The family of Late Chief Ezekiel Atanda Agboola has launched a foundation, Máfòyà Olúwa Ḿbẹ, on Thursday in remembrance of their father, insideoyo.com reports.
Late Agboola was a business man and was keen to mentoring and adding values to everyone around him and members of the society.
Mr Olusegun Agboola made this known while briefing Journalists at Chief Ezekiel Atanda Agboola compound.
According to him, Mafoya Oluwa Mbe Foundation was moniker coined from the literal translation of Isaiah 41:10 in the Yoruba Language which instructs that we should not fear, lose hope or be dismayed and affirms God’s presence to all in times of distress and to know that God Almighty is there to provide succor and help.
Agboola said “This inspiring and fortifying scripture guided our Father-Chief Ezekiel Amoo Agboola perhaps through all his life having lost his own father at a tender age of eight (8) years as the third and last son of his mother’s five (5) children in a polygamous family of little means.
“His continuous recital of the bible verse
soon ensured that he became known as Agbo Mafoya amongst his comity of friends and associates. Those words were eventualy found on the lintels of the first house he built at Oke-Offa Atipe in Ibadan after he fortuitously reclaimed inheritance amongst his paternal family, the same name soon became his business name and clearly written on every eventual expression inciuding a shopping mall, sawmill and a fleet of trucks in the timber-logging value chain.
He continued that in carrying out the activities of the foundation, the family hope to establish an Intervention Philanthropic Fund that will provide succor and help through the following expressions which were dear to their self-taught illustrious father
who passed away at the ripe old age of One Hundred and One .
While speaking on the need to get more children into school which is one of the motive of the foundation, Agboola said, “According to available statistics, Nigeria has about 12 Million out of School
children with Oyo State having about 10% of those figures. It is totally unacceptable that such could be happening and persist in our community.
“The government alone cannot provide aftordable education to the teeming population in our dear state. We hope to make our own contribution in
assisting the indigents, who otherwise may not have the required help.”
He added that foundation will also focus on Health as the on-going pandemic has exposed the lack of infrastructure and institutional approach to the provision of healthcare and as such welfare.
“The main social good of providing qualitative care needs private participation as it has been recently demonstrated, even if all we can do is to assist the eftorts of our government and public officials.
“Also Empowerment, Our people are naturally resourcerul and enterprising. The level of poverty due to the collective unattended riches of our nation makes it dire and pitiful, that our country only ranks amongst the poorest nations of the world when there are natural endowments to put us in the comity of prosperous nations. Providing the needed leg-up for the indigent will also be one of the efforts of the foundation.
Mr Olusola speaked on giving awards saying “The Ademola Akote Agboola Award will be an Education Support Grant to be awarded to an educational institution that is working with indigent and out of school children without profit and the hope and aspiration of turning their fortunes around, giving such beneficiaries the opportunities, they would not ordinarily have.”
