Dilapidated Oshodi School Beckons To Lagos Government

CONDITIONS at Oshodi Nursery and Primary School, Oshodi, Lagos, are very deplorable. Parents and people in the area are unhappy. But would the Lagos State government rise urgently to the situation?

When The Guardian visited the school, recently, some of its buildings were without roofs. The walls bore cracks; a sign they had lived out their days, and the floor of several classrooms had pools of water.

Finding the derelict structures quite convenient for their activities, miscreants in the area have turned the school into a hideout where they meet to smoke Indian hemp and pass excreta.

The Guardian noticed that more than 20 classrooms had no roofs. In the pools of water were plastic bottles, sachet water bags and other rubbish. Added to the eyesore was an offensive odour.

Some of the residents said they had written several letters to the government, drawing its attention to the deplorable state of facilities in the school but there had been no positive response. Some said they had to take their children to other schools on account of the poor conditions. According to them, some of the pupils who still attend the school are indigent kids who are helpless to find an alternative.

Mrs. Yemisi Demola, a parent, said: “This school has been in this form for a very long time and nobody is saying anything about it. We have written letters to the government but there has been no response. We even wanted to invite a television station here to film conditions at the school. We feel government has forgotten this place. I want to use this opportunity to beg Governor Akinwunmi Ambode to come to our aid.”

Another parent, Mr. Yusuf Jimoh, said: “The governor must be interested in schools renovation programmes. A lot of schools in Lagos are in bad condition. Ambode must upgrade libraries to e-libraries as well as provide clean environment for the children because it is their right to study in clean atmosphere.”

Education Secretary of Oshodi Nursery and Primary School, Mr. Olalekan Alausa Adekoya, said the roofs were blown off during a rainstorm last year.

He explained: “Lagos state government has a lot of school projects this year and Oshodi Nursery and Primary School might be one of those billed for renovation. We have other classrooms in the school, which are in good shape, and we have other schools in the area where we can transfer the children, if we wish. We believe a contractor would come at any time to renovate the school. We have told the parents to be patient with us. We have told them that their duty is to monitor the project when the contractor eventually comes.”

On miscreants who have turned the school into a den, he said: “Yes, we have touts and hoodlums around who defecate in the school. We have arrested some of them with the assistance of the police. The school has a very strong fence but the touts scale it and gain entrance.”

Adekoya added: “We have been telling people to bring their children back to government schools because there are a lot of benefits. We feed the children every day free. We also have good programmes that would benefit them in the future.”