The joy of a farmer in Odoye community in the Ijebu North Local Government Area of Ogun State, Chidi Nwafor, knew no bounds when he learnt of the past administration of Ibikunle Amosun’s plan to build model schools across the state, including Odo near his community.
The initiative mooted in 2012 gladdened the heart of Nwafor who hoped to give his children quality education since he never had the opportunity of receiving formal education. But 10 years later, his hopes appeared dashed as the school had become uncompleted after it was started. And to fulfill his dream of sending his children to school, they travel 16 kilometres to a neighbouring town to receive secondary education.
Primary education in the Odoye community is not hard to get as there are some primary schools in the community. But primary school graduates who want to proceed to secondary school usually face a hurdle. This is a major concern as there are no secondary schools in Odoye and pupils travel about 16 kilometres to go to school in Ago Iwoye, a neighbouring town.
“There is no secondary school in Odoye, pupils who want to proceed to secondary school will have to go to Ago Iwoye which is about 16 kilometers from this place,” Nwafor said.
In Odo community in the Remo North Local Government, about 11 minutes drive from Odoye community where the model school is sited, residents of neighbouring communities such as Odoye have to seek alternative schools for their pupils seeking secondary school education since the ‘model school’ built in Odo by the past administration was not only abandoned but also neglected.
In March 2011, on the platform of the Action Congress of Nigeria as a governorship candidate in Ogun State, Amosun like other politicians made several promises at a campaign rally in Ijebu ode. Among the promises, he pledged to the people in the state that if elected, his administration would implement free education and health care programmes.
He said then, “By the grace of God, when Action Congress of Nigeria is sworn in, the party would provide free education for all primary and secondary school students.’’ Upon his inauguration after winning the election, the Amosun administration started a project named “the Ogun standard” aimed at improving the standard of governance in the state. The administration promised the construction of 26 new model schools to provide exemplary quality education for the students of the state.
“Just last week, we laid foundations of 26 new model schools which we believe will define the new Ogun standard in the provision of education at the secondary level,” the governor said at an event to celebrate the first year of his administration on May 29, 2012.
He also stated that the schools would make provisions for exceptional facilities in diverse areas including science, humanities, enterprise, and others.
He said then, “These schools will provide unparalleled facilities in science, technical education, agriculture, humanities, enterprise, and sports with full boarding facilities to serve the entire state.’’
However, the late state Commissioner for Education, Segun Odubela, at the time stated in a report in the May 2012 edition of the state monthly publication, ‘Ogun Update,’ that the construction of each school cost the government 750m with an additional 300m designated for each school.
“Each school comes to a total of N1.05bn. The 26 schools would be a total of N27.3bn” he said. Amosun in the last quarter of the year 2012 in an interactive session with state correspondents stated that his administration decided to construct the new model schools because they saw the long-time neglect of schools in the state, adding that his administration was working towards completion of the model schools.
“By early next year, 15 of these 26 model schools would be ready,” he had noted. October, 2022, marked the 10th year of the construction of the state-of-the-art schools. Some of them were completed and abandoned, others were uncompleted and abandoned.
A pastor and farmer residing in Imagbon community near Odo in the Remo-North LGA, Mr Emmanuel Sotikare, told our correspondent that the non-completion and abandonment of the school in Odo had dashed the hope they had when the school construction started about six and seven years.
He added, “Look at us, we have no social amenities. The completion of the school would have helped us as a community.’’
The uncompleted model school in Odo has been overtaken by weeds and thick bushes with foul odour from cow dung and urine pervading the milieu. It was observed that some herdsmen were likely inhabiting the building. Our correspondent could not tour the building for fear of attack. The project was commenced by the immediate past administration about six years ago and yet still at an uncompleted stage.
Lamenting the stress and cost of his children continuing their education at a public secondary school in Ago-Iwoye, Nwafor disclosed that he rented another house at Ago Iwoye for them. He noted that they only return to Odoye at weekends.
He stated, “Schooling that far is stressful not only for our children but the parents as well. Because of the distance, I had to rent another house at Ago Iwoye. They and their mother leave Odoye for Ago Iwoye every Sunday and they return on Friday. If the government had completed the school at Odo, it would have been helpful to us because it’s closer to our habitation.’’
