Fellow Dengramites and Friends of Grammar School:

I welcome you all to the DMGS Endowment Club (DEC), an organization of like-minded people whose solitary objective is to establish an Endowment Fund (DMGS Endowment Fund or “DEF”) for the benefit of DMGS in perpetuity.

Just three years ago (in 2015), the DMGS Endowment Fund was established as a quasi-organization of our alumni, the DMGS Old Boys Association, in order to galvanize efforts of all Old Boys and Friends of DMGS towards soliciting funds to establish a permanent and self-renewing endowment for our beloved Grammar School. It was designed to “vest” itself over a period of ten years (2015-2025) in preparation for our forthcoming centennial. In 2025, Grammar School will be 100 years old!

Under the leadership of the late Dr. Emmanuel O. Egbogah, OON, the inaugural chairman of DEF and DEC, we have made substantial progress, not only in generating “seed” money for this endowment, but also in establishing the framework for accomplishing our set goal of endowing DMGS in perpetuity.  It is now time to focus on harnessing those efforts which we have made over the past three years and more, leapfrogging into a powerful fundraising machine that will enable DEF to achieve its objectives over the next seven years, leading to a full endowment.

We have therefore prepared an informational booklet (DEF Informational Booklet) to provide donors with basic information regarding DMGS, DEF, and DEC, and most importantly, the objectives of this endowment fund, how to pledge or redeem pledges to the endowment fund, and why DEF is a “win-win” project for DMGS and all Dengramites.  Additional information about this endowment effort is also available on DEF’s website at www.endowdmgs.org. Otherwise, all friends and alumni of DMGS are invited to contact any Officer or Trustee of DEF (listed on this website) for further details on this ground-breaking effort. 

By way of summary, DEF is an innovative idea by DMGS Old Boys, designed to create a permanent endowment fund in the amount of N500 million or $2.5 million over ten (10) years.  Following the vesting of this Endowment (corpus), we plan to invest the “principal” amount in perpetuity whilst utilizing the investment income (“profit”) to maintain and rebuild educational infrastructure at DMGS.  This is analogous to having a fixed deposit account in a bank, from which interest income is deployed for various needs, which in the case of DMGS would include urgently needed school projects and repairs, provision of scholarships (on a need-based basis to students), facilitating continuing education support for teachers, and motivating as well as recognizing the efforts of outstanding staff and students.  DMGS will directly benefit through this assured means of financial support in perpetuity, whilst DMGS Old Boys should receive succor from the near-daily pressures of endless fund-raining.  

I salute the efforts of many Dengramites, collectively within our umbrella alumni association, DOBA-ww, as well as the various DOBA branches, philanthropic individuals and faithful friends, who have embarked upon various projects to help DMGS build back from the ravages of the Nigerian civil war, which was followed by a prolonged period of decline under poor schools management as instituted by serial post-war state governments.  Even until this day, our beloved middle school continues to struggle, with minimal sustainable funding to maintain infrastructure, continue her long-standing tradition of academic excellence, which has bestowed our heritage with career civil servants, inspired clergy, outstanding teachers, and distinguished intellectuals and professionals.

Collectively, as Old Boys, we have made significant strides, having rebuilt the OLD RED-BRICK MAIN SCHOOL BLOCK, REV. E.D.C. CLARK LIBRARY, JUSTICE T.C. ANOMNACHI ALUMNI RESORT at OWERRI, as well as completing the “2000 and Beyond School Renovation Project, CHIJIOKE OJJI’S 2025 Project, the ERNEST OBIEJESI HOSTEL, EMMA EGBOGAH’s Renovation of the Principal’s Residence, Re-roofing of the Chapel Hall, Renovation of Student’s Hostel and Classrooms, Renovation of the School Refectory/Dining Hall, and provision of a catalogue of teaching aides, computers and smart boards. But each one of these giant efforts must be maintained to avoid having to start all over in the near future.  DEF’s vision is to perpetually sustain these projects and create new opportunities for students and teachers alike, through deploying investment income from the endowment fund following its vesting.  To realize the goal of this endowment, we must do more, individually and collectively, to enlist and challenge all Dengramites to share in the vision of DEF and ultimately enable it. All hands must be on deck.

As you ponder how to join in this effort, first consider what DMGS has done for you: it created the foundation for your education, girded you with moral precepts, elevated your position within our society, and granted you confidence to face the world, and ultimately, a measure of financial security.  Most Dengramites are benevolent, and we recognize that no lasting victory comes without collective effort. An Igbo adage posits: “Ibu Anyi Danda” or put in a slightly different form, “Igwe Bu Ike”, meaning, There is Strength in Numbers. Let us all, therefore, both young and old alumni, join hands to build DEF for posterity by donating to this cause.

If we withhold our support by failing to donate to DEF, the future of our beloved school, DMGS, will be bedeviled by uncertainty. It is to overcome that encroaching fear that gave impetus to DEF.  Of course, all of us who had the privilege to be students in this venerable school, know what is expected of us as Dengramites. We witnessed what has become of DMGS over the post-war years. We have also witnessed the heroic efforts of dedicated Dengramites, who have offered their time, their talent, and their treasure, to restore DMGS to its full glory. Being a part of the Grammar School renaissance should appeal to all Dengramites.

THEREFORE, I URGE ALL OF YOU, MY FELLOW DENGRAMITES AND FRIENDS OF GRAMMAR SCHOOL, RISE AND ANSWER THIS GENERATIONAL!

DONATE TO DEF AND SUSTAIN OUR BELOVED ALMA MATER IN PERPETUITY. 

Get involved, be involved, stay involved, at any level of giving as your spirit guides you. Help us all build a sustainable future for DMGS. Be proud of your commitment. May the Good Lord bless you as you give towards a worthy cause.

We are, in this together. We are, after all, DMGS, Primus Inter Pares.

LUX FIAT.

Professor Prosper Igboeli, MD
Chairman, DMGS Endowment Fund