Festac Grammar School Versus Lagos State Government

June 6, 2011June 6, 2011 / Adeola / 4 Comments

Adeola Aderounmu

I believe that the problems facing education, in terms of both infrastructure and the quality of it, should never be relegated in the ongoing rejuvenation of Lagos State. The resuscitation of Lagos state public schools should now be on top of the scale of preference of both Governor Fashola and the Commissioner for Education

Dangerously Looking school structure at Festac Grammar School

In the first report I made about Festac Grammar School I had stated that I will continue to write about Festac Grammar School (FGS) until something is done to salvage the school. It is my alma mater and I take this cause very seriously. In a way it will serve as a point of reference for the general decay and expose the degree of negligence that schools have suffered under successive irresponsible governments in Lagos State.

The legacy of free and quality education in Western Nigeria under Late Awolowo and former governor Jakande suffered violent extinction with the advent of military rule. It is unimaginable that public education in Lagos State especially at the primary and secondary levels will remain redundant more than 10 years into civilian rule. This is more than a shame. It is a scandal.

The Festac Grammar School Alumni Projects’ Management Group-FGSAPMG was formed in 2011 and the team is now fully integrated into the main stream Alumni group. Our goals are clear. We have set out not only complain about the near-death state of our alma mater but also to seek ways to solve the problems.

Writing from a personal note I think that corruption is the root cause of the negligence. I won’t be totally wrong to state that the person or group that were supposed to implement the reconstruction of Festac Grammar School from the Jakande temporary structures to permanent school structures in the mid-80s stole the money earmarked for the project. Governor Fashola can start by looking at the records, fishing out the culprits and marching them to the prosecutors.

In addition if funds have been provided directly to the leadership of the school then we will like to know when and how much was provided. As we seek accountability from the state government, we also need her help in providing details of financial assistance to the school. If any individual among the school leadership is guilty of embezzlement, let him or her be brought to justice.

Some members of FGSAPMG recently visited the school. Babatunde Adebisi, Dare Olaosebikan, Raphael Omorogbe, Omozele Unuakhalu and Obichie Joseph Ndubuisi met with the school principal Mrs. Olowu and the VP Academics Mrs. Efetie.

Some of their findings are:

• No Library in the School

• No Electricity in the Junior School

• Electricity in the senior School has been disconnected by PHCN

• No functional Toilet for Teachers and students

• Scrappy furniture in the staff room

• Crowded classes in the Junior School (between 70-75 pupil in a class)

• Dilapidated Buildings and damaged class room floors

The alumni representatives noted with dismay the near complete absence of government assistance to the school or misappropriation of funds earmarked for it. One of the projects that the government has executed was the so-called ECO project for a Computer room with about 30 computers. The government also provided a generator set. A prototype toilet was never completed.

It is sad how Lagos State officials have become chronic liars. Representatives of the Ministry of Education in Lagos State have visited FGS on several occasions. They have been doing so even before I graduated in 1989. They could not even keep to their promises of renovating the only storey building in the school.

The task is not just to renovate the storey building. The present conditions of a school like Festac Grammar School is a disgrace to Festac Town, a disgrace to Amuwo Odofin Local Government, a disgrace to Lagos State Ministry of Education and despite all he has done a disgrace to Governor Fashola.

Nigerians should start making authentic demands from their rulers or leaders. I have stated that this is my contribution to the ongoing process whereby the alumni association is trying all possible means to sensitize the Lagos State government on the need to rebuild Festac Grammar School. Some of the most brilliant minds in Lagos and Nigeria have emerged from this school. For the sake of the children in Festac Town and its environs, an outstanding citadel like FGS must be kept running, functional and up to acceptable standards.

Government should be responsive to its obligation without being pushed or tipped. We (as representatives of FGS) don’t need to know someone in the inner chamber of the Lagos State government before we can get this job done. The notion of using people in government to fast track the execution of government work/project is an anomaly. It does work but it shouldn’t be our prime focus.

It has been stated that the Lagos State Government will not approve the renovation of its property in the school by the Alumni Group. Therefore the focus of the Alumni Group is tilted towards the execution of projects or rendering of assistances within our capabilities and the frame of the law.

