Bemore Alumna, Ireola Kolawole, Gives Back, Says Bemore Made me What I’m

• It’s One of the Fastest Growing Academies for Girl Child- Father

A twelve-year old Bemore graduate, Ireola Victoria Kolawole, of the Bemore 2022 set and SDG 02 (Zero Hunger) affiliation, has donated food and material items in support of the on-going Bemore 2023 Summer Boot Camp.

She said she was motivated to make the donation to Bemore because the foundation has helped her to achieve so much academically because of the training she got from the 5th edition of the boot camp, held in August, 2022.

In her words: “When I was in the camp, I received training in solar energy and was exposed to the operation of Microsoft Excel and Power-Point point. This really boosted my academic performance because I made ‘A’s in all my O/level subjects. This motivated me to request this donation from my dad for the current Bemore girls and my lovely aunties in the boot camp.”

Ireola, who was accompanied by her family members to Mabest Academy, Oke-Ijebu, Akure, Ondo State, venue of the boot camp, where the items were delivered to the foundation, enthused about what she benefited from Bemore. She also thanked the founder and wife of Ondo State Governor, Chief Betty Anyanwu-Akeredolu, for creating the Bemore platform for girl children.

“I am proud to tell you all that I am a product of the Bemore Empowered Girls’Foundation, year 2022. I want to thank the founder of Bemore, our own grandma, Chief Betty Anyanwu-Akeredolu, the Ada Owerri 1, for teaching us to be more. I want to thank her for creating the Bemore platform, not just for girls in Nigeria or Africa but worldwide. I congratulate the Bemore girls of year 2023.”

The donor’s father, Hon Babatunde Kolawole, who represented Akoko South West/Akoko South East Federal Constituency at the House of Representatives, National Assembly, between 2015 to 2019, identified with her daughter, saying: ‘Bemore has become one of the fastest growing Academies for the girl child.’

“I am here to identify with my daughter, Ireola Kolawole, to give her the requisite support and also join her in appreciating the founder of Bemore and First Lady of Ondo State, Chief Betty Anyanwu-Akeredolu,
and the Bemore Family for doing a very wonderful job. Bemore has become one of the fastest growing academies for the girl child. We are glad to be part of this success story. As a father, I know the level mental development that has happened in my daughter since she attended the Bemore Summer Boot Camp in the year 2022. This has really helped her academically.

“Usually, at the end of every exam, I normally ask her to name a gift that she wants. Most of the time, she would ask me to take her out, but this time around, she told me that she wanted to give back to the Bemore Family because the foundation has actually contributed to her development. So, I asked her to make the list of the items she wanted to donate and she did that, and that is why we are here.”

Honourable Kolawole, known popularly by the sobriquet ‘Amaechi’, called on the government to support the Bemore Empowered Girls’ Foundation by either making the items used by girl children tax-free or subsidising the products.

He noted: “I am calling on the government to give necessary support to the Bemore Girls’ Foundation so that our girls can have a good atmosphere to compete favourably or even do more than their male counterpart. Presently, we are working pushing a bill that would make some of the products used by girl children to be tax-free or at least made them more affordable for the girl child, hence the call on government.

“If you look at the government circles and even the corporate world, you will see that the women are doing great. As a person, my children are all girls and they are all doing greatly in their chosen spheres of training as undergraduates and making me proud as a father. I have therefore decided to give them all the support they need to reach the top.”

The donation was recieved on behalf of the foundation by the Chief Matron and Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Administration, Mrs Elizabeth Akpan.

By Debo Akinbami