Articles

BIFOBA President: Kingsley Essien (Barrister)

Global President's Remarks on the Occasion of the 59th Founders' Day Ceremony of Birch Freeman High School, Surulere, Lagos.

Greetings!

The 6th day of February is a very important day in the history of Birch Freeman High School, Surulere, Lagos State.

It is the school’s birthday. In keeping with tradition; we, the old boys of Birch Freeman High School, Surulere have resolved that every year, we should rejoice with our Alma Mater and celebrate HER.

Slow and steady, our Alma Mater is advancing gracefully. This year She turns Fifty-Nine (59). A child that was born Fifty-Nine years ago, is certainly an adult. Our Alma Mater is now in the League of Senior Schools and taking Her rightful place within the Committee of distinguished schools.

We give God all the Glory and Honour for the life of our Alma Mater. She is a child of circumstances. A child that went through serious trauma in the course of Her growth and was nearly abandoned by her paren

Barr. Kingsley Essien: BIFOBA President

 The Special Guest of Honour, Her Excellency, Mrs. Idiat Oluranti Adebule,

 Deputy Governor/Hon. Commissioner for Education, Lagos State,

 The Chairman/Father of the Day, His Grace, Most Reverend Luke O. Odubanjo,

 The Archbishop of Lagos, Methodist Church, Nigeria,

 The Guest of Honour, Mrs. O.O. Onadipe,

 The Tutor General/Permanent Secretary, Education District VI,

 Distinguished Guests,

 Distinguished Members of the Guild of Awardees,

 Distinguished Past Presidents of BIFOBA

 Distinguished Global President Emeritus,

 Chapter Presidents, (NA and UK),

 Set Chairmen,

 Fellow Old Boys Globally and Dear Spouses,

 The principal of the Senior School and her Old Boy Spouse – Mrs. Oluwakemi O. Oke/Professor Wale Oke

 The principal of the Junior School and Spouse – Mrs. Adenike Oresanwo/Mr. Oresanwo

 Vice Principals of Senior and Junior Schools,

 Officers of the Parents Forum for Senior and Junior Schools,

 Gentlemen of the Press,

 My Lords Temporal an

The weekend of July 20-23 was our NA reunion celebration and the theme was -  Shining light on our tomorrow. The weekend was filled with fun and various activities that involved members and their families. One of our members- Mr. J. Uwagba gave an educational presentation on cyber security. 

The annual general meeting (AGM) was presided over by Mr. Niyi Fagbamiye. Questions were raised about the relationship between the North America chapter and Lagos. After extensive deliberation, it was concluded that there should be involvement of North America and U.K. chapters in the decision-making process in Lagos to reflect its global status. North America chapter is, therefore, requesting 1-2 seats at the global executive council. The representatives shall be responsible for improved communication with the global office. The North America chapter executives were later charged by members to continue with honest and open policy in all areas. The outgoing executive council led by Mr. Fagbamiye w

The association extends appreciation again to members and their relatives who came from far and near to attend the reunion. Special appreciation goes to our lone ranger host, Mr. Jide Adetutu, for his hospitality and his courage hosting a successful reunion. 18 members attended the reunion with their families and friends.

Thursday, July 20th

• Arrival of members
• Some members took time to relax at the clear water beach.

Friday, July 21st

• Members had breakfast together in the hotel.
• Some members went to the beach while some took their families and friends to the Tampa adventure island to relax and enjoy the comfortable Tampa hospitality.
• Members with families and friends spent the evening interacting until fade.

 Saturday, July 22nd

• Morning devotion
• Saturday was our main day with a lot of activities. In the morning session, one of us Mr. Joseph Uwagba gave a speech on Cyber security: how to identify hacking and how to avoid website hacking.
•  Dr. Olumide Aderoba, Mr. Francis Van-Lare, Pasto

On Wednesday, June 14, 2017, Lagos State Government, Educational District VI of Ikeja, Mushin and Oshodi-Isolo zone, recognized Birch Freeman High School (BFHS) Senior School as the 3rd best school in District VI, while Mrs. Mojirade Babatunde, the school principal, was awarded a Certificate of Merit as the 2nd best principal of the District.

With this award as one of the pinnacles of her illustrious, successful public career, Mrs. Babatunde retired from public service in July 2017, and, of course, as the head of Birch Freeman High School, Senior School. The retirement ceremony took place in the School Hall at 10:00 am on Thursday, July 13, 2017.

