Oluyole Club awards bursaries, urges financial discipline

The Oluyole Club recently held its annual lecture and awards ceremony in Lagos, with speakers and stakeholders urging Nigerians to build resilience amid prevailing economic challenges, The PUNCH reports.

The event, held at the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry Conference and Exhibition Centre, brought together prominent Ibadan indigenes, professionals, and guests for intellectual discourse, recognition of service, and youth empowerment initiatives, while also recognising outstanding individuals and supporting indigent students through bursary awards.

In his welcome address, President of the club, Oluniyi Fatokun, said the association, founded on March 14, 1968, was established as “a cultural, non-political and non-profit making association of Ibadan indigenes resident in Lagos,” with a core objective of mutual support among members.

“Primarily, our forebears founded the club to assist one another in finding their feet in Lagos. Succinctly put, to be ‘their brothers’ keepers,’” he said, adding that the club’s activities have continued to revolve around “the welfare of its members and the promotion of the interests of the city and its inhabitants.”

Fatokun noted that one of the club’s enduring contributions is its annual lecture series, describing it as a platform for sustained intellectual engagement on national issues.

“Today’s lecture, which is the 13th in the series, is titled ‘Riding the Economic and Financial Storms in Nigeria – Building Resilience, Preserving Wealth and Positioning for Opportunity,’” he said, while congratulating beneficiaries of the 2026 bursary awards.

The club also highlighted its sustained investment in education, explaining that it had transitioned from postgraduate scholarships to undergraduate bursaries for indigent students of Ibadan origin across Nigerian universities.

“We have one of the products of the postgraduate scholarship of the club, now a professor and a member of the club. Others are in other endeavours,” Fatokun said, noting that the bursary recipients “are all over the place making a living for themselves.”

He added that the initiative had been strengthened through collaboration with Lead City University, which provides six annual scholarship slots for qualified candidates.

“We have also produced some graduates through the Lead City University grant… Our appreciation goes to Prof Jide Owoeye for the kind gestures,” he said.

Beyond education, the club outlined its welfare and empowerment programmes, including a youth empowerment scheme that provides low-interest funding to small-scale businesses through SeedVest Microfinance Bank.

Delivering the keynote lecture, Bayo Olugbemi painted a detailed picture of Nigeria’s economic realities, describing the current climate as one marked by “turbulence, volatility, inflation, policy and structural reforms.”

He said, “Nigeria today stands at a critical economic intersection,” noting that recent reforms such as currency liberalisation and subsidy removal, though necessary, had “triggered short-term pain across households and businesses.”

Olugbemi stressed that economic shocks are inevitable, stating, “The central question before us is not whether storms will come—they surely will—but how prepared we are to ride them when they show up.”

He listed inflation, rising cost of living, business setbacks, debt burdens, and technological disruptions among the key pressures confronting Nigerians, adding that such conditions test “not just our finances but our judgment, discipline, and resilience.”

Citing broader economic trends, he explained that while macroeconomic indicators suggest some stability, many households and businesses continue to struggle.

“There is a ‘two-speed economy’—strong financial markets versus a struggling real economy,” he said, warning that inflation and exchange rate volatility remain significant concerns.

Despite the challenges, Olugbemi urged a shift in mindset, emphasising adaptability and strategic planning.

“Stop expecting continuous stability; start building adaptive capacity,” he advised, adding that “those who succeed are those who prepare, reposition and evolve strategically.”

He further noted that the current phase of economic adjustment presents long-term opportunities, stating, “A sailor in a storm does not sit still—he adjusts the sails and rides on.”

Highlighting practical strategies, he emphasised cost discipline, liquidity management, cautious borrowing, and investment in productivity, stressing that “in volatile economies, profit is opinion—cash is reality.”

He also encouraged diversification of income streams and investments, describing it as critical to navigating uncertainty.

“Income concentration is one of the biggest risks in today’s world,” he said, urging professionals and entrepreneurs to explore multiple revenue channels and asset classes.

A major highlight of the event was the presentation of bursary awards to 10 students from institutions, including the University of Lagos, Lagos State University, University of Ibadan and Ladoke Akintola University of Technology.

The beneficiaries, drawn from various local government areas in Ibadanland, are studying courses such as Medicine and Surgery, Law, Finance, Mass Communication, Biomedical Engineering, and Telecommunications Engineering.

The ceremony also featured honorary awards presented to past presidents and distinguished elders of the club in recognition of their contributions to Ibadanland, alongside a distinguished merit award to Prof Owoeye for supporting access to education.

Fatokun congratulated all awardees, describing them as worthy recipients, and reaffirmed the club’s commitment to community development.