Today, I joined Distinguished Senator Mukhail Adetokunbo Abiru, Senator representing Lagos East Senatorial District, on a site inspection of one of the projects he has facilitated for our community; the Alternative High School for Girls, a project sponsored through the Office of the First Lady of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Her Excellency, Senator Oluremi Tinubu.

We were received at Igbogbo and joined at the site by His Royal Majesty, Oba Semiudeen Orimadegun Kasali, the Emugoriade I, Adeboruwa of Igbogbo Kingdom; the Executive Chairman of Igbogbo/Baiyeku LCDA, Hon. Hammed Olalekan Aroyewun, community leaders and stakeholders whose presence affirmed just how deeply this project matters to the people of Igbogbo.

As Education Secretary of the Local Government Education Authority, Ikorodu, I found the significance of this project difficult to overstate. The Alternative High School for Girls is designed for a specific population - girls who, for one reason or another, missed their first opportunity to access formal education. This school offers them a second one. It is a place where they will not only learn, but acquire practical skills, build confidence, and begin to author a different story for their lives.

Standing at the foundation stage today, with completion expected within the coming months, I am quite sure that when the doors of this school eventually open, they will open onto opportunity for young women who have every right to it, and onto a better, more equitable future for Igbogbo/Baiyeku and for our Division as a whole.

On behalf of the Education Family of LGEA Ikorodu, I extend my profound appreciation to Senator Mukhail Adetokunbo Abiru for his continued advocacy for education in Lagos East, and to Her Excellency, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, for a gesture that will change lives long after today's inspection.

Alhaji Taiwo Abiodun Odumbo,

Education Secretary, LGEA, Ikorodu