Emeka Oparah, Vice President for Corporate Communications & CSR, Airtel Africa, writes from the UAE
Even as the echoes of intercepted missiles and drones reverberate across Dubai, my current home, my mind has been transported to Ajegunle, Lagos, specifically, the Tolu School Complex. The recent images of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu touring the newly transformed facility stirred something deeper than nostalgia. They affirmed a simple but powerful truth: social investment, when done right, can ignite systemic change.
My first visit to Tolu Complex in May 2011 remains etched in memory. What passed for a school at Oremeji Primary School 2 was, quite frankly, a national embarrassment—children learning under trees, a collapsed wall serving as a blackboard, and a nearby bush doubling as a toilet. Yet, within that despair lay immense human potential waiting for a spark.
That spark came through a deliberate decision by Airtel Nigeria, shortly after the Bharti-Airtel acquisition of Zain, to adopt public primary schools across the country. With the support of its then-CEO Rajan Swaroop, we chose to start from Lagos, because as the saying goes, “Charity begins at home.” What followed was not just a project, but a statement: a six-classroom block, fully furnished, with sanitation, water, and power—delivered in six months.
At the inauguration, I inserted a line in the CEO’s speech—a hope, perhaps even a quiet challenge—that our modest intervention would inspire others, especially the government, to do more across the complex and beyond.
Fifteen years later, that hope has found expression.
What the Lagos State Government has done at Tolu is not just infrastructure development; it is the scaling of an idea—that no child should learn in indignity. It is proof that leadership, when aligned with vision and empathy, can transform entire ecosystems.
This is why we must act—and just as importantly, tell our stories. Not for applause, but for replication. Because somewhere, someone is watching. And sometimes, all it takes is one example to trigger a cascade of impact.
During a private visit to Nigeria in November last year, I paid a visit to the Tolu School Complex to fraternise with the teachers and children of Oremeji, and what I saw was amazing and heartwarming. Our modest effort has triggered a massive infrastructure development on a massive scale. Tolu School Complex is no longer a symbol of neglect. It is now a case study in possibility.
And Ajegunle? Still the same resilient community—only now with a learning environment that better reflects the greatness it continues to produce.
