* As Vanguards Academy produces 63 graduates at 18th Graduation
The class of 2024 graduating students of Vanguards Academy, Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State otherwise known as G63 has been challenged to adequately prepare spiritually, morally, and intellectually for life outside secondary school education and be cautious about the use of social media.
The Dean of Faculty of Management Sciences, University of Lagos, Prof. Abdul-Hameed Sulaimon gave the admonition at the 18th Graduation of the School, held on Saturday, August 17.
He said adequate and appropriate preparation and readiness for the new realities will make them thrive in the future that is characterised by uncertainties.
Muslim News reports that the two-day event began on Friday, August 16 with a Special Juma’ah service that was led by Dr Razaq Ogunmoye of Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU). The sermon focused on sustaining the Jewel of Faith and Morals.
The Jumu’ah Service was followed by a Valedictory Night, with Dr Hassan Banjo speaking on “As we sail on”, focusing on campus life, with its ups and downs.
The night featured the graduands, staff and non-academic staff of the school as well as the Executive members of the Vanguards Academy Old Students Association (VAOSA); led by the President, Sulaimon Dhikrullah.
Family and friends in their beautiful attires who came from far and near thronged the expansive school playground to honour the 63 graduands who just completed their secondary school education at one of the leading high schools in Nigeria.
Six graduands who completed the memorisation of the Qur’an and seven memorisers of the 40 Hadith from the collection of Imam An Nawaawi also had their Haflah (graduation).
The event culminated in the presentation of VAOSA G-80 (2016 set) Outstanding Leadership Award to Yusuf Abubakr and Atitebi Lubaabah; VAOSA G-80 Award of Excellence in Qur’an Memorization to Ahmad Luqman and Mikail Khawlah and Comrade Tirmidhi Abdullah Prize of Excellence in the Business Department to Adekoya Khadijah. The awards were presented by VAOSA President.
Speaking on dreaming for greatness at the well-attended event, Prof. Sulaimon emphasised on the need for the graduates to dream big and make remarkable achievements in life.
According to him, graduates need spiritual, moral, intellectual and every form of preparedness to thrive through the future which is characterised by uncertainties.
The outside is like a beast, ready to devour them, and it is every man for himself. There are so many distractions, especially that of social media. Thus, there is a need for them to prepare for the new realities that are about to unfold
Speaking further, the varsity Don said, “One great challenge facing society today is the ambivalent social media, with both good and despoiling contents. They must be careful with it. They should not let it take away their precious time or rob them of pristine Islamic values.
“They need to be prepared to battle the challenge. If they have to use social media, it should be to their advantage. This is where, as parents, guardians and teachers, we have roles to play in ensuring that children get the best quality education.
Children’s use of phones and social media should be guided: Matemilola
The Chairman of the occasion, Alhaji Abdul Hafeez Matemilola could not hide his excitement as his daughter, Maryam was among the graduating students.
“I feel elated that my daughter is also graduating. I am delighted. I am double happy because her JAMB result was good and she cleared all her papers in WAEC. I am hopeful she will get into a notable university before the end of the year.”
He said children might fall victim to the vices propagated by social media due to their inexperience, he, therefore, advocates the need for them to be guided by their guardian, parents or caregivers.
“In the society today, social media dictates the way people lead their lives, especially the younger generations. So, parents and caregivers need to be wary of the contents consumed by their wards. They are inexperienced in life, so, it is easy for them to fall victim to the vices propagated by social media.
“So, parents, as experienced adults, should guide them on the right content to feed their minds with.”
“As parents, we need to guide them since we know the pros and cons of social media. The evil of social media is becoming rampant and it’s probably due to parents not paying attention to what their kids are doing on social media.
“It’s not a case of invasion of privacy, rather trying to guide them on the use of social media. We need to build that foundation till they can learn how to control themselves on social media.
He argued that there is no specific age for the kids to use phones, adding that it’s advisable to allow them once they graduate from secondary school.
“I think, once they are through with secondary school, they should be allowed to use phones because they will need to start using them, especially for JAMB, which requires them to have their emails. Ditto for WAEC.
