Mr. Adams Adebola is the Proprietor and Chairman of Lagos-based Adams College reputed to have produced achievers and professionals in several fields. In this interview with Diademng’s Staff Writer, Matthew Asabor, the popular educationist shares the story of his struggle and triumph over bedwetting as an adult, and also discusses sundry matters.
The tutorial centre that started in 1994 has now become a full-blown college. Can you take me through its journey?
It has been a story of joy. When we started, we never thought it would become as big as this because we were doing it out of passion; to ensure people were happy, and also to influence lives positively. I never knew it would be a business where I would employ people and pay teachers. It was born out of passion to help people who had lost direction education wise, and also the drive to assist them in achieving their goals. It just started like a mustard seed not knowing it would grow to this level. And I think it has been a success story all along by God’s grace.
What brought the drive for the College?
The drive came up when we discovered that so many people believed in what we were doing and they affirmed that we were doing well. We also realised that a lot of people were coming in from different states in the country to our tutorial center. For this we felt there was need to rebrand and repackage. We could not just leave ourselves the way we were 20 years ago. Things were changing, and there was an urgent need to move on. Repackaging and rebranding were the major drive for the establishment of the College. We had to move from that lower level to a higher level.
What have been the challenges?
The challenges are so numerous. Let me first state that the major challenge is finance. Sometimes, we have plans of doing something big but at the same time they are hampered by finance. Government policies are another thing we are battling with. Sometimes, they are not helpful. For instance, a policy can come out saying no more Post JAMB, no more this or that one. And those small policies, as small as they are, are having a lot of impact on some of us. The social media and the entertainment industry are also not helping matters for those of us in the education sector because these things are taking a toll on the students. The era of iPhones and other gadgets is a challenge for those of us who have put all our mind and passion to ensure that the students get the best. The entertainment has been so alluring and seductive that many are getting attached to it thereby getting detached from their academic pursuits. And also, the issue of malpractice has become a menace affecting us who are doing the work tenaciously. People want to do “runs” and also look for short cuts. It is alarming to see a student coming to the tutorial centre to prepare for UTME who boast of having seven As in WAEC, and cannot solve the simplest Mathematics, Chemistry and Physics problems. So, those things give us problems because they do not have foundational knowledge from where they are coming from.
How have you been able to surpass these challenges?
Well, it is quite difficult. Let me start with finance; banks have been quite supportive assisting with facilities and loans at least to ensure that we overcome the issue of finance. And the issue of social media; for instance in my school, we have hostels, and nobody is allowed to use a phone and laptop. It may affect them negatively a bit but the positive effect of that outweighs what they could have gained using those gadgets. Without phones and laptops, they have been scoring record breaking records in WAEC and JAMB because the distraction level has been reduced. And even in the college they can’t use their phones between 8am and 2pm. This has reduced the level of distraction. It has also helped them concentrate on what they are doing. On the issue of policies; well, we are in an environment where we believe there must be dynamism in whatever we are doing. So, we are always ready to ensure that no matter the harsh policy we can cushion its effect and give all our best to the students. And we have been talking to the students letting them know that once they build anything on a wrong foundation, it is going to affect their future. We are always canvassing and campaigning for zero tolerance for examination malpractice and it has been helping us.
Are there any differences in the education sector now compared to years back?
There are some differences. Basically, because the curriculum years back is totally obsolete now. And we have been talking to the government on the need for the revamping of the curriculum because you can’t be using the curriculum of 2000 to teach in 2022. It is not going to work. We are in the jet age and Information Technology era. And everything we should be talking about now is to have ideas about technology. If we don’t have those ideas, everything is going to be a waste. There have been some changes, and we in Adams College are trying to make education fun. The way we are teaching now is different from the way we taught 20 years ago. 20 years ago, we were not interested in bringing entertainment into teaching but now we have to inculcate it because nowadays the youth are not going to learn without them having time to bring in things that would make them relax. For instance, making Mathematics fun for them to understand, bringing creativity into what one is teaching will make it look attractive to those students. If you don’t do that, you will discover you are just teaching people and they don’t understand what you are doing. There have been some changes in terms of the total paradigm of teaching, trying to make it more attractive to the students, bringing little entertainment into it. It is not entertainment of making them laugh and forgetting what they are doing are being taught but trying to bring their minds to the fact that learning is not as boring as they think. Apart from that, the concept of entrepreneurship is what we are trying to imbibe in the students now. In Adams College, there is an entrepreneurship class with the goal that when you finish school you still have to learn entrepreneurship. So, we are teaching entrepreneurship now before our students get into university. The world is talking about no job. But with that concept of entrepreneurship, they can still do something on their own.
If you were the Minister of Education, what would you do differently?
