Can we have a brief background about you and your
institution?
You already know my
name, I don’t call myself a proprietress and I am not a regular school owner.
This is a vision that is borne out of the need to bridge gap in the life of a
child. Around me I see children being over-burdened and it seems like parents
are workers and children are workers. This got me thinking, “How do we allow
children of our society to enjoy their childhood and at the same time learn?” That
was how “Gemseed” came about. Gemseed is not your regular school, it is a
school though, we believe in academic excellence, at the same time we make
children care our priority.
That is why I am
championing the course I call Educare in education. How do we care for
children? This is because a child you don’t care for will not learn. How do we
maintain the child’s childhood? I believe when children’s childhood is not
maintained, they will grow into dysfunctional adult. I would say the mistakes
of doctors are in the graveyard but the mistakes of teachers are in the street.
How do we avoid creating problems in the lives of our children through the
school? The school system is a noble thing, but school system is also
destroying the lives and potentials of the children. Most times our parents are
not discerning enough to know the kind of environment they keep their children.
By the way, children are not the same, we have different kinds of children or
let me say different kinds of learners. There are ways you have to approach
their separate needs, if you don’t meet their needs, they will not learn. That
is what Gemseed is out to achieve.
In the last ten (10)
years by the grace of God, we have been on it. Today, we are marking our 10th
anniversary, a wise saying goes thus; if you want to know a man’s passion, it
is from his pursuit. Something you have pursued for ten (10) years is not an
hobby. It must be a committed passion and it is not by the way. I can tell you
in the past ten (10) years I have been in it with headlong and in ensuring that,
we raise children who are balanced; emotionally then academically.
Can you take us through some of the challenges you faced in
the last ten (10) years?
Really speaking,
starting from having the capacity financially, I started very small, I knew I had
a big picture with where I am going. I still see myself running maybe a college
of education or even a university more of. But sincerely speaking, I started with
a crèche, a care centre, a holiday care centre, a daily care centre. When I
started, I went round to the schools in my neighborhood especially Gbagada here.
There were no such services, they were so regimented, and it is either your
children are in that school or they are not there. So, I started that service
and gradually now many schools are doing it. We do daily care, you might want
to go somewhere and drop your child. I take care of such children. I do monthly
care, normal care after school care and holiday care. Children must be cared
for physically as they are learning. That is just the idea, so we started.
Apart from children from my school, I have children from other schools coming
in to be cared for. I do more of nurturing children. Then they are learning at
the same time. That is basically what we do. It is not easy, because starting
small is not easy, so we started small, gradually we evolved, we are trusting
God our next level will be secondary school.
There is a perceived trend that some school owners are into
the business with a misplaced objective, which primarily is making money rather
than concentrating on leaving a lasting impact. What is your take on this?
Really speaking, going
by what I have seen, school is not a business centre, school is a social
service, and anybody that is going into school especially in our clime here for
the purpose of making money has gone into the wrong business. If you don’t have
the mind to serve the children of your generation then forget about running a
school. I tell people it is not the business you do like selling popcorn,
selling ice cream and in the next three (3) months you are making money. Forget
it, it is a long term thing, you may hardly make profit in ten years’ time. You
keep investing. When you fail to invest in school it will show. School needs
constant momentum, you keep adding and adding value. For me, I look at how we can
use modern trend and how do we prepare our children for the work place of 21st
century? I’m looking at year 2030-35-40 what will be the work place skills? How
do we start to prepare the children for the work place from the foundation? It
is said from 0-6yrs, what we don’t put into the children will in no small
measure affect who they will eventually become. In work habit, you develop
them, personality, you develop them as well as many other things. That is why I
as a school owner, believe so much in early years. I go for the best method
teaching children in this early stage. It is very keen, once you get it right
then, the child can survive.
From a clear observation, you tend to have a strong online
presence, are you going to be focusing more on social media and online presence
to project your vision and your cause?
Sincerely, I cannot
have everybody in my environment here, I am not just to serve few children, I
see myself more like an apostle to children, and if I don’t reach care givers,
teachers and parents or access them, I cannot reach much. That is why I use
this means available within my reach. Through the social media, I reach out to
as many as possible and many people are following me. I was in Cotounu last
month or thereabout still on the same course, preparing caregivers, parents, and
teachers on how to prepare children for the future. If you look at the write-up
outside, you would see “raising globally and locally relevant citizens”. If
your children don’t go abroad, they should be relevant, if they go abroad, they
should not go and wash plate. They should go there and make way, and it is the
preparation that determines what happens. If you are not intentional in
bringing up your children, I tell you they will not succeed by accident. Nobody
succeeds by accident, everything is planned. So, now you have the opportunity
to add value, especially, for our children. The competition is getting fiercer
and we are in a global world. A child can be here and tomorrow finds a job
abroad. What are the things we are doing to equip our children so that they can
be a par with their colleagues all over the world? They should have more
advantage over other people they might meet wherever they go.
On a final note, what is your advice for your mentees who
aspire to be like you or perhaps better?
Sincerely, I crave
their indulgence, if you want to work with children, make up your mind to work
with children. Usually some people that work with children, go into it because
of survival. Working with children is not what you do if you want to survive.
You can go and sew cloths or become “designer” or “decorator”. There are many other
things you can do. Today, the children may be 20% of the total population but
in the nearest future the numbers will change. Anything we make out of them now
will determine what they become tomorrow. We see our nation, we are not happy,
how will it be in their own time, if we don’t make them problem solvers today?
So, I want to encourage my mentees and those who want to be greater than I. “Prepare
your own children and the children God has given you access to”. Don’t look at
what is going on in Nigeria. Whenever I am doing something for the children, I
don’t put a price tag. I don’t look at what it costs me. What I am looking at
is “what will it cost them if I don’t do it now?” The thing is not waiting, who
they are not today they will not become tomorrow. They are evolving by the day.
As building starts with laying a good foundation, anything we fail to do today
will affect other things. So every point in a child’s life matters, it counts.
Let us take serious every phase of their development and add value to the children
and I believe we will be better for it. You don’t know who those children are,
they can become world changers tomorrow. So let’s do our best in raising
tomorrow’s world leaders and problem solvers.
Thank you for your
time.
