A philanthropist and businessman, Prince Kehinde Adefolayemi Adekanmi, has put smiles on the faces of about 1000 indigent students from Irele and Okitipupa local government areas of Ondo State by purchasing JAMB forms for them.
Prince Adekanmi presented the forms at Idepe Town Hall, Okitipupa on Friday, emphasising that it was part of his effort to reach as many people as possible, without favouritism.
Beneficiaries as well as their parents took turns to shower praises on Prince Adekanmi, praying for God’s continued blessings on his life.
In a chat with journalists, Prince Adekanmi said politics was not the motivation for his philanthropic gestures but a way to give back to the people.
“everywhere I’ve gone, I’ve gotten this question a lot of times. I’m not doing this for politics, I’ve been doing this for many years.
“I feel it’s unfair when journalists keep asking that question over and over again.
“It tends to undermine my genuine effort at providing help and support to my people.
“I’ve been doing this for many years.
“The only difference is that now I want to expand my dragnet, I want a larger number of people to benefit from it.
“You can see my children (beneficiaries) here, you can see how we are all freely interacting.
“I grew up in this community. I’ve been in this town, I’ve lived with the people, I understand their pains and their struggles.
“I know where their shoes pinch. I know the challenges of a common man. I know what people on the lowest rung of the economic ladder are experiencing. So, as I progressed in life, I was always telling my God that if I have the opportunity, even if it’s the slightest financial favour, I’ll always try to come back and give back to our people,” he added.
Speaking on the reason for targeting Youths with an intervention like the JAMB form, he noted, “If one thousand students get out of here and go to various higher institutions of learning, we would have potentially developed a thousand of our young people and the effect of that on our local economy and even on the education of our populace will be unquantifiable.
“I believe that someday, some of them will become successful in life and take up what I’m doing and do much more, pick up from where I’ve gotten and extend it further.”
“Of course, I have programs for older people too and I’ve always been doing that.
“But what I’m saying is that it is easier to give one thousand students JAMB forms and get them to tertiary institutions.