I would grant a lot of financial support to the schools, provide infrastructure because much of the infrastructure is decayed. Also, I would look into the welfare of teachers. Their welfare is poor and they are badly paid. I would also look at the way the teachers are recruited. For example it would shock you to know that cut off marks for admission into universities is high for courses like Medicine, Engineering, Accounting, Law, Mass Communication etc. The cut off mark might be 280 or more. But going to the polytechnic, the cut off mark is 160 while for the College of Education, the cut off mark is 120. The meaning of this is that those that want to become teachers are people who are down there. And that is just the meaning. That means anyone who cannot go to the university or polytechnic should come and stay at the College of Education. That means that programme has made it a defeat for those coming as teachers. Teachers are the ones at the lowest cadre and quality, and it should not be. If the welfare for the teachers is well rebranded and the cut off mark for the College of Education is as high as 280, people would want to become teachers. But nobody wants to become one because the welfare is not there. I would look into and see what can be done to ensure that the welfare of teachers is well supported. There would also be a programme that would support educational ingenuity. For example, we know how much Big Brother pays winners; millions of naira. We know how much they pay during singing competitions; millions of naira. But when someone wins an inter school debate or a Mathematics competition maybe, they’d give them a laptop, and that is the end. I would look into how there could be a lot of reality programmes on education that can encourage youth to work extremely hard. I would also look into prizes given to the best graduating students from the universities who have done well. Sometimes, the best graduating student’s prize might shock you. Some of them might be given N10,000. And some awards attached to someone’s name with a tag of N2,000 still exists in our universities while someone on a reality show would go home with over 10 million naira. I would look into things that would motivate people to spend their time working and not taking education on its own as a scam.
If you look at the curriculum today, what is that particular thing that is missing?
So many things are missing. There must be interfacing between technology and all our courses. All courses in higher institutions must be technologically based. If not, we would just be living in the old century. Everything you want to do now has gone beyond paperwork. There must be software integration to everything we are doing now. Otherwise, we would not be able to make greater achievements in whatever we are doing. We are thinking about technology in all fields, and it must start from the background. Children from the nursery school to the secondary school must learn about coding. If we don’t put it there, then we are going to be lagging behind. And of course, we must inculcate entrepreneurship from the junior secondary school to the highest level.
The school is located in Oshodi where most people think nothing good can come from. What is the school doing differently to ensure the morale of the students is not affected by this?
Yes, we are doing so many things in that direction. For example, we provide scholarships for some of the students. The last student that scored the highest in JAMB was given N300,000. The first runner-up was given N200,000 naira. That is the motivation we are giving to the students to ensure they can get anywhere and be the best. Oshodi students are everywhere in the world and they are doing well with the foundation they got from Adams College. The school has become a brand name and the students are motivated to do well. Adams students compete everywhere, and when you look at the admission lists of most of the universities in Medicine, Law Engineering etc., most of them are from Adams College. And they got there through tenacious efforts and hard work. The former Local Government Chairman of Oshodi was from Adams College and many of them like that in that circle. Let me give you another practical example. We gave a girl who is visually impaired scholarship, waiving a lot of fees for her. She got to the University of Nigeria Nsukka, studied Psychology and came out with first class. We gave same opportunity to another who graduated from the University of Lagos, Akoka with good grades. And the motivation was given to them from the college. We are in collaboration with the School of the Blind, Oshodi assisting as many as we can. These testimonies and achievements of past students have boosted the morale of the students making them to be confident that they can become and attain whatever height they want to get to. Our slogan is “you must not allow your background to put your back on the ground”
At a particular professional forum, you shared your experience with bedwetting and how God helped you to overcome it. Can you share the experience with me?
When I was very young, my life was miserable though I was brilliant. I was bedwetting, and that affected me psychologically. I didn’t want the night to come because I knew when I would fall asleep, I would be wet. While I was in secondary school, my parents went everywhere to ensure they assisted me by going to traditional homes and healers. Still, the challenge persisted. I went to the herbalist to take concoction but to no avail. I got to the university, and I was still bedwetting. And I found myself in a room occupied by over nine people. So, the room was always filled with the odour of my urine every morning. The problem continued. I prayed as much as I could. But the problem was still there. As God would have it, after I gave my life to Christ, I just discovered that the problem stopped on its own. And that Christ did it for me to take away my shame. Being brilliant when I had the problem of bedwetting was psychologically and emotionally painful but God took it away. The problem on its own disappeared. And then I was relieved and set free. And that is what I want to tell people today that some of the problems they are going through after salvation can disappear on their own if they can really give their hearts to the Lord. He has the power to do all things, save, deliver and set free.
What are your parting words for that youth who thinks it is all over?
They must not listen to that statement that says education is a scam. They must be encouraged. Maybe I would have become an area boy in Oshodi if I didn’t go to school. And God has helped me to touch many lives through education. Those who have become great today went to school so no one should tell me that education is a scam. Things are very corrosive now but they should ensure they prayerfully work hard and believe God that they can get to the top.
This is an exceptionally well-written and informative article. I learned a lot from reading it.