What was planned to be a one off project took a new dimension, with the decision of the Prince to institute a foundation, which is today known as Clement Adesuyi Haastrup Foundation (CAHF).
Prof. Kolawole L. Kazeem
The Clement Adesuyi Haastrup Foundation (CAHF) was instituted on 19th September, 2008, to mark the 60th birthday of His Excellency, Prince Clement Adesuyi Haastrup. Although it was thought of as a one-off programme, but the successful presentation of scholarship to thirty-nine (39) undergraduates of Ijesa origin, at the birthday ceremony, was too real to be ignored. The undergraduates presented, represented the real indigent and needy students. This reality touched the humane and charitable heart of His Excellency, Prince Adesuyi Haastrup and his amiable wife, Princess Vitoria Haastrup. They there and then called for the establishment of the Clement Adesuyi Haastrup Foundation (CAHF) scholarship programme, as an annual event.
The idea of the foundation when it formally took off in 2009, was to institutionalize an annual scholarship programme for the same target group (indigent Ijesa Students in higher institution), as well as pay the West African School Certificate Examination (WAEC) registration fees of students in SS3. Thus, the 2009 scholarships added candidates of SS3 to the beneficiaries. The inclusion of SS3 students in the programmes was however suspended in 2010, when, the state government took over the payment of the WAEC registration fees for all SS3 students in the state public schools. The journey of this humanitarian programme, that has touched the life of hundreds of indigent Ijesa sons and daughters in higher institutions, has since then became an annual event, till this day.
Since the inaugural ceremony, where a total of thirty nine (39) indigent Ijesa students from institution of higher learning across Nigeria, undergoing courses ranging from Education, Medicine, Law, Engineering and other course of studies, were awarded fifty thousand (=N=50,000.00) each, the scholarship programme has become a household name among undergraduates of Ijesaland. It has earned itself the respect of being the foremost private funded annual scholarship programme for students of higher institution in Ijesaland, nay Osun State. The number of beneficiaries since the programme began has grown steadily, to the point where as many as one hundred and twenty-five (125) candidates are awarded scholarships on an annual basis. It should be noted that the number of beneficiaries of the scholarship in a year, is dependent on the number of successful applications. Today the number of beneficiaries of the scholarship since inception is above two thousand.