No poverty and quality education are part of the sustainable development goal intended to be achieved by all countries before 2030. To curb poverty level and detach 100 million people from poverty before 2030, past and current governments initiated several poverty alleviation programmes but none has yielded any positive results.
A recent data by UNESCO in partnership with the Global Education and Monitoring Report, pegged Nigeria’s out-of-school children and youth population at 20.2 million. UNESCO added that there are 244 million children and youths between the ages of six and 18 worldwide who are still out of school. With the latest figure, Nigeria has the second highest unschooled children after India; Pakistan has the third highest. This figure nearly doubles the country’s oft-quoted decade-old figures of between 10 million and 13.5 million and long rated to be the highest in the world by the World Bank and other multilateral agencies.
Though education is on the concurrent list in Nigeria; indicating that both states and the Federal Government have a duty to drive quality and sustainable education, the states and LG have a responsibility apart from the Federal Government to drive primary and secondary education.
The UN notes thus, “Education is the basic building block of every society. It is the single best investment countries can make to build prosperous, healthy, and equitable societies.”
The South-West region used to be famous for progressive mass education strides had become laid back, dropping hugely in school enrolment, external examinations and hosting a growing army of out-of-school children. Ogun State is not left out in this worrisome development emanating from the region.
The model school built in Ago Iwoye was completed and named after a biologist and indigene of the town, Prof. Sanya Onabamiro.
Though it has lost its beauty to neglect over the years, perusing it even from a distance, one could imagine the planning and work invested into it. Though completed with chairs and desks were haphazardly placed in some of the rooms.
Our correspondent went inside the two-storey building and saw a guard identified as Saliu Jimoh, who claimed to be an ex-cop. He stated that he was the one guarding the premises. Inside the building, it was observed that the edifice has two adjoining structures perhaps to serve as hostels but the premises was overgrown with tall grasses. On a closer look, one would notice that the painting had peeled off over time and lost its original colour. The walls of the building have begun to crack.
The building has been invaded by bees and bats flying around. Most of the rooms in the building have not been properly equipped but one had wardrobes and shelves. Another room, though not properly arranged, contained tables and chairs for both pupils and members of staff.
The top floor houses biology, physics, and chemistry laboratories. While the biology and physics laboratories had been equipped with workbenches, the chemistry laboratory paraded items such as gas cylinders and a fume cupboard. The floors had well-equipped male and female toilets with water closets.
Jimoh told that the building had been completed but remained to be connected to electricity. Asked how frequently government officials visited the school for inspection, Jimoh stated that it has been a long time such was done. He said, “The school has been abandoned. Commissioners from Abeokuta used to visit the place but they stop doing that a long time ago.’’
In her comment, a resident of Ijebu Itele, Mrs Odutayo Modupe, stated that the model secondary school opposite Itele Community High School had become haven for pupils perpetrating sexual immorality.
Modupe noted, “The building has become a den for immoral pupils and dangerous people. We often see clothes on the floor and secondary school pupils in the area go there to have S3x. People also smoke weed there. It is scary passing through that place at night.’’
Also speaking, the Otun Iyaloja of Itele, Mrs Dorcas Oreyin, recalled that the news of the model school construction excited members of the community who thought it would rejuvenate education and create jobs. She added that it was said that after the construction started, the project had been become uncompleted and abandoned.
She added, “We were extremely happy about the development when news filtered in that a model school would be constructed in the community. We felt it would be helpful to our children. We even gave the land on which the school is constructed to the government.’’
Our correspondent was unable to move round the model school in Itele-Ijebu based on reports that it had become a habitation for hoodlums.
Asked about the benefits the school completion would have attracted to the community, Modupe stated that it would have relieved her of the transport fare her child daily commuting to a school in Imushin, a nearby community on the outskirts of Itele.
He said, “My child spends N200 every day to Imushin and she sometimes pair with another pupil to cut costs. If the project was completed, it would relieve me of transport fare to Imushin every day because the model school is closer.’’
Speaking further, the Otun Iyaloja of Itele stated that the completion of the project would have aided trading in the community, noting that more people would come in to teach and to learn.