Photo: Thank you for your illustrious service Mrs. Mojirade Fasilat Babatunde

With supports of old boys both at home and abroad, Mrs. Babatunde improved remarkably the educational standard of Birch Freeman High School during her short tenure as the senior school principal. Last year, 2016, with her leadership, Birch Freeman final-year student

On January 12, 2017, in his usual periodic briefing, BIFOBA president, Barrister Kingsley Essien, called on old boys both at home and in diaspora for financial supports (or sponsors) for the completion of the toilet facilities of the new school/alumni auditorium for the upcoming 2017 Annual Homecoming and Thanksgiving Ball on April 29, 2017.

The president gave quotations as follows:

1. Completion of Sanitary wares, pipes and other
fittings to male and female toilets: 

                                                        580,000:00

2. Construction of re – inforced concrete
cesspool close to the toilets: 

                                                       600,000:00

3. Drilling of mini borehole with submersible
pump to serve the existing overhead water tank
on roof slap: 

                                                      200,000:00

4. Laminated doors to toilets:    400,000:00

                                                   Total N1,780,000:00

Shortly after, both 1977 set a

Kingsley Essien (BIFOBA President)

Thursday, February 23, 2017

FROM:          THE DESK OF THE GLOBAL PRESIDENT

                        Barrister Kingsley Essien, GP, MGA

                        barristeressien@yahoo.com

TO:                 ALL MEMBERS OF BIFOBA

SUBJECT:    PERIODIC BRIEFING. FEBRUARY 2017

My Dear Fellow Old Boys,

May the peace of the Lord continue to be with you.

I am delighted to write to you once again. I pray that this briefing meets all of you in good and perfect health. Please do me a favour. As soon as you receive this briefing, kindly forward same to other Old Boys till it gets to all Old Boys globally. Thank you.

1.00. FOUNDERS DAY - FEBRUARY 6, 2017

Gentlemen, this month the 6^th to be specific, we celebrated our Alma Mater’s 57^th Birthday. The event was a huge success. First of all, the ceremony took place inside our Auditorium with all the doors and windows in place. Entertainment was supplied by our students using the musical instruments supplied by us – Th

“GETTING THE BEST OUT OF STUDENTS: MY EXPERIENCE”

A TALK GIVEN ON THE 57^th FOUNDERS’ DAY CELEBRATION OF BIRCH FREEMAN HIGH SCHOOL, SURULERE, LAGOS, ON MONDAY 6^TH FEBRUARY 2017

By: Mrs. Oluwayemisi Omowo

A Good morning to:

Our Special Guest of Honour: The Deputy Governor of Lagos State, Dr. (Mrs.) Idiat Oluranti Adebule ably represented by the Permanent Secretary Lagos State Ministry of Education

The Global President, BIFOBA: Barr. Kingsley Essien

The Past Global President, BIFOBA:  Feyi Dinyo

The 1^st Vice President, BIFOBA: Arc. Ladipo Lewis

The 2^nd Vice President, BIFOBA: Mr. Frederick Dada Ajaikhile

All Old Boys’ present at this occasion

All Past Principals of the school present

The Principal Senior School: Mrs. M. Babatunde

The Principal Junior School: Mrs. Oresanwo

All Our Esteemed Teachers

All Our Wonderful Parents

All Students present.

Ladies and Gentlemen.

I will like to start by acknowledging the “I am that I am”, the Almighty God and Father of Our Lord Jesus Christ who ma

1997 Set Elected Executives During the Set First Reunion

1997 set organised its first reunion on the 22^nd of January 2017. The occasion was graced by BIFOBA Global President, Barr. Kingsley Essien, BIFOBA National Publicity Secretary, Olise-Emeka Nwachukwu, BIFOBA Assistant National General Secretary, Rasaq Sanusi, Mrs. Mojirade Babatunde, Principal Birch Freeman High School, and two former teachers of the school: Mr. Ajayi (Mathematics) and Mrs. Odor Idalu-Josephe (English Teacher).  

It was an exciting evening as members of the set wined and dined and shared memories of their days at Birch Freeman High School. The event reached its climax with the election of the Executive Committee Members conducted by Olise-Emeka Nwachukwu.

 The Elected Executives

1. Qudus Bombata: Set Chairman
2. Kayode Kalejaiye: Vice Chairman,
3. Chidiebere Ohalete: Vice Chairman Diaspora
4. Raji Babatunde: Gen Secretary
5. Kayode Adeboye: Assistant General Secretary
6. Femi Odeyemi: Treasurer
7. Aneidi Samson Akpan: Financial Sec

December 18, 2016

From:           The Desk of the Global President

                       Barrister Kingsley Essien, GP, MGA.

                       barrkingsleyessien@yahoo.com

To:              All Members of BIFOBA

Subject:    PERIODIC BRIEFING – DECEMBER 2016.

