National President of the Government College Ibadan Old Boys Association (GCIOBA), Dr. Olawale Babalakin (SAN), has praised the solid foundation laid by founding fathers of the school at inception.
Stating that this has remained a solid footing upon which the College that has produced eminent personalities, achievers across divers fields of endeavour, stands till date.
Babalakin gave this assertion while welcoming guests and other dignitaries to GCI’s 93rd Annual Lecture held at Justice Bolarinwa Babalakin Conference Hall, Gbongan, Osun State on Thursday.
He noted that the gathering was essentially to remind Nigerians about the quality education old students enjoyed and still enjoy till date.
“GCI is a school founded on quality, discipline and sound culture. We are here to remind Nigerians that this is the way to go.
“Special thanks the Executive Governor of Oyo State, Engr Seyi Makinde for returning GCI to the old boys association for seamless transformation and to ensure quality is maintained in the school.
“We must create a situation where we found the brightest and the best in every facet of life and our economy. Members of GCI have been a phenomenon over the years across divers fields. The records are there.
“The financial and intellectual commitment are part of what has kept GCI and why it’s still standing today. There is therefore the need for others to take a cue from this,” Babalakin stated.
While delivering his speech, the Guest Speaker and Minister of Mines and Steels Development, Architect Olamilekan Adegbite said that Nigeria is on the track to meeting her ambition to build economic resilience through economic diversification and export-oriented industrialization.
Adegbite who spoke on the topic titled: “The Mining Sector: Pivotal Role For Economic Diversification In Nigeria”, gave assurance that the importation of Bitumen will soon become a thing of the past, stressing that efforts are on to build a global competitive minerals and mining ecosystem and related processing industries capable of contributing to wealth creation.
According to him, the federal government is building the foundation for mineral exploration and production by driving investment growth into exploration and mining industries through improvements in the quality and breadth of geo-scientific data.
He listed predominance of small scale miners as against big mining companies, high cost of geo-physical data generation and illegal mining perpetrated by foreigners as major challenges facing mining sector.
In his remarks, Governor Adegboyega Oyetola who was represented at the event by his Chief of Staff, reiterated the State government’s commitment to quality education which he said informed the reversal of some policies of the immediate past administration in the state.
He commended the Association for channelling the course of quality education in Nigeria and urged all stakeholders to join the train.
