The Ogbogba-Iga Otukpa Primary School reminds one of what probably obtained during the stone age or better still the colonial era when formal education was more of a luxury. The primary school is situated at Otukpa in Ogbadibo Local Government Area and less than 20 minutes drive from the Otukpa country home of the Benue State Deputy Governor, Chief Steven Lawani. The ramshackle structure located on the Otukpa-Lokoja highway, a major road that connects Benue to the Federal Capital Territory via Kogi State is an eyesore that could be mistaken for a makeshift shade.
The school’s structure is made up of “two blocks of classrooms” represented by a round thatch roofed structure supported by three wooden pillars without seats and desks for pupils. The second structure which is an improvement on the first, has an aged corrugated iron roof and supported by wooden pillars on both sides. It could actually be mistaken for a local chicken house by a first time visitor to the vicinity of the school. But for the football field that is located adjacent the “classrooms” and wooden blackboards under the sheds provided by mango trees and a big car wheel that was hung on one of the mango trees that serves as school bell, one wouldn’t have had an inkling that teaching and learning actually take place within the ‘complex’. But it provides covering for no less than 50 pupils who have taken their fate in their own hands by dedicating their early years on earth to learning, irrespective of their obvious challenge and the insensitivity of those entrusted with the responsibility of ensuring conducive atmosphere for teaching and learning in the state.
What beats the imagination of many is the fact that the school is located just a stone throw from a major highway and it has never attracted the attention of the authorities despite the despicable picture it paints. The fact the Ogbogba-Iga Otukpa primary school and its embarrassing structure is situated just a few minutes drive from where the Benue State Deputy Governor hails from raises more questions than answers. Though at the time of our visit, its pupils were said to be on holiday, some members of the community who spoke to Vanguard Metro,VM, regretted that repeated pleas to the state government for intervention had gone unheeded.
For Mr. Benedict Aboh, who claimed he has lived all his life in the village, the dehumanising condition the pupils of the community are forced to acquire their early formal education leaves a sour taste in the mouth of every parent in the village. He said the situation has forced many parents to send their wards to primary schools located at Olamaboro village, in nearby Kogi State. He said most of the children who got enrolled in other primary schools outside their community are forced to trek distances to and from the schools on daily basis.
According to him, some of the kids have also met their untimely deaths on the highway in a bid to cross the ever-busy Otukpa-Lokoja road on their way from or to the schools outside the community. Aboh claimed that on several occasions the villagers had sent emissaries to the Benue State Universal Basic Education Board,SUBEB, for intervention without fruitful results. He said: “On several occasions we sent emissaries to SUBEB in Makurdi, pleading that they come and take a look at the school with a view to intervening in whatever way possible in order to erect better structures for pupils to learn and acquire knowledge but till date nothing has happened. When we discovered that SUBEB was not willing to come to the aid of the school we decided to embark on self-help projects in the school.
“I am sure you must have seen the burnt brick structure that we started within the school some years back? We started the building which is still at its foundation level, but for lack of resources we could not make much progress. And unfortunately what we have so far erected has come under severe weather condition and they are already collapsing”. Aboh urged the state government to come to the rescue of the community and pupils whom he said were being subjected to untold hardship all in a bid to acquire knowledge. According to him: “That school is an embarrassment to the state government and a shame that should not be allowed to linger”.
Another member of the community who craved anonymity, claimed that he has a child in the school. He stressed that it is an irony that a state government that anchored its development agenda on providing the future generation of the state a veritable platform for better life has completely negated its commitment to the future leaders of the community. “The question I keep asking myself whenever I look at that school is, what does the future hold for the little ones who crowd that ramshackle structure to acquire education? The fact is that no one can adduce any excuse or reason for leaving the school in its present condition. After all we all supported and voted the ruling party and they have no excuse to treat us this way”.
He added: “All we are asking is just for the intervention of the state government in order to save us the appalling condition our wards and children learn everyday”. When contacted, the Public Relations Officer of the State Universal Education Board SUBEB, Mr. Lemon Atero, said the school would be listed in the Board’s next work plan for the reconstruction of primary schools in the state. Atero who acknowledged the constraints the board is currently faced with, said: “We have over 3,000 public primary schools in the 23 local government areas of the state on the list of the board, and it is herculean to meet the challeges confronting all the schools at the same time”.
He, however, explained that eight schools in Ogbadibo Local Government Area have been slated for reconstructed under the UBE Invention Fund. He said in the interim, the community where the school is located could key into the board’s Self-Help Scheme, which entails that the community embarks on minor works at the premises and then apply to the Board for assistance.
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2012/05/school-where-pupils-learn-under-trees-makeshift-house/
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