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Simon Fraser University,
Public Affairs and Media Relations (pamr)
604.291.3210 www.sfu.ca/mediapr

Contact:
Daniel Igali (in Nigeria until the ceremony): 011 234 803 884 8295,
or 011 234 805 907 8845; bigali@sfu.ca
(phone lines can be difficult. Note that the time is about nine hours ahead of Vancouver.)

Olympic champion Daniel Igali’s dream of a new school for his village of Eniwari, Nigeria is about to be realized. Maureen Matheny Academy will officially open at a commissioning ceremony on August 19.

Igali is currently in Nigeria working with government officials to set up the curriculum and secure teachers. “I’m excited, but I’m also nervous,” he concedes. “I want to be sure that we can begin delivering education smoothly.”

Igali, a Simon Fraser University criminology graduate student, vowed to build a school to help improve education for young people in Nigeria. His own school days were spent in a leaky, one-room shack.

“I want so much for this to be a benefit to the people in the village and the Niger Delta region in particular,” says Igali. “It will be a wonderful gift and will mean a potential lifestyle change for villagers and students alike, who can benefit from a school that hopes to also teach life skills.”

The Nigerian-born wrestler won a gold medal for Canada in freestyle wrestling at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, then turned his attention to fund-raising for the school. Donations total more than $600,000.

The school’s first year will see two classes of Grade 7 students — an enrolment of 60 children — who will come from various regions of the country. Higher grades — and possibly an exchange program — will be phased in over time.

Representatives from Nigeria’s federal and state governments will join with local families for the Aug. 19 ceremony, which will include cultural celebrations and dance. Says Igali: “It will be a very sweet moment.”

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Digital photos of the school are available

--Igali’s fundraising efforts were backed by his own Igali Foundation, which will play a role in operating the school, CUSO and the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).

--The 11-room school building is constructed of bricks hand-made in the village. The cement had to be delivered by small boats — a journey of roughly eight hours.

--Solar energy and a gas generator will provide power to the building. Igali hopes to add more buildings to the present school to accommodate the more than 500 kids from all over Nigeria who will eventually study at the school.

--The school will promote a range of athletic activities — and in particular, wrestling — something Igali never had as a youth. He also wants to establish a scholarship program to ensure that students go beyond the school and on to university.

--The school is named after Maureen Matheny, the woman who became a surrogate mother to Igali when he decided to stay in Canada after an international competition in Victoria. She died in 1999.

--The school is still in need of computers and other learning materials, including library books. Igali will continue fund-raising efforts when he returns to Canada.

--Igali earned his bachelor of arts degree (criminology) at SFU in 2001 and hopes to defend his master’s thesis at SFU this fall.