Fellow Old Boys.

Compliment of the season. On behalf of the Exco National, I wish all of you the most pleasant Christmas ever and a very prosperous new year 2017.

This is my briefing to you on the activities of our Association from the 29^th of November 2016 to December 19, 2016.

As usual, please do me a favour. If you are lucky to receive this briefing, please forward same to your set members or other Bifoba members whose e –mail addresses you may have access to. Please spread the Gospel of BIFOBA. Thank you.

1.00. MONTHLY EXECUTIVE MEETING AND GENERAL MEETING.

1.01.    Our compulsory monthly executive meeting took place on Thursday, December 8, 2016 while the compulsory General Meeting also took place as usual on Sunday,

From: THE DESK OF THE GLOBAL PRESIDENT
          BARRISTER KINGSLEY ESSIEN
          barrkingsleyessien@yahoo.com

To:     ALL MEMBERS OF BIFOBA

SUBJECT: PERIODIC BRIEFING – OCTOBER 2016

My Dear Brothers,

Peace of the Lord be with you today and always. This is my briefing to you on the activities of our Association from the 14th of September 2016 (the date of my last letter) to today, October 20, 2016. Please do me a favour. Forward this mail to members of your set or other Bifoba members whose e–mail addresses are available to you. Be informed also that the main reason of this briefing is to keep you abreast of your Association’s activities within the period under focus and to provide you with an opportunity to contribute your ideas to the running of our dear Association.

1.00. MONTHLY GENERAL MEETING

1.01. Our mandatory monthly General Meeting was held on Sunday, October 9, 2016 inside our Auditorium. I use this opportunity to thank all the members who attended the meeting. Attendanc

BIFOBA President

FROM:           Barr. Kingsley Essien (Global President, BIFOBA )

TO:                 All members of BIFOBA 

SUBJECT:      APPRECIATION

My dear Brothers,

Welcome to the month of October. October is a very important month in the history of our great country – Nigeria. This is the month that Nigeria, our dear Country got her independence. Our Country is now 56 years old. Your Alma Mater, is also 56 years old. As we celebrate Nigeria, for remaining as one nation up to 56 years, let us also celebrate our Alma Mater and by extension, ourselves for having attended a school that shares the same age with Nigeria. Congratulations.

Gentlemen, I am in a good mood, I appeal to all of you to please join me in thanking and appreciating our dear 1972 set for being the first set to respond to my plea that we must take our destiny in our own hands and look for ways to complete our dear Auditorium.

Recall that in my briefing to you dated September 14, 2016, I attached a quotation for th

BIFOBA President: Kingsley Iniobong Essien

My dear distinguished fellow Executive Council Members and fellow Old Boys of Birch Freeman High School Old Boys Association (BIFOBA).

It gives me the greatest honour to address you today as the Global President of our great Association – BIFOBA. I address you with the greatest sense of humility and with a total and complete submission to the will of God.

Let me acknowledge and thank the Immediate Past Global President, Mr. Feyi Dinyo for his selfless service to this Association in the past four years and for lifting the Bar in terms of service to our Association. He, along with other members of his Executive Council which I had the privilege to be a part of, worked tirelessly to ensure that this Association is placed on a firm footing. I am proud of my bosom friend and indeed I am also proud of the contributions made by all the past presidents and the Executive Councils of the Association. Of course, my thanks also go to all our members who

Fellow Old Boys

Compliments of the season as I express sincere thanks to you all for the show of support since my take-over of the Presidency of our Association.

As part of my responsibilities, I write in connection with the BIFOBA Blazer Project (an outstanding issue handed over to me by the immediate past Global President (Mr. Feyi Dinyo), to give an update of the current situation and the plan by the current National Executive Council (“Exco”) to resolve the issue once and for all.

Let me assure that I, like every other Old Boy who has paid for the said Blazer is desirous of getting the Blazer as quickly as possible consequently, my Colleagues in Exco and I have resolved to do all that is necessary to ensure that the Project is executed immediately and the Blazers delivered to Old Boys soonest.

It may be necessary to give a background information on the BIFOBA Blazer Project to educate Old Boys on the immediate past Exco’s genuine good intention and efforts to procure the Blazers at

Wow! Saturday, April 30, 2016 had come and gone but the memories of the day would remain indelible in the hearts of all Old Boys of Birch Freeman High School, Surulere, Lagos, their friends, spouses and well wishers who attended the Annual Home Coming Event of the Old Boys, which was held on the said date in BIFOBA built school Auditorium.