In the coming days all these issues will be fine-tuned. We will continue with our deliberations and come up with a dynamic blue-print on the way forward.

Obviously it is asking too much of us if we think that we can rebuild two Lagos State public schools simultaneously. I support the opinion that the government must live up to its responsibilities and obligations.

Education is the right of every child and it must once again become a priority. The infrastructure and the equipment needed to facilitate this right must also be provided by the state.

In spite of the harsh learning conditions and the negligence of the education authority the Academic standard in FGS remains remarkable. It is still a tradition that the teaching and administrative staffs remain committed to programs that have sustained the academic excellence of the school.

In a recent baseline assessment conducted by the Ministry of education, FGS (the only poultry school in Amuwo Odofin Local Government) came 1st in Amuwo Odofin Local Government, 4th in the district and 19th in Lagos state. We used to be among the first in Lagos State.

In the meantime, for the sake of the school, The Project Management Group will definitely look into some of immediate needs of the schools which include:

Provision of furniture for teachers’ staff room
Re-establishment of the school library
Career counseling and general reward system for students
Outstanding PHCN bill of =N=40,000.00
Provision of office equipment like Photocopier, Computers and Printers
Dr. Steve Onyewuchi Eke, an alumnus of FGS called in to the last meeting from his base in Atlanta and promised to pay the PHCN bill.

We continue to look forward to the visible presence and concrete action of the state government in our alma mater. We will not relent in all the possible ways we have set upon ourselves to achieve these noble objectives.

When the deed is done, the FGS-APMG will be quick to help out the school on the lessons of maintenance culture. We will stand by our school from now on.

Acknowledgement: This version of my monthly essay on FGS contains some of the information submitted by Ralph Omorogbe on behalf of the members of the School Visitation Committee. Their names are already in the essay.

Two True Stories From Pakistan

May 8, 2011May 8, 2011 / Adeola / 1 Comment

Adeola Aderounmu

There was once a liberal governor in Pakistan in the state of Punjab.

He wanted peace to reign in his domain and he wanted to promote the spirit of tolerance. He wanted to promote the right of children and women. He did his best.

One day a woman was sentenced to death, charged with speaking blasphemy against the holy prophet of Islam. But before she would be killed the governor decided to do a private investigation into the allegation and the judicial process.

He discovered that the woman was falsely accused. She is a Christian and one of the 2% of the followers of Christ who are scattered among 180m people.

The governor went on air to make a statement that he has found out that the woman was falsely accused and that the case against her may be dropped.

In addition he also said that he will be looking into either adjusting the law that allows people to be sentenced to death for blasphemy or have it removed altogether.

In the midst of this religious imbroglio the governor made a visit outside of his territory. He went to Islamabad. Then as he was about to enter his car to return to his hotel room he was shot 29 times by one of his personal security aides. He died.

The man who shot him was charged to court. As the trial was about to begin, thousands of Pakistani made their way to the court yard to praise the murderer. They throw roses and beautiful flowers at him.

They praised him for killing the governor of Punjab. Many of them mentioned that they would have done the same if they had the opportunity to kill anyone speaking blasphemy against Islam and its prophets.

There was also a young girl who was not born a Christian. Somehow she met with the Christian faith, became a Christian and decided to attend a bible college. She was very shy but studious and for two years she studied the scriptures and became versed.

One day she travelled back to her roots to help people who have been displaced by flood. As she helped them she spoke about The Christ.

People asked her many questions and she provided answers to all of their questions.

Some men did not like what the young woman was up to so they threatened her. They would kill her if she continues to spread the word about Christ.

She called her bible teacher who told her to leave the zone and report back to the district where she has attended bible school. She obeyed.

However as she rode on the back seat of a bicycle to the train station, unknown to her, an ambush has been laid. She was shot at; she sustained injuries on her legs but was lucky to have escaped the murder attempt.

In pain she got to Lahore and was treated. She is alive to tell the story.

She didn’t want her bible teacher to visit the remote place in the south of Pakistan where she has worked as a volunteer and shot. The man of God wanted to make a police report and to see if they can start a judicial process to seek justice.

In the words of the young woman “I have forgiven those who tried to kill me because they don’t know what they are doing”.

