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Federal Government College Ilorin Calls On FG For Help. by engrjacuzzi: 10:47am On Nov 11, 2016 |
Forty-four-year-old Federal Government
College (FGC), Ilorin in Kwara State, is one of
the 104 Unity Schools that have produced
many prominent Nigerians, including children
of former President Shehu Shagari; and his
number two man, Dr Alex Ekwueme.
However, many of them would not be proud of
the present state of their alma mater
The school gate, painted in national colours,
may make a visitor think all is well. However,
a few steps into the premises tell a different
story. First, the stench that assails the
visitor’s nose serves as a precursor for worse
scenes to come.
Just beyond the gate, the sports field is
spotted on the left – overgrown with weed –
and then building after building in various
states of degeneration. Some no longer have
roofs, others have gaping holes; while some
are uncompleted. Window nets are in shreds
and doors no longer in place, leaving the
visitor alarmed about security, especially at
night.
Flooding has not helped matters, worsening
the state of the already- dilapidated buildings.
Some buildings have sunk to the extent of
being abandoned and now serve as make-shift
lavatories for students. Iron rods for the
decking of some buildings are now exposed.
Weeds scramble for nearly all available space.
Indoors, naked wires of electrical sockets
hang out of walls, posing a danger to
students. There are telltale signs of leaking
pipes which have weakened the walls. The
bathrooms are a sorry sight – with water-
logged floors that breed spirogyra.
This unpleasant scenario is pitching the FGCI
Old Students Association against the PTA as
well as the management of the school. The
National President of the association, Jummai
Ndalugi, is accusing the PTA of
mismanagement, and the Principal, Mrs Rita
Okpaleke, of sharp practices.
Speaking with The Nation, Ndalugi, who was
elected in February, lamented the sorry state
of her alma mater and faulted the
management for allowing the facilities to
degenerate to such a shameful level.
She said the association had been taking
stock of the rot and sending pictures to many
of their chapters within Nigeria and the
Diaspora.
“No water, no light, the students’ food is
horrible, hostel is in a terrible state, in fact
almost everything is in shambles,” Ndalugi
lamented.
Before she assumed duties, Ndalugi said some
concerned old students had been sending
money to the management to upgrade the
facilities, but there was nothing to show for it.
She accused the PTA of converting a
classroom block to their office when pupils
are crammed in classrooms.
To ensure transparency and avoid project
duplication, Ndalugi said the alumni has told
Mrs. Okpaleke to stop collecting donations on
her own or cajoling old students to pay. She
said the association would now be the only
channel through which funds would be
sourced.
Ndalugi also accused Mrs Okpaleke of
compromising standard by allowing
burgeoning class population.
She said: “When I visited this place in
November last year, the students were 48 in a
class. Now, they are about 60. I had to
confront her and she said she took the action
to assist parents who pleaded with her to
assist their wards.
“I then demanded from her the handbook or
educational guide. Up till now, she has not
given me. She runs the school on her own
discretion.”
She also accused the Principal of misguiding
some religious organisations, which, she said,
planted a church in the school in the face of
many pressing infrastructural challenges.
“A new building being erected is a Catholic
church, and it is almost completed. The
school already has a mosque and a church,
and now another church is being planted.
Soon, all denominations will build theirs here.
If she (Okpaleke), as a Catholic member, had
told the church that the students have no
conducive place to lay their heads, I am sure
families from Catholic Church are passionate
about humanity, and would have fixed all the
leaking roofs,” she said.
She expressed sadness that an ICT facility
built for the school by previous administration
was yet to be put to use.
“The computers have remained fallow for
about three years now. When we asked her
why she did not allow students use them, she
said it is because the building was not
inaugurated. Now that the Joint Admissions
and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has
introduced computer-based examinations, why
aren’t the students being taught how to use
computer instead of allowing them to lie
fallow?”
The alumni president also accused the
principal of using the media to mislead the
public on the true state of things.