“We can start allowing them before they graduate through their parent phones or what we call house phones. That’s exactly when you start teaching them the proper use of phones, where to go and where not to go; especially the kind of people you communicate with on social media and how to go about it. They can start having social media accounts at that time but ensure restriction and proper monitoring of the sites they visit.
“After secondary school, you can let them have full access to the phone with the laid down rules such as the time they would spend because if you allow them, they can spend a whole night on the phone. One cannot fully control them but with some monitoring Apps, their addiction can be curtailed.
“For instance, when it’s 10-11 p.m., the phone will automatically shut down. We have made them understand the ills of social media.
Be good ambassadors, lawmaker tells Valedictorians
Special guest of honour, Hon. Luqman Olajide Atobatele, Deputy Minority Leader, Ogun State House of Assembly called on the graduates to uphold lessons learnt from the school and be good ambassadors as they move on in life.
He said, “I’ll advise the graduates to put all they’ve learnt at Vanguards Academy to practice and be good ambassadors of the school.”
The lawmaker lauded the school’s management for putting together a memorable valedictory event, urging it to maintain the standards for which it is known.
He further pleaded with governments at every level to be wary of their policies, as it affect access to quality education by children of commoners.
“Government policies affect private school owners because they outsource most of the materials they use. So, the Dollar Naira exchange rate is bound to have a drastic effect on their purchasing power.
“Epileptic power supply will also keep them on their toes, as they’ll always have fuel for their generator. The cost of electricity itself is a factor to reckon with in this current dispensation.
“Moreover, prices of food items have skyrocketed, and a school like this has many mouths to feed from time to time. Hence, the cost of food items will equally affect the day-to-day running of the school. So, if government at all levels can look into these areas, it will further help private school owners provide quality education to younger citizens of the country, without extortion of students or members of staff.”
CEO Adeniyi congratulates Graduates
The Chief Executive Officer, CEO, of the School, Dr. Zafaran Adeniyi congratulated the Graduates for their accomplishments, wishing them success in their future endeavours.
He said, every year is about context. Every ‘G’ – Graduating set – has a context and the content of what they’re meant to achieve academically and others. This year, we are proud to produce 63 graduating students.
We have several parameters put in place to bring out the best in them. Moreover, in terms of behaviour and morality, the G63 underwent rigorous drills. Alhamdulillah, their moral rectitude was sustained. In short, they are doing fine.
“We have about 6 memorizers of the Qur’an, five memorisers of Hadith Nawawi. We were challenged last year when we realised that the number of Hufaadh dropped. We were very keen on getting maximum output this year. We monitored them very closely, and alhamdulillah, here we are today. We are very hopeful that we’ll have a better output next year,” he noted
How I juggle academics with Tafidh – Hafiz Taariq
One of the graduates, Taariq Ismail-Badmus who happens to be a memorizer of the Qur’an recounted his experience combining academics with the memorisation of the Noble Quran.
According to him, “After I concluded my primary education, I went to Start-Well (in Ikorodu, Lagos). It gave me the opportunity to memorize some parts and the motivation I derived from that experience was built upon at Vanguards.
“I was placed in the apex memorization class among my contemporaries, but my determination dropped along the line. Alhamdulillahi, with supervision and close monitoring, I was able to retrace my steps in senior secondary school, after my colleagues had levelled up with me, with their unwavering determination.
“During our final exams, I almost lost track again, but my friends were very supportive. They encouraged me. They said, ‘It was almost over and winners don’t quit.’ So, I renewed my commitment once again. The principal also encouraged me on different occasions.
The young scholar noted that memorization of the Qur’an did not have any negative effect on his academics but rather complemented it.
He said, “I was able to combine tahfeez and my academics because I learnt time management early enough. It was challenging, especially in our final year, but our determination made the sacrifices seamless for us. We made time out of no time to memorize the Qur’an.
With his excellent WAEC result and accomplishment as a memorizer of the Qur’an, Taariq looks forward to life after secondary school with great optimism.
“My WAEC result is also good. Alhamdulillah! So, it’s a double celebration. I look forward to gaining admission to study Mechanical Engineering at the University of Lagos,” he added.
Beautiful faces of some of the graduands and their parents
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Alhamdullillah, Barakallahu fii