These stories touch my heart and they remind me of the recurrent killings in parts of Nigeria especially in the Northern Province. Some of the religious and or tribal killings do not make the news. When they do, they are no longer headlines. In short they have become part of our existence.

We now accept that it is “ok” that innocent people be murdered in certain parts of Nigeria. Life has become meaningless and lawlessness is now an acceptable pattern to us. Or how many perpetrators have been arrested in Jos, Bauchi and Borno?

Just to let sleeping dogs lie, I try to refrain from discussing or writing about religious matters either in Nigeria or elsewhere. It’s too sensitive. People get stirred up when religion is debated or reported in a certain way. It’s puzzling because of rigid opinions.

Yet it is so unbelievable how evil has spread in the minds of people representing all the religious groups around the world.

Around 1992/93 I wrote an essay for an English course at the University of Lagos. It was titled Religion and Morality. I argued that religion from a moral point of view has helped to shape the world. That argument probably belongs to the dustbin now.

No doubts I can now add that religion has also changed the world order forever. Intolerance based on religion (along with social injustice) has come to stay as a parameter that has ensured that the world is totally unsafe for all.

Religion has ensured that peace is elusive to humanity.

Acknowledgement
I wrote down these stories after listening to a preacher from Pakistan. The stories are real.

SO MANY MOTHERS’ DAYS….becoming boring..!

May 8, 2011 / Adeola / Leave a comment

Adeola Aderounmu

There are several mothers days that I am not totally confused. I have seen two mothers day aready in 2011. Now today the 8th of May is the mothers’ day in the US.

I have also just learnt that there is a mothers’ day on May 29 in Sweden.

Now that is about 4 mothers’ days that I know.

I think this is an issue the United Nations or UNESCO can take up.

All the dates should be analysed and a common date should be agreed upon.

Why should we be celebrating mothers’ day on several dates of the year? What is the point? It is very boring and distasteful to know that several countries celebrate mothers on different dates.

Let’s come up with one common date and make it a big one.

Governor Fashola, Festac Grammar School Ti Baje O..!

April 28, 2011April 28, 2011 / Adeola / 4 Comments

By Adeola Aderounmu

A collapsed school structure at Festac Grammar School

The images in this essay show what is left of Festac Grammar School on 41 Road Festac Town, Lagos.

The first set of high school graduates from Festac Grammar School emerged in 1984.

Walls Apart at Festac Grammar School

I have no concrete information about the general academic performances of the students that recently graduated from FGS. But in those days Festac Grammar School turned out some of the most brilliant minds in Lagos State.

Aerial View of Festac Grammar School

In 1987 and 1988 this school produced the best WAEC results in Lagos State. When I graduated in 1989 our results were also very outstanding, ranked among the best.

As part of the recognition of the high academic standard of FGS, the school was selected among the first set of schools in the (then) Ojo Local Government to have a prototype of the modern (one-storey) building. That was in 1984/85.
Unfortunately for reasons that we don’t know about, that prototype was the only new structure to have been erected in the school since it was established in 1980.

FGS is now under Amuwo-Odofin Local Government. Whilst all the other schools in Ojo and Amuwo got new brand school structures FGS was left with the poultry-like structures.

Walls Down at Festac Grammar School

It remains one of the greatest mysteries of Lagos State Ministry of Education how a school that got the first prototype structure in the old Ojo Local Government was left to rot away totally.

Everything Falling Apart at Festac Grammar School

Fast forward to 2011, we now have an Alumni Group thanks to Facebook. The group is new but very vibrant and will be making official complaint about the present state of the school to both the Local Council and the State Government.

Part of the school called Abuja

This essay is my personal contribution and an addition to the other avenues and efforts that the Alumni group will be working on. I have told the group about my intention to put up a personal essay to tell the story. It is not a unique story because public education is almost a thing of the past in Nigeria. But it must be told anyway.

Dangerously Looking school structure at Festac Grammar School

Just to be sure, I will also continue to post or repost the same message on my blog until the Lagos State Government, the Lagos State Governor and the Local Council step in to save the future of the children attending this school. In essence this for me is now a struggle. I will work actively in the alumni group and sustain this awareness until we accomplish our goals which are to restore FGS and to motivate the students the best way we can.