“One newspaper publication shows that road
works are ongoing but there is nothing in
reality. The boreholes donated are not well
maintained. She (Okpaleke) claimed that they
buy new pumping machines every six months,
but I wonder if that is possible. We (alumni)
wanted to give some money and requested for
the school account. Rather, a personal
account was given. Management’s claim was
that the money would take time to be
released,” she said.
Ndalugi said she was on a mission to restore
the glorious past of the college – the past
that she enjoyed as a student when schools
offered quality education.
“We want to start with the roofs, then
windows and floors. Chairs and tables are not
important for now because there are still
heaps of unused furniture the principal kept
aside for no tangible reason. There are no
fittings. If we start with that, the students can
live and be more attentive in class,” he said.
The alumni is reaching out to members,
donors, and NGOs, and keeping records of
those who have promised to fund specific
projects to forestall a situation where the
school management makes similar requests
from the government.
Reacting to the issues raised by the alumni
president, the PTA Chairman, Isiaka Tunde
Adesina, said the infrastructural challenges of
the school were huge and beyond what the
PTA could handle. He urged the government
and the old students to come to the school’s
aid.
Adesina denied the allegation of
misappropriation of funds by the PTA, saying
all dues collected over the last two years of
his administration were judiciously used. He
said the PTA had introduced some fees to
augment the poor feeding and pay PTA
workers and housemasters. With the reduction
of PTA dues to N5,000 per child per term by
the Federal Government, Adesina said the
PTA was further handicapped and would find
it difficult to start capital projects.
Adesina said before the government pegged
PTA fees at N5,000, parents used to support
the school by paying meal subsidy.
He said: “Last year, we released N3 million to
subsidise feeding. That is N1 million per
term. The issue of hostel is beyond the
power of PTA. It needs total overhauling by
the government. At worst, the old students
can come in.
“Government warned us not to embark on any
capital project. That is why the new circular
states that no student should pay more than
5000 per term, which translates to 15,000 per
annum.
“Before now, students paid N7,500 per session
which means N2,500 per term. New intakes in
JSS1 and SS1 pay N15,000, while returning
students pay N9,000, including meal subsidy
of N3,000 per annum.
“We pay PTA staff salary not less than
N450,000 per month, including the
housemasters so they can cater for our
children well. There are 26 of them on our list
– teaching and non- teaching. Since the
beginning of my tenure, I increased their
salaries by 15 per cent.”
However, Adesina credited his administration
for completing the school clinic, which the old
students equipped with beds and mattresses.
A parent, Mrs Toyin Abdulahi, said two of her
children in the school complained of clumsy
and over-crowded hostels with inadequate
water supply. In her view, the living condition
is terrible.
“Each time my children come back on
holidays, they complain of the way the food is
prepared: their beans is on one side of the
plate and water on the other.
“I am particularly concerned about the amount
charged for text books this year. We are
asked to pay N12,000, which is too much, yet
to me, does not cover up to half of the
books,” she said.
Another parent simply called Mrs Jimoh
recounted how she spent a fortune treating
her daughter of skin infection. According to
her, her daughter contracted the infection
while cleaning stagnant water in the
bathroom.
“Each time she comes home, she is either
taking an injection or using one expensive skin
cream or the other. Her legs are full of spots
now and I am afraid she might end up hating
herself in the future because of those spots,”
she said.
Mrs Okpaleke, on her part, declined to speak
on the matter, claiming she is a civil servant.
Calls and SMS put through to her were not
answered.
She claimed she was in church the first time
our reporter reached out to her on phone. The
next day, she said she was in a meeting.
However, the third time, she just ended the
call.
A week after, her phone was answered by a
male who introduced himself as her Personal
Assistant (PA) though he declined to give his
name.
His response to the allegations was: “I have
no comments.”
Ndalugi urged the Federal Government to take
a cue from FGCI experience, adding that,
henceforth, the government should send
principals with passion for children to Unity
Schools, “rather than those who see such
appointments simply as an opportunity to
make money.” |
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