If
you are a regular user of the Ijora flyover bridge, you may have
consciously or otherwise noticed a perimeter fencing with two gates
shielding two primary schools, a junior high school and an abandoned
health centre with ugly shanties erected around the perimeter fencing.
The schools are Banjo Primary School, Ebenezer Primary School and Ogbo
Junior High School, all in the swampy Otumara community, Ebute Metta
West, Lagos State.
Located in an unfriendly
and inhabitable environment, students of these schools are exposed to
various dangers, including diseases and attacks from street urchins and
animals . The schools which are near Brickfield Street, Apapa have a
minimum of 500 students each. The sorry state of these schools,
particularly Banjo Primary School, however, demands urgent attention
from relevant authorities.
Until recently, when
a non-governmental organisation offered a helping hand by erecting the
perimeter fencing which was estimated at about N2 million, students of
these schools were unintentionally mixing freely with street urchins and
domestic animals that have made the schools their abode.
Apart
from that, uncleared refuse dumps and weeds competed for space in the
schools premises. Same applies to the abandoned, vandalized health
centre where street urchins usually pitch their tent irrespective of
government presence.
Banjo Primary School has
only six teachers attending to over 500 pupils. The teachers are
supported by a head teacher and an assistant head teacher to carry out
academic duties. This is apart from the fact that the school is made up
of only six classrooms which are in advanced state dilapidation. An
resident who pleaded anonymity told Vanguard Metro, VM, that some of the
pupils have been raped due by undesirable elements that usually hang
around, although none of the victims has spoken out.
To
make matters worse, some parents said that during the rainy season, the
premises are usually flooded. VM gathered that Senator Remi Tinubu
offered to donate three classrooms through a contractor who did not
complete the project. This was also the case with the four-year-old
dilapidated six classrooms building which was said to have been badly
constructed. VM was informed when the former head teacher called the
attention of the contractor to the shoddy job, the contractor had
threatened to deal with her.
As
at the time of filing this report, some worried parents are appealing
to all relevant authorities to come to the aid of the school as there
are very strong indications that it might cave in any moment and
endanger the lives of the innocent pupils. One of the parents,
50-year-old Mrs Basirat Abdukareem, said several complaints have been
expressed over the matter in the past but nothing has been done so far
in response. ‘’We shall not stop calling on government until our prayers
are answered,” she said.
Another parent, Mr
Olokunola Adisa, said he was planning to relocate to another area due to
the poor condition of the school. ‘’The classroom block can collapse
any moment. So, I am planning to relocate my children but this is
difficult because that is the only school around here. We want the
government to intervene because no one knows what these children can
become tomorrow,” he said.
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