Stories By Bose Adelaja
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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www.vanguardngr.com/2015/05/lagos-school-where-pupils-share-classrooms-with-animals/

Hmmmmnn

It's an Agricultural school

The government should quickly look into this asap.