Why We Set Up Inoyo Toro Foundation - Udom Inoyo

..says Foundation’s primary focus remains teachers

The Advisor of Inoyo Toro Foundation and immediate past Executive Vice Chairman of ExxonMobil Companies in Nigeria, Mr. Udom Inoyo has revealed the rationale behind the setting up of Inoyo Toro Foundation in 2007.

Mr. Inoyo made the revelation while delivering his keynote address at the Oron Union, Lagos Branch N50 million naira fund raising for Oron Union Scholarship Scheme at the Island Club, Onikan Lagos.

Inoyo said that the establishment of the Foundation was borne out of a determination to intervene in Akwa Ibom state’s education sector and that in the last 13 years, the Foundation has made significant interventions in the education sector, particularly in the areas of teachers’ reward, students’ mentorship, infrastructure intervention, and lots more.

Calling on everyone’s support for the education sector, Inoyo said “there is much work to be done, not only by the government, but all of us. And you have started that journey.”

Describing the role that the Foundation has played in enhancing Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in Akwa Ibom state, Mr. Inoyo noted that “Ten years ago, the Foundation partnered with Keystone Bank to set up comprehensive Information and Communications Technology (ICT) centres in four secondary schools across the three (3) Senatorial Districts in the State, to encourage learning of Information Technology. This Project, among other things, provided for a fully equipped Internet-ready computer lab with a projector, a 27 KVA standby generator, a British Curriculum, and a privately employed Curriculum Coordinator to effectively coordinate studies across the four schools. About N100 million of private funds went into this intervention alone. Methodist Boys’ High School, Oron; Cornelia Connelly College, Uyo; Independence High School, Ukana East in Essien Udim; and Salvation Army Secondary School, Akai Ubium benefitted from this infrastructure intervention program. We wish there were similar interventions at that time which could have significantly helped our children, especially at this time when the Covid-19 pandemic has altered the mode of learning. Remember, this is the 21st century which is driven by technology.

“The Foundation’s primary focus remains teachers. Using an independent and transparent process, we identify and celebrate the best teachers in state secondary schools. We have done so over the years, and it has been a most rewarding experience. But I will never forget the encounter I had with one of the award winning teachers, which made a sustained investment in this program worthwhile.”

Narrating the successes of the Foundation since inception in 2007, the Foundation’s Advisor briefed the audience that “In 2009, Mr. Edet Okon Esedeke, a Mathematics teacher at Methodist Senior Science College, Oron, with almost two dozen award-winning colleagues arrived in Lagos for a capacity training at the American International, Lagos. They were hosted to a dinner by one of us, Mr. Larry Ettah, then Group Managing Director UAC, Plc. As it’s customary with such events, Edet was nominated by the team to offer a vote of thanks. Besides admitting that almost all of them flew in a plane for the first time that morning, his remarks that he never expected to be appreciated by anyone in his lifetime of teaching was simply heart-wrenching. Edet, a graduate of Mathematics; a subject essential to building the 21st-century economy, had taught for over two decades and was sharing a feeling of lack of appreciation by society. These teachers, upon whose sweat the next generation will emerge, were experiencing for the first time what children and nannies of those who plunder our commonwealth take for granted. What culture abandons those who lay the foundation for its future development?”

“This sort of life-altering story makes an investment in education by everyone worthwhile. I am happy that Teacher Edet returned to Akwa Ibom state with a rekindled passion for delivering his best to his students. He later rose to become a Principal before retiring from service. He may not know that his remarks that night were an elixir for me, including those on the dinner table like Uko Udom, SAN (now AKS Attorney General), and Emeka Izeze (then Managing Director of Guardian Newspapers), both of whom have continued to use him as a reminder on why we must sustain the Foundation’s activities. This is the same way that I view today’s fundraising for a scholarship program. You never can tell the immeasurable impact this event will have, years from now. So let us make this a success.”

The former National President and Chairman in Council, Chartered Institute of Personnel Managers(CIPM) in Nigeria commended Akwa Ibom State’s Governor, Mr. Udom Emmanuel who was Inoyo Toro Foundation’s Teachers Reward Program’s Guest Speaker in 2015, for appreciating the challenges in the education sector and responding by hosting the first education summit in the state. He expressed optimism that the education roadmap of Akwa Ibom which was developed after the 2019 Akwa Ibom Education Summit would be fanned from embers to flames.

Mr. Inoyo congratulated the leadership and membership of Oron Union, Lagos Branch, on the successful unveiling of it’s scholarship scheme for the good people of Oro.

Oro Union is one of foremost socio-cultural organizations in Nigeria, established as far back as 1925.