Ekiti Parapo College, Ido Ekiti has announced that the grand finale of its platinum jubilee will be held at the school’s premises from Friday, December 6 to Saturday, December 7, 2024.
National president of Ekiti Parapo College Old Students Association (EPCOSA) Dotun Adekanmbi said: “The grand finale activities will cap the year-long 70th anniversary celebration of the founding of Ekiti Parapo College, Ido Ekiti, which is the first and only Ekiti-wholly owned community post-primary educational institution built on the dreams of all Ekiti sons and daughters.”
He said the events will kick off on Friday, December 6, 2024, with medical outreach to staff and students of the college as well as a Jumat service and an anniversary lecture titled “EKPACO at 70: Celebrating a Milestone and Laying the Foundation for a Brighter Tomorrow” to be delivered by Rufus Akomolafe, a professor of renal and gastrointestinal physiology at Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife.
Said Adekanmbi, “The anniversary will be rounded off with the launch of the alumni website, the presentation of awards to 38 eminent past and present members of our Association and the naming of streets in honour of three outstanding staff of the College, namely, the late Chief Adepoju Akomolafe (founding Principal), the late Chief Alfred Asebiomo (second Principal) and the late Chief James Christopher Idowu Iyiola (Senior boarding housemaster),” adding, “A street will also be named after the Olojudo of Ido Ekiti, our host community.”
Speaking further, Adekanmbi said, “Ekiti Parapo College (EKPACO), Ido Ekiti, is the brainchild of two dynamic, though defunct associations of Ekiti indigenes, namely, Ekiti National Association (ENA) and Ekiti Progressive Union (EPU) in the 1950s, so the 70th Anniversary celebration is intended to afford us the opportunity to appraise the level of development and growth of our alma mater as well as avail our members an occasion to share experiences and reflect on life and living since they left the College.”
EPCOSA’s public relations officer Engr. Ayodeji Afolabi said: “Our primary goal for celebrating EKPACO at 70 is to underscore our Association’s commitment to building a globally competitive educational institution that will be a legacy school to celebrate our past, consolidate our present and chart a new course for the future, hence the theme, EKPACO…Tomorrow’s Bright.”
Ekiti Parapo College was founded on Friday, January 29, 1954, as a memorial to the 16-year (1877 – 1893) Ekiti war of independence that was fought to achieve the historic liberation of Ekiti land from the grips of Ibadan, their internal colonial masters.
