How a one-year trip to Enugu became a permanent one for Adewale Alao, founder of Purple Krown College, Enugu
When he finished his higher education, Adewale Alao was posted to Enugu State in 1992 for his compulsory National Youth Service Corps scheme.
Based on the unsubstantiated stories he had heard about the Southeast, he had his qualms about the posting. Matters were not helped by the fact that many of his friends and associates who had been posted to the Southeast had used the influence of their relatives to change the posting from the Southeast to their preferred state. But somehow fate took him to Enugu State and he accepted his fate. Even his family members were not at ease when he left for the Southeast.
After his NYSC orientation, he was posted to College of Immaculate Conception (CIC) Enugu in 1992 for his primary assignment as a teacher. He taught mathematics and further mathematics to the students.
Months into his stay in Enugu, his first-hand experience in the Southeast was completely different from the stories he had heard before.
At the end of his service year in 1993 when the school offered him the chance to become a permanent teacher, he grabbed the opportunity with both hands and stayed back in Enugu, contrary to his thought that he would leave the Southeast after his NYSC.
A journey that he thought would last for one year soon changed course and became a long or permanent one, as he moved from one school to another, rising in the teaching profession, teaching at schools like University of Nigeria Secondary School, Holy Rosary College, Baptist High School, Uwani Secondary School, Pine Crest College, all in Enugu.
Having garnered much experience in secondary school education in Enugu, he saw a gap he could fill and decided to set up his school in Enugu. In 2007, that dream came to fruition as Wale Alao founded Purple Krown College (PKC), Enugu. His mission was to provide quality education to youths at a moderate fee.
The school has been growing in leaps and bounds. Just six years of its existence, Purple Krown College defeated Government College Abuja in 2013 to emerge champions of that year’s finals of the 2013 Shell/NNPC U-18 secondary school football competition which took place in Lagos State, thereby emerging as Nigeria’s representative at King of England’s Cup held in London that year.
Purple Krown College is located at 20/22 Osadebe Street Ogui New Layout, Enugu, Enugu State, Nigeria has its vision as follows: “To give every student opportunity to discover their true self, develop the strength within (spiritually, physically, academically and socially), and be sharpened into a suitable instrument and productive in the world tomorrow.”