Abandoned Project: A Threat To Student’s Safety

Every student has a right to a high-quality education, which is the fourth of the 17 Social Development Goals slated for 2030. The soundness of the educational system is also dependent on the security of students at their various learning facilities. A lack of necessities may prevent the achievement of this objective. 

The Sasa Community Junior and Senior Secondary School students do not benefit fully from a sound framework compared to their peers in the Alimosho community. The entrance leading to the school has been destroyed as a result of an ongoing project in the region where it is located in Bammeke of Shasha neighbourhood.

The drain collector construction project being carried out by the Lagos state government’s Ministry of Environment and Water Resources was expected to last six months. The renovation was scheduled to begin in August 2021 and last until December 2021, according to the construction signage manned at the community’s entrance. Since the front of the school was destroyed, the project has been put on hold. For a secondary school, the entrance has become an eyesore.

The project began in Ajako and ended in front of the school compound, according to a top official at the school who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “The teachers now leave their automobiles outside the school grounds,” he stated. “And both the Junior and Senior schools constructed the current wooden entrance.”

“We believe work is ongoing on it, as the Principals have written letters to the Commissioner for Education. Also, the Tutor-General of the District came to inspect it,” he added.

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Mr Umaru, the school’s security guard, acknowledged that the entry has been that way for the previous 5–6 months. He said that since there is no other entrance to the school compound, over 1,000 students use the entrance every school day, despite the fact that it is extremely dangerous as it is. He described an event in which a pupil slipped on a rainy day into the gutter. He recalled, “When I went into the gutter to get him out, the water reached my chest, as tall as I am.”

Tolu, a student in SSS2 said, “the entrance has been the way it is since the beginning of this year. We always line up when going home, and our teachers assist in keeping us organized. I hope the government will attend to it quickly.”

Mariam in JSS3 said, “I’m always scared whenever I pass there every day. If not [that] the wood is strong, it would have collapsed with the number of students that pass there daily. It is already shaking, as you might have seen while coming in. “

The community’s Baale palace is situated on the same street as the school. The brother of the Baale who spoke on his behalf, High Chief Alhaji Isiaka Ademola Bammeke, pleaded with the government to come to the aid of the students. “It is a government-owned school, and the entrance has been left unattended for that long period. The project is a government project too. It was intended to be finished six months ago, but it’s already approaching a year.” He continued by calling upon the State governor, H.E. Babajide Sanwoolu, and the representative for the House of Assembly, Alhaji Bisi Yusuf, saying they were not reaping the benefits of democracy in the community.