One Hundred and Seventy (170) Students were successfully counseled and motivated at Ilesa High School III, Ilesa, Osun State when Enriching the Unreached Team arrived the school on Thursday 26th of May, 2016 at 12:45pm. The students were coordinated with the help of their Literary and Debate Teacher and some other Teachers in the school.

The Team led by Mr. Abdulahi Abayomi Abdulraheem, the Founder/Executive Director of Initiative for Sound Education Relationship & Health (ISERH) commenced their presentations around 1:00pm. In presence were the School’s Teachers and their Students. This outing brought together, Mr. Abdulraheem and a small boy he mentored in 2015 during a program at the school – Owolawi Tosin.

Cardiologist Owolawi Tosin was in SS 1 in 2015 when ISERH in collaboration with Ilesa Grammar School Old Students’ Association 2003 Set (Ilegsosa ’03) organized a Career Talk at Ilesa Grammar School. During the questions and answers session, this young boy was the first to come out and he asked the question as follows:

‘Sir, I need your sincere advice. My dream is to become a Cardiologist but a brother in our street told me that there’s no way I could become a Cardiologist because my parents are very poor. In truth, my parents are extremely poor. Sir, what do you think I should do? I love no other course except this.’

In responding to his question, Mr. Abdulahi Abayomi Abdulraheem, Exc. Dir. ISERH, first told him that from that day on, he would be calling him Cardiologist Owolawi Tosin as a source of motivation towards him realizing his dream. He afterwards provided him and others who might be in his shoes, a general counseling. He told stories of Pastor E. A. Adeboye – General Overseer, Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG); Alh. Lateef Jakande – Former Lagos Governor; etc to them all, on how financially poor they were while in Ilesa Grammar School as students and how successful they have become today by being consistent with their dream. He then shared contacts with the boy and started providing mentorship to him.

On Friday, 4th of December, 2015, the day Mr. Abdulraheem was graduating from Pan-Atlantic University (Enterprise Development Center) and was also collecting The Most Replicable Project Award from Life Changers Foundation, UK; he got a call from Cardiologist Owolawi Tosin as he was ascending to receive the award that he ‘Tosin’ had just been awarded a University Scholarship by an NGO he participated in their competition. From that day on, Cardiologist Owolawi Tosin has become part of Mr. Abdulraheem Mentees, but they never met one-on-one since that day until this day. 

That aside, being an Old Student of the then Ilesa Grammar School, Mr. Abdulahi Abayomi Abdulraheem recounted his experience as a student of the school. He informed that the present school’s hall was their Typing Pool in late 90s and early 2000s when he was in the school. He explained how their teachers were been seen as their enemies consequent to their refusal to grant them autonomy to do whatever they really wanted to do – an action they now appreciate them for. He narrated how he and some other colleagues were mandated to cut 6 6-feet logs of wood by their principal, Mr. Opeseitan, simply because they bought N1 sachet water from a place the school had placed an embargo. He as well recalled how Sunday Uhalla, presently Dr. Sunday Uhalla and a member of ISERH Board, used to sweep the entire prizes of the school. The entire students burst into laughter when he demonstrated his colleagues’ feeling when Sunday also won Best Student Prize in Yoruba Language

Abdulahi never forgot to acquaint the students with the level of his set’s brilliance in the school, as well as their excellence in sporting activities. He explained how he used to be the Commercial Class Champion then and how competitive the students were among themselves. He informed them on how Mr. Isaac Omigbiyegbe, now a teacher at St. Margaret’s High School Ilesa, completed SS 3 Syllabus in Mathematics for him while he was in JSS 3. He recounted how almost half of his colleagues left the school to write WAEC GCE while they were in SS2 Class.

He concluded his speech by thanking God Who has made everyone in his set a Success in his/her chosen career. He told them how they now have many Doctors, Barristers, Clinical Psychologists, Accountants, Engineers, Lecturers, CEOs/Directors, Business Tycoons, etc in his set.

He afterwards challenged them to emulate his set by being distinguished among others. He thereafter institutionalized the ISERH MENTEES’ CLUB (IMC) in the school and asked the interested students to put down their names with the school Senior Prefect – Olowookere Omokehinde.

Olowookere Omokehinde – the School Senior Prefect, thereafter appreciated the organization and Mr. Abdulraheem on behalf of the school’s Principal, Teachers and Students. He afterward asked whether they could add Mr. Abdulraheem to their WhatsApp Group of which Mr. Abdulraheem gladly accepted the offer.

The Team has successfully, in total, reached out to One Thousand and Fifty-One (1,051) Students leaving it with a deficit of Eight Thousand Nine Hundred and Forty-Nine (8,949). The Program continues this week at Ilesa High School II and Methodist High School I, Ilesa on Thursday June 2nd, 2016 by 10:00am and 1:30pm respectively.