Publish Details of Your Scholarship Beneficiaries, Olajengbesi Tackles Wole Oke

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By Sola Isola

Pelumi Jacob Olajengbesi a Nigerian lawyer and columnist has challenged the lawmaker representing Oriade/Obokun Federal Constituency at the House of Representatives of publish details of the beneficiaries of his scholarship program.

In a post on his Facebook page, Olajengbesi noted that Wole Oke only paid 8,000 naira for 99 children who cannot afford to go to proper school as against his claim of awarding scholarship to 1240 students.

Olajengbesi who is the Convener of the Coalition of Public Interests Lawyers and Advocates in Nigeria further challenged Wole Oke to publish his tax records before 2003 and prove to the world that he had earned anything meaningful prior to holding public office.

He further challenged the 5th term lawmaker to immediately award 1,000 fully funded scholarships to Oriade or Obokun students into his British International School or provide a standard scholarship to them.

The statement reads, “Wole Oke should, as a matter of urgency, award 1,000 genuine scholarships to students of Oriade/Obokun in his so-called “British College” or immediately desist from what can only be described as public deception and the continued ridicule of our people in Ijesa North.

“I am deeply embarrassed to read the sponsored media claims by Wole Oke that he has awarded scholarships to 1,240 students in Ijesa North. That statement, in its entirety, is an outright insult to the knowledge, intelligence, and dignity of the good people of Oriade/Obokun.

“Wole Oke only paid 8,000 naira for 99 children who cannot afford to go to proper school because their parents are poor to train as artisans. This is wickedness.

“Let us be clear, this is not scholarship, it is an attempt to humiliate the poor and keep them in a cycle of dependency while projecting a false image of empowerment.

“For close to 19 years, Wole Oke has occupied the seat representing Oriade/Obokun. Within that time, he should be able to point to at least one or ten individuals whose lives have been genuinely transformed through a verifiable scholarship initiative under his sponsorship. In the last 24 years, we should have people who are now independent and doing well as a result of Wole Oke’s scholarships, yet none can be identified. The entire 24 years has been a waste for Ijesa North.

“I challenge Wole Oke to name just ten individuals in the last 24 years whom he has mentored or sponsored through credible scholarships that led to real independence and measurable progress. Leadership must be judged not by press statements, but by tangible outcomes.

“It is also on record that Wole Oke came into public office without notable wealth. He came in poor, and I challenge him to publish his Asset Declaration of 2003. Today, he has established private schools across the country under the name British International School from the goodwill of the people of Osun State.

“I further challenge Wole Oke to publish his tax records before 2003 and prove to the world that he had earned anything meaningful prior to holding public office. He now has British International School in Abuja, Ibadan, Lagos, and Osogbo. If education is truly his priority and he genuinely loves the people, he should provide full scholarships for the children of Oriade or Obokun in his schools and allow them access to real opportunities that can transform their lives.

“Instead, what is being presented as scholarship appears to be token financial gestures reportedly as low as ₦10,000 per child without any meaningful programme for their lives. In today’s reality, such an amount cannot meaningfully support education. It is neither transformative nor sustainable.

“I challenge Wole Oke also to showcase those he claimed benefited in 2021. We want to know where they are and what they are doing now. It is all deception.

“If Wole Oke wants to be taken seriously, he should immediately award 1,000 fully funded scholarships to Oriade or Obokun students into his British International School or provide a standard scholarship as I have, with humility, done.

“Anything short of this is political theatre, an exercise designed for headlines, not for human development.

“Wole Oke is hereby warned that the exploitation of poverty for political gain is wickedness and has its consequences. Every calculated attempt to manipulate perception while leaving the people in the same condition will be met with public resistance.

“Such actions amount to an insult to humanity, particularly to families who genuinely seek educational opportunities for their children.”