The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Mr Nyesom Wike has warned residents against encroaching on school lands, saying the development would not be tolerated under his administration.
The minister gave the warning following an on-the-spot assessment of the teaching and learning condition at the LEA Primary School, Bagusa, and a village in the Dei Dei community of the Abuja Municipal Area Council AMAC.
The school established by the past administration had about 200 pupils and 16 desks, spread across six different classes, including a crèche.
Wike who spoke through the Mandate Secretary of Education, Dr Danlami Hayyo also pledged the immediate building of classrooms for the pupils as well as a junior secondary school to ensure the easy transition of final year pupils to the next level.
He said the secretariat had received reports about the existence of the school and the plight of pupils, hence his decision to embark on a physical assessment to ascertain the immediate and long-term needs of the school.
In the interim, Dr Hayyo said the secretariat is committed to addressing the underlying issues that led to the unacceptable situation at the school.
“We came for an inspection of this school because we learned that the school was established here by the previous administration. After the establishment of the school, there was no single structure provided by the previous administration.
“So, it came to our notice when we saw a report in one of the newspapers, so the Minister of FCT directed us to come and inspect the school so that the minister will see how he can intervene so that the school will look very nice and the children will learn in a very conducive environment.
“The Minister has directed that I come and supervise the school so that in no time, construction will commence in this school.
“We are going to convert the school from the current structure to a new modern structure where both the primary and the junior secondary school will be constructed here so that the pupils will learn from Primary One to six in a conducive environment. Again, at the same time, from Junior Secondary School one to three in this premises. We are going to complete it, and then we are going to construct a new block of four classrooms through the Universal Basic Education Commission UBEC intervention through their counterpart funding of 2023.
“The FCT minister has also directed the construction of an additional one block of four classrooms. So JSS one, JSS two, and JSS three will continue from here.
“We will work tirelessly to enhance infrastructure and ensure that no child’s education is compromised by inadequate facilities or unsafe conditions”, he added.
The highly elated Head Teacher of the school, Chebawaza Alfred Shawo Katungu said he was almost losing hope of any government intervention until Wike assumed office as Minister.
On his part, the Chief of Bagusa village, Zakka Iyah thanked the minister for his intervention, saying for years, his people had been looking forward to a turnaround in the fortunes of the school.
Dominica Nwabufo
