Emmanuel Ifeanyi 
Early school life
Primary school education is described as the foundation and bedrock of education that if gotten wrong will be extremely difficult to correct. Aba, the commercial hub of Abia State, has many public primary schools, however, quite a sizeable number of these schools are in deplorable state, a condition described as unhealthy for neither human habitation nor learning by the pupils.
The worse hit are the state-owned schools, which findings by New Telegraph shown, has been neglected for years by the government, with little or no care for their maintenance and renewal over time.
New Telegraph from February of this year till the filing of this report, visited a number of the schools in Aba South and Aba North Local Government Areas of the five Metropolitan Local Government Areas that make up the city of Aba.
Among the list of schools visited are; Eziobu Primary School in Aba North, School Road Primary School in Aba South, Township Primary School in Aba South, City Primary Schools, Market Road Primary School, Cameroon Road Primary School and Riverside Primary School-one and two.
Your discovery in all of the schools visited is the tales of woes, the pique and sorrowful sight that they all present. The edifices and facilities are all in poor and beggarly state, wondering how meaningful learning could be conducted in such decrepit and abandoned environment.
A cry for attention
Speaking to New Telegraph on deplorable state of schools and education in Aba, Mr Sunday Obika, a parent, while condemning the poor state of the schools, however, lamented the unfavourable economic situation, which he said is hampering parents from being able to sponsor their children through primary and secondary education.
Obika said that quality, affordable and worthwhile foundational public primary and secondary school educa – tion in Abia State, especially Aba, is looking like a pipe dream, as private schools are springing up everywhere with reckless abandon, charging exorbitant fees.
He called for free and quality primary and secondary school education from the government as a way of supporting the parents to survive the current harsh economy, stressing that it is not a call for the impossible because the amount of money parents are currently paying to private school owners in Abia State for primary school pupils are unbelievable.
Obika said that because of the dilapidated nature of the government owned primary and secondary schools, there has been an upsurge in the number of private schools that can only be described as extortionist centres.
According to him, some private schools in Aba are mere centres where
parents suffering from the current economic hardship are made to give up their hard earned money using different logics and systems, all in the name of teaching their children.
Obika said; “One will ask, who stopped parents from sending their children to government schools since they cannot cope with what is happening in private schools?
Well, the answer is very simple, there is no primary and secondary school owned by the government in Aba North and Aba South today that is suitable for children. ‘‘They’re all danger zones.
As schools are resuming this week and next week, I stand here to tell you that the only good public primary school we used to have in this Aba city, which is the River Side Primary School -1 and School-2 are gone, dead and will be buried if nothing is done fast to rescue it.
“Some schools were returned to the churches (missionaries) by the former administration, but those churches are worse than private school owners in charging exorbitant fees. “We don’t have primary schools in Aba.
It’s already one year into the administration of Dr Alex Otti as Governor of Abia State, major government primary and secondary schools in Aba that are yet to be given back to extortionist churches are still in sorry states that he met them probably because he may have not looked into that fully.
“As of today, School Road Primary School, Township Primary School, City Primary School, Market Road Primary School, Omuma Road Primary School, Cameroon Road Primary School, Riverside Primary School, Akoli Primary School, Obuda Primary School, Asaokpuja Primary School, All Saints Secondary School, National High school, Umuagbai Secondary School and many others are not suitable for human beings,” Obika said.
Riverside Primary Schoo 1 and 2
One was piqued by the sorry state of Riverside Primary Schoo 1 and 2, during a visit while the school was still in section. Despite the prevailing doom, the school pupils though aware of the deplorable state of the edifice and learning environment, declared their absolute faith in education as they sang to that effect during the morning assembly session.
The song, which was joyfully chorused by the students goes thus: “Education is important, no matter the weather, I will go to school, whether it is raining or under the sun, I will go to school, for education is my life.”
