Kunle Adelabu
Ikorodu has recognized the international feat achieved by one of its own a year after he set Guinness World Record Longest Marathon Read Aloud by a team reading for 480hours and four years after he set a personal international record in same category.
Bayode Treasures Olawunmi was among the highly placed individuals, royal fathers, corporate organisations and schools honoured by the Ikorodu Division Human Resource Development Board (IDHRDB) led by the Emeritus Prof. Kunle Ade Wahab, under the auspices of the Ikorodu Division Resource Development Group (IDRDG) chaired by Otunba (Senator) Dr. Kingskey Adeseye Ogunlewe, former Minister of Works.
The Excellence Award was presented at the Arc. Olutusen Onafowokan Auditorium, Ikorodu Ultra – Modern Town Hall, Ikorodu, on Thursday, December1, 2022.
The Summit was organized in honour of two educational personalities: Emeritus Prof. Sikiru Adebayo Sanni and Late Prof. Ayodele Awojobi.
Bayode, an avid reader and curious mind, is a two-time Guinness World record holder who wowed the global village in 2018 when he sat for several days at the iRead Library, Herbert Macaulay Way, Sabo, Yaba, Lagos.
The feat earned him an Ambassadorial honour conferred on him by the then Governor of LagosState , Mr Akinwunmi Ambode in 2018, for achieving the feat in the State.
In 2021, Bayode got like minds from across the country for another quest. He and 4 other Nigerians – Preciouslight Ukachi, Maryam Abba Sadu, Zainab Wakil Mohammed and Doiubra Yeri, read for 480 hours, in a Guinness World Record quest in the Longest Marathon Read Aloud by a team.
The group reading, which set another Guinness World Record and placed the country further on the global reading map, was themed, ‘Read2Build’, a project aimed at constructing, and providing at least one functional library in every ward in Nigeria.
In his drive to promote reading in Nigeria and across Africa, Bayode had been to several schools in Ikorodu, Lagos and other parts of the country, to promote among students, the importance and benefits of reading in human capital and capacity development and national development, through his organization’s program tagged ‘LEAD2READ’.
Leveraging on his international feat, Bayode, through his organization, iRead Afrika Foundation, a social entrepreneurship organization, partnered with Labster, a virtual laboratory company based in Denmark, to promote quality education in Nigeria, especially at the senior secondary level in Nigeria.
Through this partnership, Bayode, funded by Labster international, donated 50 laptop computers to 5 secondary schools across Nigeria, one of which is Oriwu Senior and Junior Model Colleges, Ikorodu, which was gifted 10 computer laptops with 1-year free access to Labster.
Bayode is a teacher, a life coach, and a motivational speaker with a passion centered on human capacity and national development. He is an optimist who believes that nothing can stop a dreamer who set his mind on a goal, crafts a strategic plan to achieve that goal, and pursues the goal with a laser focus.