“If the project was completed and the school was operational, it would bring development to the community. There will be more people in the community which will aid buying and selling and there will also be more employment opportunities,” she said.
She added that the community tried to make inquiries regarding why the project was abandoned, noting that the government claimed that there was a lack of fund. The Otun Iyaloja of Itele said, “After a while, the Amosun administration stopped the construction with a claim that there was no fund due to electioneering.’’
There is also one of the uncompleted model schools at Oke-Ako along Ijebu-Ode- Epe road. It’s similar in structure to the ones at Ago Iwoye, Ishara-Remo, and Ijebu Itele. It is also uncompleted and overrun by thick bushes with a blown-off roof. Our correspondent took pictures at distance after sighting a snake crawling unhindered in a bush path leading to the edifice.
During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the present administration converted the model school project at Ikenne to COVID-19 isolation centre.
Speaking on the effect of abandonment of such school projects, a professor of economics at the Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, Prof. Malami Usman, stated that spending such a huge amount of money on a project would affect the economy of the state, adding that especially when such projects did not come to life and resources wasted could have been invested in other things to yield results over the years.
Usman, who specialises in development economics, said if the projects were not completed, resources would have been wasted. .
He said the future of the children in such a society needs to be taken into consideration, adding that education opens up the minds and failure to get such basic training may increase crime rate in society. He stated, “Once children don’t receive proper education, there is no doubt that things will change for the worse in the nearest future.”
In his contribution a professor of building services at the Federal University of Technology, Akure, Ondo State, Akintunde Aremu, while speaking on the cost of rebuilding the abandoned schools, observed that the renovation of the schools would cost the government more money than the amount initially budgeted for the projects.
He added that this would be the situation because of the rate of inflation in the country and the amount of damage weeds, bushes would have done to the buildings.
Aremu said, “When a building is abandoned and plants are growing in it, when rain falls the plants will retain water and it will weaken the structure, and mold will grow on it. The strength of the material used to build such structure will be weakened. As the bush surrounding it grows thicker, the roots of the plants will multiply and expand into the building until the structure reaches its strength limit, which will then cause the building to crack and collapse bit by bit.”
On the cost of renovating the buildings, he said “the cost of re-building will be more because the naira has depreciated over time and the prices of things are no longer the same.’’
Contacted for his reaction on the issue, the state Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Prof. Abayomi Arigbabu, noted that the Dapo Abiodun administration completed the Prof T.O Ogunlesi model school in Sagamu area of the state.
He said, “Ogunlesi started running when this administration (The Dapo Abiodun administration) came in. We spent about N17m on the provision of electricity and other things to make sure it starts running.’’
The commissioner stated further that the the Abiodun administration didn’t take on the projects because it wasn’t a priority.
He added, “It wasn’t the priority of this administration when it came on board, because there is a vision for education which we are still pursuing.”
Asked if the current administration was working to complete the projects, Arigbabu said that the government was not doing anything about because there were several issues surrounding the projects.
The commissioner stated, “Government is not doing anything about them (the projects) because they (past administration) are owing the contractors who did them to whatever stage they got to. Some of the debts adding up to as much as N800m.”
He also added that the contractors had not even-handed over the buildings to the current administration because they had not been completed.
Arigbabu said, “This year’s budget for education is N66bn, in 2019, it was about N40bn. If we had to take about half of the budget to pay the debt owed by the previous administration before starting to complete the schools which would probably cost about the same amount to complete.’’
He maintained that the current administration had a different plan for restructuring existing colleges into model colleges.
He added, “We are not building model colleges from the scratch. We are turning some of our colleges into model colleges. We are working on indicators that we feel will make a school truly model, quality of teaching, quality of intakes, and also population control. These schools are called flagship schools.’’
Our correspondent also reached out to the state Commissioner for information and Strategy, Mr Waheed Odusile, on his mobile through calls and a text message. He neither picked the calls nor replied to the text message.
When contacted Bola Adeyemi of Amosun’s Media Office for his reaction on the issue, he declined to comment on it.
He said, “All I can say is that I have no comment. I don’t have anything to say about it.’’
