According to a report monitored online in a publication titled “Investigation: Schools Ogun Govt Claimed It Renovated Remain Decrepit” by Premium Times, of the 100 public primary and secondary schools claimed to have been rehabilitated by the state’s Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) between 2019 and 2022, a large percentage are still in disrepair.
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Among the schools cited as examples is a school the Ogun State government said it renovated, reconstructed, or upgraded between 2019 and 2021, which the Premium Times reporter who carried out the investigation visited on June 17. The school, Local Government Primary School in Ibeku, a rural community in Yewa North Local Government Area of the state, was found to be without roofs, doors, and windows.
According to the reporter, he was expecting to be welcomed by a new-looking school based on the state government’s claim. He was disappointed because he encountered a school in worse condition. In his words, what he met instead was a school whose buildings were without roofs, doors, and windows, and three blocks of classrooms in a suspended stage of renovation.
The reporter spoke to a teacher about the state of the schools, who said the contractor had abandoned work on the classrooms without providing any explanation to the school’s management.
Contractor left the school in worse condition
The contractor had arrived at the school in October 2020, according to the Premium Times reporter. The contractor told officials at the school that he had been sent by the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) to renovate three blocks of classrooms.
Among the schools cited as examples is a school the Ogun State government said it renovated, reconstructed, or upgraded between 2019 and 2021, which the Premium Times reporter who carried out the investigation visited on June 17. The school, Local Government Primary School in Ibeku, a rural community in Yewa North Local Government Area of the state, was found to be without roofs, doors, and windows.
According to the reporter, he was expecting to be welcomed by a new-looking school based on the state government’s claim. He was disappointed because he encountered a school in worse condition. In his words, what he met instead was a school whose buildings were without roofs, doors, and windows, and three blocks of classrooms in a suspended stage of renovation.
Believing the government had finally remembered their school, both the pupils and the entire school community were very excited by the news.
“After a few days, the workers didn’t show up again, and since then, they never came back to complete the job,” the teacher said.
The head teacher of the school refused to be interviewed but the chairperson of the Parents’ Teachers’ Association (PTA) of the school, Oboshu Peter, identified the absconded contractor as one Idowu Adigboluja.
“The man just went to the school on October 1st, 2020, removed the three classrooms and the computer laboratory’s roofs, plus the windows and doors marked for renovation,” Mrs Peter told the reporter.
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“When we heard about it, we dashed there and tried to stop him from removing the roofs in particular; but he just told us to relocate the pupils to another class; that he would be fast with the project. He did same with the computer laboratory. Since then, nothing has changed.”
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