Akere, a riverine community located in the interiors of Idiroko LCDA, Ipokia Local government Ogun state boasts of a population of 3000 inhabitants. The community which shares boundaries with Badagry in Lagos State and Benin Republic, is home to the Ipokia Local Government Primary School, Akere. The primary school provides elementary education to children in the community as well as other neigbouring villages namely Wheke, Ilasa, Ajaluto, Gbodota and Zebe, despite it decrepit state.
When Tracka, a community of active citizens tracking the implementation of government project visited the school on 20th September, 2017, the learning condition was found to be totally horrendous. About half of the schoolโs population were seen learning outside the classrooms under the scorching sun without any protection over their heads, save a Mango tree which about three out of six classes were made to seek shelter under.
The failure of government to deliver on its expected duties over the school has resulted into most of the children in the community going as far as Apapa and Badagry in Lagos State which is about 30 minutes ferry across the ocean. The only private school in the community built by the Redeemed Christian Church of God is beyond the reach of many parents in the community.
During a recent visit, Tracka observed that the sad condition of the school has been further aggravated by the removal of the roof of one of the tattered classrooms by the State Universal Basic Education Board.
It was also observed that six to seven pupils sit on a bench meant for two pupils while others resort to sitting on the bare floor. There is also deficiency in staff strength as only four class teachers cater for six classes with one Assistant Head teacher and one Head teacher. Also, the classroom floors are bare and sandy, predisposing pupils to health hazards.
It was also learnt that he headmaster from his meager earnings single handedly concretized the floor of the class for the primary one pupils due to his awareness of their high susceptibility to feeble pathogens. The Head teacherโs office was seen under the mango tree, the school has no store and, in the process, most of the government owned books given to the school have been stolen. Again, the stateโs intervention project by SUBEB which was donated in 2012 has remained uncompleted, the last furniture given to the school by this body was in 2007.
The Tracka team sensitized the school and community on the proposed project for the school which is the โRenovation of Blocks of 8 Classrooms in Akere, Agosasa, Ajegunle and Idogoโ for N30M. This could in turn be interpreted as renovation of a block of two classrooms for a sum of Seven million and five hundred thousand naira at each of the four schools. The disclosure of this information impulsively raised the peopleโs hope, but Tracka maintained that they must inform their representative of the awareness of the project and demand implementation and they did.
However, feedback from the community leader, Chief Gandonu Joseph has not been positive as he stated that Hon. Akinlade Adekunle Abdulkabir, the law maker representing the area in the National House of Assembly, Abuja neither pick calls nor respond to messagesโa development which started since the community became aware of the project.
The situation in Akere is not in tandem with what is obtainable in other part of the state as projects that have not yet been completed are either ongoing or close to completion in most cases. It is also expected that the state government ought to have prioritized the renovation of some of the ebbing schools, rather than embarking on new school projects in the state.
Tracka and the community are highly expectant that the communityโs awareness about the school project would eventually translate into the implementation of the projects both at Akere and the remaining three schools.
โUadamen is with BudgIT
