Why I became an edupreneur

Adekanye Bamiyo is the proprietress of Glorious Light Academy in Ilorin, Kwara State.  Bamiyo is an architect with a passion for children. In this interview with SIKIRAT SHEHU, the entrepreneur reveals what motivated her to set up the school and why she injected N1.4 million into it recently despite economic challenges.

Tell us about Glorious Light Academy.

The school started fully in 2016 with a crèche.  Initially, I was taking care of just a child, but today, we have about 80 children. Both kindergarten and crèche were approved by the Ministry of Education under the Women’s Affairs Commission, Kwara State.

I started with a lady and after sometime, I discovered we were getting it right. So, I had to resign from my work to be able to concentrate and be fully on ground. For now, I have about 11 qualified teachers.

However, it has been quite challenging because it is not easy dealing with children of different backgrounds and coping with their parents.

Tell us about yourself and what motivated you into teaching?

I am an architect by profession, but naturally, I have a passion for children. I have a second degree in Architecture from Kwara Poly and University of Jos, Plateau State.

I was a practising architect, but I am not fully into it now. I have had a special affection for children from my youth age. I love seeing them around me.

So, when I graduated, there was no time as I was busy with my career. Despite this,  it was still on my mind. When I married, my husband aligned with me and my ambition. Today, we are both involved in the business.

Although, he is not fully on ground for it, we are doing it together.

How will you juxtapose architecture and school business?

Architecture is preferable to school affairs because, up till now, we are still investing. We cannot talk of profit now because whatever comes in from the other end is going into the school, as we are still funding it from the proceeds of our careers.

We are financing and sponsoring the school, so, to compare the two, architecture is more profitable than school investment. It is all about passion; it is like a ministry and we keep injecting funds into it.

How much have you spent so far?

Between last term and now, we have invested up to N1.4 million into the school from another purse— not from the school purse.  As of now, the school has not produced one-thirds of that as profit.
We started in our own residence with a sitting room. Later, we moved to dining and took a room. After sometime, we increased to two rooms. At some point, the place was not conducive again because people kept bringing their wards to us. God provided a big building that we are using now for the school. Already, we have reached primary five.

Everything is in God’s hands. The kind of vision we have and mission we are pursuing, we want our students to be able to stand anywhere among other children, which is what drives us to go extra mile to put so many things in place.

We expose them to things that are beyond their levels— from crèche to primary five.

What are your plans for future?

By the grace of God, we are planning to maintain the standards and as well as keep upgrading the school for a greater height.

My advice to women is that they should be prayerful, rely on God and be hard-working because it pays when you have something doing. It may not be much but it is better than staying idle.