See How Lagos school pupils share classrooms with animals and refuse dumps

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
N2million, 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.