Gingerly, they all marched majestically into their different classroom, which for most of the classes are devoid of life, with no chairs and desks for them to seat comfortably and be taught.
However, they are not deterred by the unconducive environment as they eagerly await their teachers to come in to commence with the day’s teaching. The disturbing sight evokes sad memory and fear of the future of these children who are oblivion of what the future holds for them.
Established in 1953, the Riverside Primary School, Aba is one of the most prestigious and most organised primary schools within the Aba metropolis. It is also the major source of primary school education for the residents of the densely populated Ndiegoro area of Aba.
In 1999, Abia State government decided to divide the school into Primary School -1 and Primary School – 2 due to the high influx of students to the school. A testimony of the eagerness of parents to educate their children and perhaps the choice to be educated by the children themselves having realised the importance of education.
Since that decision was made to merge the two schools into one, the two schools have co-existed within the same premises, but with different headmistresses.
The school which has managed to thrive under the challenging environment has recently been plundered and vandalised by hoodlum, who have done serious damage to the school’s edifice. Some of the school teachers during their interaction with New Telegraph deplored the poor condition of the school and unconducive environment in which they conduct teaching.
They also expressed worry over the constant harassment visited on them by hoodlums and street urchins even in broad day light without any restraint. The pupils and teachers are made to passing through a lot of challenges in a bid to acquire decent education.
The pupils have become dehumanised by lack of seats to sit for learning, traumatised by the activities of the hoodlums and the inability of government to construct speed breakers across the newly reconstructed Ngwa Road to ensure the safety of the children while crossing the road.
With almost all of its iron windows and doors stolen and vandlised by the hoodlums, the once prestigious Riverside Primary School Aba is now a shadow of its past glory and has become an endangered complex to the helpless students and teachers that daily exposed themselves to the danger that locks in the shadow of the school.
Endangered the schools
Ephraim Orji, a parent, said that the activities of hoodlums within the school premises have turned the prestigious primary school into a danger zone that nobody recognises anymore for what is was.
According to him, “They have stolen all the iron windows, iron doors. These hoodlums came and took away almost all the school chairs meant for the children and made the children to now sit on the floor while learning. They stole the school’s complete set of drums.
“The children are traumatised while we are living in fear as well. Imagine when a teacher is in the class, hoodlums will enter demanding we ‘show them love’ (give them money), and when you fail to do that, they’ll take your bag and everything they can lay hands on and move away without anyone stopping them.
“Parents who have choices, unlike people like me, are now afraid of allowing their children to come to that well-planned and well-built school, all because of the activities of these hoodlums. “We need the government to help us with seats and security for our children.
I doubt if they will hear my cry because I’m a commoner. However, I have to speak because of my children. They cannot watch that school collapse or the children we’re suffering to train to turn into something else.
“The Riverside Primary School is very important to Aba as a city and I’m sure we all know why. This school needs to be rebuilt. We have confronted the head teachers and they told us that they have reported to the local government education authority and even to the state authorities.
“I’m aware that they have also made efforts with their own money to employ the services of some private security men who came there and ran away saying that the hoodlums they encountered on their first night there were too many for them to withstand.
“This is after the head teachers together with the PTA paid them, and bought torchlights and other necessary things for them. “Before the school went for the 2023 December holidays, the head teachers and PTA had to employ security to guard the place so we could still see our school when the children returned, but as you have seen inside there where you came from to my shop here, nothing is remaining.
They’ve stolen everything. “Since the reconstruction of Ngwa Road, which is the major road that leads to the school, those who built the road haven’t taken cognisance of the relevance of the school, as they did not put speed breakers that will aid our children to cross from one side of the road to the other safely as vehicles are made to reduce their speed.
“Presently, some children have had their legs broken, as a result of the accident that they got involved in while trying to cross the road. We need government to help us on this.”
Corroborating Orji’s account, Ogbonnaya Uduma said that the school was once well secured, when soldiers had one of their outposts within the school, stressing that during the October 2020 #EndSARS protest, the school was attacked by the hoodlums.