Beautiful compound and shameful structures

The Alumni Group will not relent on the momentum it has gathered from its recent general meeting. I am aware there are plans to start with projects and activities that will rescue Festac Grammar School. The task is enormous but we believe that we can achieve some positive changes.

Festac Grammar School Toilet

The school has since been divided into two; The Senior Secondary and the Junior Secondary which are under the State Government and Local Council respectively. The Alumni Group will engage both tiers of governments in tackling the hurdles facing both schools. In our days it was one school and we still see it that way.

The School Canteen

To make Nigeria great again, we must re-invest in education and bring back the glory days. Education is the right of all and it must be made available and affordable. The environment where learning takes place has a crucial role to play in forming the minds of the students.

Governor Fashola, congratulations on your re-election. There is no time to rest. Please save my alma mater and all other schools in Lagos.

Eko O Ni Baje O..!

FOOTNOTE:
I have written this article to bring awareness to the rot of Lagos schools and to sensitize the Lagos State governor on the need to fix my alma mater and all the schools in Lagos.

Festac Grammar School Toilet

Let no one be deceived, this story will continue to appear on my blog regularly.

A typical classroom

This is now a cause. This is a struggle for all the old students of Festac Grammar School. I will continue to post this story at least once a month until something is done by the state government.

Nothing will separate me from this struggle as long as I have life in me.

Acknowledgements.For all the photos and some of the comments used in this essay:
Many thanks to,

Festac Grammar School Alumni Projects’ Management Group

Festac Grammar School Alumni Projects Mgt Group Steering Committee

Oluremi Abdul-Razak Mosuro (a special one, I like the Aerial View)

Babatunde Adebisi

Mary Atinuke Abumere

Oluwafisayo Oyeromade Ogunjimi Orilambo for your enthusiasm and support.

All Alumni of Festac Grammar School

aderounmu@gmail.com

One of the Worst Weeks in Nigeria’s History

April 22, 2011April 22, 2011 / Adeola / 3 Comments

Adeola Aderounmu

I want to forget this week as quickly as I can. This is one of the saddest weeks of my life. This week, several Nigerian youth were massacred across Northern Nigeria. They are graduates who were serving under the National Youth Service Corp Program.

In one situation about 50 of them were locked up in a building and burnt alive. I take no pleasure writing down these horrific lines. There are some corp members who even left their comfort in Europe to go and serve in Nigeria and they died in the process.

These are irreparable losses. Families are left to weep and count their losses. This is a national tragedy.

Terrorism has gained a firm root in Northern Nigeria and southerners are sacrificed from time to time in these ugly situations.

Gooduck Jonathan has said that the attacks were premeditated while M. Buhari stated otherwise. The bottom line is that Nigerian government is weak and slack when it comes to protecting life and properties.

Premeditated or not, the attack could have been nipped in the bud if the country has efficient internal security systems. What we have is a system where offices are duplicated and everyone is leaving the job for someone and no one ends up doing it!

I have complained earlier in a recent post that it is absolute stupidity to have a minister of Internal Affairs plus a Minister for Police Affairs plus an inspector General of Police. In the case of riots or terrorist acts as we now see in Northern Nigeria, no one knows where the order to quell the upheaval is to come from.

Should it come from the Presidency through the Internal Affairs? Should it come from the state governor through the Inspector General of Police? Where and how does a Minister of Police Affairs come into all of these?

Another sad dimension to it is that the real culprits are probably walking free. I can imagine random and indiscriminate arrest of people who are probably not connected to the crimes.

Almost all the acts of terrorism in Nigeria fetched no known perpetrator(s), save for the Boko Haram guy who was arrested and killed in police detention.

So in that respect the system needs a total overhaul.

RIP Adefemi Olubayo, (13 August 1985 – 18 April 2011).

Nigeria’s football star Adefemi Olubayo, I just want to say Rest In Peace. I’m still trying to find words to express my sadness and sorrow. This is another sad story on top of the series of sad stories from Nigeria this week.
You were already a shining star. You’ve played for Nigeria at 3 different levels and just recently made your entry to the senior team.

I’m too sad this week to write more about your deaths and those of the Nigerian youth, women and children slaughtered in Northern Nigeria.

All of you, mMay your souls rest in peace.