Community, Orhionmwon Local Government Area of Edo State to immortalize the late sage, Pa Solomon Ilawagbgbon Ogbemudia, popularly known as SABAKA.
The Foundation also constructed a borehole in the community in honour of Pa Ogbemudia, who lived and passed away in the community several years ago. The gesture sparked widespread joy and celebration in the agrarian community, whose residents expressed heartfelt appreciation to the family and members of the Board of Trustees (BOT) of the Foundation. Among the trustees is renowned scholar and Professor of History at the University of Benin, Prof. Eddy Erhagbe.
Speaking at the commissioning of the projects over the weekend, Chairman of the SABAKA Foundation and son of the late sage, Francis Ogbemudia, delivered an emotional tribute in his welcome address.
“Sabaka lived a life of sacrifice, not minding his limitations educationally. He ensured that his children and others around him had the best education during his lifetime,” he said.
He continued, “Though Sabaka was never privileged to complete formal education up to high school, he devoted his life to the cause of education. He believed deeply in its power to transform lives and communities. Despite his own limitations, he supported children and students in his community, enabling many to pursue university education.
“He initiated developmental projects that brought lasting progress to his community—quietly, but impactfully changing the trajectory of many lives. Sabaka’s commitment was not just to others, but to his own family. While he remained in the village, he sent his children to some of the best schools in the cities of his time. Sadly, he passed away just as his first son completed secondary school. Yet, through the seeds he had sown, his children went on to become university graduates.”
Ogbemudia added, “Sabaka’s legacy is one of sacrifice, vision, and impact. The SABAKA Foundation was founded to honour his name and carry forward his mission—to ensure that no child is left behind because of where they were born or what they lack. The inauguration of thisimportant initiative is to immortalize his name and carry on his noble vision, so generations now and generations yet unborn will benefit from the good gestures he had while he was alive.”
Also speaking at the event, Osaro Success Ogbemudia, another son of the late Sabaka, said the Foundation was created to preserve and extend the legacy their father left behind.
“When my dad was around, he wanted every child around him, every child around the community to be educated. I believe if he were still alive, he would have opened schools in communities to ensure that those who could not go to school because of cost would do so. We are celebrating the legacies he left with our mother, and we intend to continue in that trajectory,” he said.
Guest Speaker and member of the Foundation’s Board of Trustees, Prof. Eddy Erhagbe, described the project as one close to his heart, reflecting his lifelong commitment to education.
“It was a thing of joy for me. We have been emphasising education and modern-day education for our children,” he said. He also used the occasion to advise youths to embrace education rather than promote the now-popular but misleading notion that “education na scam.”
“I want to tell our youths, I want to tell Nigerians that education is not a scam. The assertion that education is not the way forward for us is not correct. How can you imagine that many people are going through the Sahara Desert—some of them dying on the way, some trying to go through the Mediterranean Sea because they want to go abroad; some involved in prostitution because they want to go abroad?
“But your own son here—America paid my ticket, gave me a visa. For the four years I was there, they took care of me. And at the end of the day, they gave me a PhD, by which, till today, I have been part of the development of Nigeria.”
The SABAKA Foundation says it intends to expand the reach of its projects beyond Irhoghi Community to other communities in Edo State and beyond, as part of its mission to advance the values and legacy of Pa Ogbemudia.
