routine learned in school form the foundation for responsible adulthood.
“The discipline of waking up early, obeying ‘lights out’ rules and submitting to structure is what builds great leaders. The habits that sustain adults are formed in school, not improvised later in life,” he stated.
He further linked national leadership challenges to weaknesses in foundational education, noting that by the time young people reach adulthood, their ethical instincts are already largely shaped.
“Every investment in a school is an investment in the future of the country. The returns are generational,” Osinbajo added.
An alumnus of Igbobi College from 1969 to 1975, Osinbajo credited the institution for shaping his personal values and professional journey. He recalled winning the State Merit Award and the African Statesman Intercollegiate Best Speaker’s Prize, achievements he attributed to the school’s disciplined and value-driven environment.
The celebration, themed “Building Generational Strength for Educational Institutions in Nigeria,” was moderated by Professor of Strategy and Development, Prof. Anthony Kila.
At the event, the Igbobi College Old Boys’ Association (ICOBA) unveiled a ₦10 billion Endowment Fund targeted at revitalising the school and safeguarding its legacy for the next century.
The 12th President of ICOBA, Chief Yomi Badejo-Okusanya, said the fund would be deployed to construct new hostels, upgrade science laboratories and introduce advanced learning technologies. He added that professional asset managers, Chapel Hill Denham, would manage the fund to guarantee transparency and accountability.
“We don’t want anyone to use the money anyhow,” Badejo-Okusanya said, urging alumni to give generously. Quoting an Igbo proverb, “Good soup na money kill am,” he stressed that quality education requires sustained financial commitment.
Representing Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education, Jamiu Alli-Balogun, pledged government support for initiatives such as the ICOBA Endowment Fund.
“When a school like Igbobi produces disciplined individuals, it reduces social problems and strengthens the leadership pipeline for the nation,” he said.
Chairman of the lecture, Mr. Ademola Adeyemi-Bero, described endowment funding as a shift from short-term interventions to long-term institutional stability, emphasising the importance of professional management of educational assets.
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