“Our children’s lives are placed in danger. What can we do? The head teachers rallied round with the PTA to get the attention of the old pupils of the school, precisely the set of 1987- 1990 who came and rebuilt the rail with cement.
“All school books and materials have been stolen including everything in the library and offices were stolen. One thing is sure, if Riverside Primary School is allowed to end like this, poor parents like me here will not be able to send our children to school anymore.’’
PTA chairman speaks
Apostle Chinedum Okoro Alum, who is the Chairman of the school’s Parents Teachers Association (PTA)
said that the Riverside Primary School is extremely important, as it remains the only standing government school in the Ndiegoro area, but is currently facing what others faced and could be like others soon, if nothing is done.
He said that he had on several occasions personally seen hoodlums trying to snatch the car of the headmistress of Riverside School -1, adding that the hoodlums had been coming daily, looting everything from doors, windows, seats and even roofs.
He disclosed, “All our efforts on security which we’ve spent huge funds on have all failed. We need the government’s help. This is not a private school. It’s a government school and it needs urgent attention.
“We’ve even gone to the Abia State Vigilante Service (Bakassi) and even the community police, but the prices they’re asking for their services is what we can’t afford to pay. “The government should either return the soldiers to the front of the school as it was before the #EndSARS protest or provide an alternative strong security presence for the school.
I have my children here and I’m talking as one who loves the school.” Further, Alum called for government’s intervention, adding that the school equally has an expanse of empty land where the Abia State government can build a secondary school to make the school premises more complete and adequately utilised.
He said, “Majority of these pupils here have no place to attend their secondary school education, because there are no government secondary schools around this populated area of Aba, with millions of people residing here.
“Putting a secondary school here will equally help to make this area of Aba better, as our children will no longer have to go to faraway places in Aba North, Osisioma and Ugwunagbo to get secondary school education.”
No respite
In February 2024 when New Telegraph first embarked on the visits to the schools, the then Commissioner for Education in Abia State, Prof. Uche Eme-Uche, was one of the government officials interviewed on the state of these schools and what the government plans were on attending to them.
The Commissioner claimed that the situation had not been reported to her office by the head teachers of the school, stressing that their reports would help the new administration of Otti act on the matter.
However, during the third term, New Telegraph contacted her again to ascertain what government is doing about the school as the condition of the school has further deteriorated, but there no was response from her, as she has been redeployed as the Commissioner for Tertiary Education.
All efforts to reach the new Commissioner for Basic Education, who took over from her proved abortive as there was no response from him or any of his aides.
The response from the side of the government was the assurances of the former commissioner to the effect that Abia was as of then experiencing serious positive changes and the educational sector, with schools having similar case as that of the Riverside Primary School Aba, would been fixed by the government.
It should be noted that the security situation in the school is not new to both education and political authorities in Abia State as several efforts have been made including a personal and direct report on the security situation of the school to the Abia State Ministry of Education in February and May 2024, but all efforts have failed.
This is as the situation has gone from bad to worse, as hoodlums continue to harass teachers while teaching, cart away school properties and sell them off, disrupt lectures and constantly cause the children to panic while in school.
The most shocking thing about the whole administrative negligence from Abia State education authorities is that the security of the school is now left in the hands of helpless female teachers and little children who chase hoodlums in broad daylight to retrieve stolen items.
One of such incidents was witnessed by this reporter on Thursday, May 16, 2024 when the pupils of Riverside Primary School -1 and Riverside Primary School -2, with the help of their aged female teachers, had to chase a hoodlum they saw making away with one of their missing iron protectors, recovered it while the hoodlum ran away.
As of the time of filing this report, Market Road Primary School, Township Primary School, City Primary School and School Road Primary School, all in Aba South LGA have converted into public toilets and market by the people, with the government turning its eyes away from the evil and criminal activities taking place in these schools.