The event commenced at about 4.00 pm Nigeria time. It was an evening of great excitement and splendor as Old Boys, with their spouses, gorgeously dressed, gathered to celebrate the Annual Home Coming, which was ably tagged “A new song”

The Chairman of the event was His Excellency Chief (Senator) Segun Bamigbetan Baju (former Nigeria Ambassador to the Republic of Cuba), who in his opening remarks, commended the leadership of BIFOBA and the entire members of the Association for their unmatched commitment to the development and advancement of their Alma Mater and, also, congratulated the new Global President, Barrister Kingsley Essien, on his inaugurat

Mr. Feyisola Oladejo Dinyo (BIFOBA President)

OUTGOING GLOBAL PRESIDENT’S FAREWELL SPEECH

... And so Fellow Old Boys, my Eighteen (18) years sojourn in BIFOBA’s Executive Council (Exco) in various capacities, the high point of which is as the Global President gradually comes to an end.

Come Saturday, 30^th April, 2016, during our Homecoming and Re-Union Dinner, I shall be bowing out as the Association’s Global President and will hand over the Baton of Leadership of our great Association to my Friend/Colleague, Barr. Kingsley Essien and retire fully into the Guild of Awardees where I hope to continue to serve BIFOBA at yet another level.

It has been both a challenging and rewarding eighteen years of service to our Association and Birch Freeman High School (BFHS) and in spite of the difficulties of administering and leading a congregation of Gentlemen Old Boys, several of whom are my Seniors, I do hope that my Colleagues in Exco and I have been able to meet our Old Boys’ expectations an

GLOBAL PRESIDENT’S REPORT (YEAR 2014)

Mr. Feyisola Dinyo: BIFOBA President

Fellow Old Boys,

Compliments of the Season.  Gradually Year 2014 has rolled to its end and I am certain we are all looking forward to 2015 with high expectations.

In 2014, our Association fared better than the previous year although not without the usual disagreements and petty issues which we have learnt to overcome. 

BIFOBA HEADQUARTERS (NIGERIA)

The National Headquarters continued to wax stronger and remained formidable, as the National Executive Council (Exco) in Lagos recorded a very successful year.  Practically all the National Exco’s set goals for 2014 were achieved as there were less distraction this year.

1.  MULTIPURPOSE AUDITORIUM

The Multipurpose Auditorium construction whose contract was awarded late 2013

kicked off in earnest in December 2013 and in a record time of 5 months (20 weeks) the physical structure was put in place to such an extent that BIFOBA’s  Annual Homecoming slated for 31^st May

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from Bifoba NA chapter's President

2014 Reflection from the NA President

Looking back at 2014, I believe the year has been a busy and successful year for Bifoba NA chapter.

We have come a long way and still have a lot to accomplish as a growing association. I will encourage all present members to make it a promise to themselves to at least bring two new members every year to join the association - with more members we can accomplish more.

Accomplishments over the past year:

• Membership increased
• More constructive and positive discussions
• Financial and moral supports for our departed members and their families.
• Donated dictionaries/gazetteers to the Junior school
• Successful and memorable reunion in Memphis, Tennessee.

Goals and Aspirations for 2015

• Family matters (Promote and encourage more time spending with family)
• To create more sub chapters in different cities and states all over North America.
• Bifoba NA chapter's collective aspiration  for Bir

Memphis 2014: NA Reunion's Report 

On Friday, July 18 through Sunday, July 20, 2014, (BIFOBA) North America chapter organized the seventh alumni reunion in Memphis, Tennessee. The event was held at Homewood Suite, Hilton Hotel in Memphis. Alumni, families and friends across North America gathered to celebrate the accomplishments of the past, review the present, and look toward the successful future for the chapter and BIFOBA as a whole.

On Friday of the event, members started arriving at the venue as early as 8 am. By 2 pm, members already gathered in the hall of the venue, exchanging pleasantries, regaling one another with tales of their times at BFHS, and wearing T-shirt (dedicated in honor of the two departed illustrious members:  Dr. Igbuan Oyakhire and Ras. David Tunde Lowo).

By 4 pm, it was a fun time: alumni, families, and friends gathered by the swimming pool of the hotel for a delicious cook out of “suya” meat, roasted plantains and corns, mixed vegetable salads and fruits, a