In a powerful virtual gathering, The Opekete Foundation has challenged the conventional narrative on educating the girl child, calling for a decisive shift from focusing solely on school enrolment to building capable future leaders. The 2025 Florence Bamidele Makanjuola (FBM) Roundtable, held on what would have been the 104th birthday of its founder, assembled 200 senior educators, development leaders, philanthropists, academics, and young women to address a critical question: what must education deliver to truly empower girls for leadership and global impact?
Beyond Access: Education as a Strategic Investment
Setting the tone for the discourse, Chairman of The Opekete Foundation, Dame Omolara Euler-Ajayi, emphasised the Foundation's mission to translate legacy into tangible impact. She reiterated that investing in a girl's education remains one of the most potent catalysts for broad social progress, benefiting not just the individual but her family, community, and the nation's institutions.
Echoing this sentiment, the keynote speaker, Professor Folasade Tolulope Ogunsola, Vice Chancellor of the University of Lagos, framed the issue in stark terms. She described girls' education as a non-negotiable strategic investment for national development. Professor Ogunsola challenged educational institutions to move beyond the metrics of access and instead concentrate on moulding girls for responsibility, leadership, and navigating complexity.
"Education must do more than produce graduates; it must develop women who can think critically, act ethically, and lead with confidence in a rapidly changing world," she asserted.
Bridging the Gap Between Schooling and Leadership
The first panel, titled 'Education, Leadership, and Systems Change,' moderated by Gbenga Olatunji of IQVIA UK, dissected the structural failures that prevent education from translating into real opportunity. Panelists unanimously critiqued systems that value certificates over genuine capability.
Osayi Alile, Chief Executive Officer of ACT Foundation, pointed out the glaring disconnect between standard school curricula and the actual demands of leadership in the real world. Foluso Gbadamosi, Vice President of Development at Junior Achievement Africa, identified confidence as the critical missing link, stating its catalytic role in expanding what girls believe they can achieve.
Adding an academic perspective, Dr. Hadiza Abdurahman, a Senior Lecturer at the University of Lincoln, UK, urged society and its institutions to discard narrow expectations. She advocated for recognising girls as full intellectual beings and potential leaders from the outset, not limiting their aspirations.
From Survival to Service: Amplifying Lived Experiences
The second panel, 'The Power of Opportunity: Voices of Change,' provided the most compelling evidence by centering the stories of the Florence Scholars—young women directly supported by the Foundation. Their personal narratives powerfully illustrated that when access to quality education is combined with mentorship and exposure, a girl's journey can transform from one of mere survival to a life dedicated to service, leadership, and creating impact for others.
Concluding the Roundtable, Aishah N. Ahmad, Trustee and Legacy Steward of The Opekete Foundation, paid homage to her grandmother, Florence Bamidele Makanjuola. She reflected that for the founder, "education was never an end in itself, but a pathway to dignity, self-determination, and service." Ahmad reaffirmed the Foundation's unwavering commitment to turning this legacy into sustained, measurable progress for girls and young women across Nigeria.
The forum was punctuated by a screening of a short documentary, 'The Opekete Foundation: A Living Legacy,' which traced the inspirational life of Mrs. Makanjuola and the organisation's enduring dedication to education as a tool for dignity and societal contribution.
The 2025 FBM Roundtable culminated in a clear, shared conclusion: empowering the girl child requires intentionally designed systems that seamlessly connect education to confidence, leadership, and opportunity. The consensus was that access to school is merely the first step. What is urgently needed is an entire ecosystem of mentorship, supportive institutions, and enabling policies that allows girls to convert their learning into lasting influence within their communities and on the global stage.
