It was planned as a mere sight-seeing visit and an attempt to reunite with teachers and students of the school, years after many of them left. The journey was prompted by recent inquiries by old students about the school, its academic activities in particular but it turned out one of grief and anger for the visiting old students and all others that have been privileged to see the recorded pictures of the awful state of the school from the visit.
They never anticipated that the once
lush and edifying structures of the about 55-year old erstwhile Church
Mission Society (CMS) Anglican School would have gone under so fast to
become such a gory sight.
The extensive classroom blocks, an
administrative block that seated the principal, vice principal and the
bursa’s offices, staff rooms, a modern female hostel block, a best
equipped science laboratory in the whole of Edo North, staff living
quarters, two giant male hostel blocks and a rock solid refectory built
at the take off the school in 1964 are all now history and the sites
taken over by unimaginable thick forests. Nothing anymore to tell the
past of Edeki (Anglican) Grammar School, Otuo, but collapsed and
decadent structures, depicting years of neglect by past governments,
particularly those of civil administration in the State since 1999.
Barrister Kehinde Uadia Imoohi, one of
the visiting old students, was short of words to capture their find but
managed to volunteer: “It was unbelievable, I left the school June’
1978, I couldn’t believe anymore that it was the same school I attended,
all the buildings have collapsed, what are just there now are two
recently constructed classroom blocks that are serving both the junior
and senior secondary schools, there is nothing left of its past to tell
its history.
How could this have happened to a school
that have over the years produced such great people that have
contributed immensely in all areas of life to the development of our
great State and country at large, how can a school acquired by
government from the Anglican Mission suffer so much neglect over the
years to result in this monumental infrastructural and academic
decadence? Well, thank God for MTN, as we are told, that have to provide
the school with some 500 desks and benches after one of its students
won its promo. The students at a point had to pay N2, 000 each to
provide desks and benches for themselves, otherwise, they won’t even
have seats to sit in the classrooms today. The teachers lack good chairs
and tables, some sit on chairs with broken legs while some of the
chairs are supported with objects to allow for use, the school had been
badly neglected, the situation can’t continue this way, if it is to
remain in existence, we will do everything possible and work with
Government to salvage the situation.”
Another member in the entourage, Mr.
Stephen Isikpoje, added in regret: “We don’t know who to blame for this,
the entire premises is overgrown with weeds, the once expansive sports
field has been swallowed up by a thick forest as part of the vast
proportion of the school premises that is now covered by bush, and land
grabbers are having a field day on the school land.
The perimeter fencing has given way and
private buildings have sprouted in the school premises, taking the
positions of its collapsed buildings, including the former science lab.
The school has virtually lost all its prized possessions that used to
make us very proud of it, it’s really sad.”
As recent as the 1980s when many of them
graduated from the school, everything about it was perfect and it stood
out among the many in the area in all fields- academics, sports and
what have you, but today, it is not it anymore.
Formerly known as Anglican Grammar
School, Otuo, in Owan East Local Government Area of Edo State, before it
was renamed Edeki Grammar School in 1973, when it was taken over by
Government from the CMS, the then all male school, which was also turned
into a male and female (mixed) school the same year, brimmed with a
student population attracted from across the state.
The teachers were celebrated and first
class and they included expatriates, ranging from Ghanaians, Indians to
Pakistanis, who taught the physical sciences and mathematics, graduate
teachers from the South East and other parts of the country, who took
great delight in teaching and demonstrated so much commitment to the
profession. It is not same anymore, apart from the fact that the school
population has dwindled drastically, due partly to decayed
infrastructure, the school cannot boast of any seasoned teacher anymore.
An independent opinion in the school had
confided that there are now just two government official teachers in
the school and two National Youths Service Corps (NYSC) members.
The embarrassing situation, as it has
been in the recent years, is understandably being cushioned by the
complementary efforts of private individuals, all old students, in the
school’s hosting community, who have taken it upon themselves to engage
and pay teachers to teach in the school.
“But for that, I can tell you that
academic work would have long been history here as there would have been
no teachers to engage students in many of the subjects, no new teachers
are posted here anymore,” the source lamented, urging the old students
to work on government to refocus its attention on the school, post able
and qualified teachers to the place and, if possible, restore its
boarding system to make admissions into the school once again attractive
to non-indigenes.
The non-attraction of the school to
non-indigenes anymore and good as the recruitment of private teachers
for it by individuals to ameliorate the effect of poor staffing by
government is, they have unfortunately both made the school population
(teachers and students) all virtually indigenes of the host community
and it’s dialect almost now the language of communication in the school.
The source described the development as worrisome, pointing out that it
was hampering the general academic performance of students.
As disturbing as the situation appears
to be, the old students are, however, enthralled by the move of the
State Government as disclosed by Governor Godwin Obaseki recently to
commence the rehabilitation of public schools in the State and by an
official of the Government, who equally confided in them that a
mini-stadium proposed for Owan East Local Government Area has been
slated for siting in the school.
While appealing to the Governor to
kindly ensure that the school is included among those to be refurbished
and pleaded as well that he upholds the location of the mini-stadium in
the school, the old students pledged to do everything possible within
their powers, including partnering with the State Government to reverse
the sliding fortunes of the school, just as their external wing pledged
to immediately donate two heavy duty mowers to the school to halt the
invading bush.