It used to be the pride of all, for both with primary and secondary claim to fraternity. But the inside of the once high-octane unity school is spewing better-forgotten stories. NAZA OKOLI and CLEMENT IDOKO write on the intrigues and intricacies.
THERE is a popular joke about Queen’s College, Yaba. At the height of its glory, it was always claimed by its proud alumni that the school could achieve just about anything. To calm the exuberance, the boastful exes were usually reminded that at least Queen’s College would never have boys on its students’ roll call. Now, the alumni aren’t sticking the school’s achievements in anybody’s face and with the promises by National Assembly to engender a total reform aftermath the tragic deaths in the school, even those who used to joke about male’s absence may not be able to be categorical about that assumption again.
Everybody is waiting on the owner, the Federal Government, for the promised earth-shaking reforms and for now it is difficult predicting the colour and tenor.
The school was shut in February following an outbreak of an illness believed to be caused by contaminated water. As many as 50 students were reportedly hospitalised, while three (Bithia Itulua, Vivian Osuiniyi and Praise Sodipo) died, between February and April. Indeed, later findings showed that a total of 1,222 students were treated for abdominal pain, diarrhoea and vomiting at the school’s clinic between January and March.
However, a lot of work has now been done at the college. A new source of water was installed with arrangements made for regular inspection and treatment; renovation and sanitation work was carried out at different locations, particularly the hostels and the dining halls. All the old mattresses had been removed from the hostels, as students returned each with a new one.
While the government is still keeping stakeholders and concerned Nigerians waiting, Saturday Tribune has been digging into the details being kept from the public and the findings are as indicting as they are revelatory.
When Saturday Tribune visited the school, all appeared well from the outside, but the inside is still troubled as sordid stories are still told, though in hushed tones, by many stakeholders.
Many are still wondering why the embattled former principal, Dr Lami Amodu, isn’t facing a probe. Fingers are also pointing in just a direction for the perceived soft-landing granted her by being moved to another unity school in Edo State, instead of being placed on suspension while the probe of the crisis lasted. The Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu, is said to be shielding her, “because they are kith.” But the minister said this is false.
I’m shielding no one –Minister
The minister, on Thursday, granted an exclusive interview to Saturday Tribune on issues surrounding the probe. Expectedly, he denied shielding either Amodu or her management staff who are said to have been indicted alongside her by the panel put in place by the government in the wake of the death of three students of the school due to water contamination. Apart from being reportedly indicted for negligence, Amodu and her team were also said to have been found worthy of blame for other ‘sins’.
When asked why Amodu isn’t on trial following the panel’s report which has been submitted to the minster, Adamu said it was by no making of his that Amodu or members of her management team isn’t in court. Adamu said nobody was shielding Amodu, adding that her transfer from Queen’s College to Edo State was unconnected to the incident that happened in the school. He explained that Amodu was on routine transfer that affected almost all the principals of the 104 Federal Government colleges.
“Her transfer was a routine matter. The transfer arrangements for all the principals of the Federal Government colleges were made before the incident at the Queen’s College, Lagos. In any case, if you are going to investigate a matter, is it not even better that the person at the helm of affairs is not there? The transfer has nothing to do with the Queen’s College issue” the minister said.
He said since the incident happened, his ministry and the Lagos State Ministry of Health had conducted several tests on the disease outbreak. He added that the last test conducted by the ministry of health indicated that the water in the school was safe before the resumption of students.
Apart from the allegation that the minister deliberately took Amodu to a fairly obscure school in Edo State to shield her from public view until all the noise about Queen’s college fiasco would fade, another major accusation being thrown at the minister is that he deliberately sat on the probe report because of its damning content against his “own”.
The minister would have none of it. “Investigation is still going on, so it is not proper to say that the report has taken a long time. I will also have to study the report. So, it is not for me to tell you that anybody is indicted of corruption or fraud. Immediately the report is ready, we will release it to the public and the recommendations implemented,” he stated.
Although the minister would not share the content of the report, stakeholders privy to its compilation claimed the reforms suggested would cover a lot of ground, provided there is enough political will from the executive arm of government.
With the minister being perceived as vacillating on the implementation of the far-reaching recommendations, many stakeholders are now pinning their hope of justice and due process of punishment for culprits on the National Assembly which is opening probe into the Queen’s College saga.
One of the stakeholders who sought confidentiality told Saturday Tribune that only a public hearing by the Senate and the House of Representatives could afford to not get too many dirty deals and details swept under the carpet.
The minister is, however, of a different opinion. He believes that the worst is over for the school. “If you have gone to the school, you would have seen that there is a lot that we have done. It is the commitment of this administration to ensure that the schools are secure with regular water supply and all other things to make teaching and learning conducive for our children. So, what happened in Queen’s College is unfortunate. That kind of thing won’t happen again in our schools,” he said.
PTA chair speaks
Queen’s College Second Gate, just beside Onike Roundabout, was a hive of industry last Saturday. Students began to arrive as early as 9.00 a.m. Several men sold mattresses beside the entrance. A few others sold buckets and jerry cans. Under a small tree, a young man who sold biscuit and other edible items called out to visitors to patronise him. Movement around the surrounding roads was slow as vehicles continued to pull up and out on the narrow lot before the gate.
Behind the gate, under a wide shade, officials of the school’s Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) sat to observe the proceedings. They laughed when a mother trudged in with her daughter, both of them bearing packs of bottled water.
“We have the best water in West Africa,” one of the officials called. “Our water is now better than even the one you’re carrying.”
The chairman of the PTA, Sir John Ofobike, told Saturday Tribune: “We have done our best here. That is why the government has given approval for students to return after two months of break. Most of those issues have been addressed and we have put the machinery in place to ensure that our students have access to pure drinking water and to ensure that our environment is clean and healthy.
Sir John said what had happened at the school had served as “a wake-up call” and would compel government and other stakeholders to pay greater attention to issues that border on hygiene in schools. “We want the government to continue to monitor closely the situation in the various unity colleges,” he said.
Uneasy calm
Classes have now begun in earnest and there is a semblance of peace at the college. But the haunting memory of the departed students, it seems, would continue to linger, a constant reminder to all that the success of the new era was fashioned at a great cost. While it would seem that all aspects of the crisis have now been resolved with the reopening of the college last week, the call for the prosecution of officials whose actions might have led to the death of the three girls remains undiminished.
Only last week, Senate President, Bukola Saraki, said the Upper Chamber would ensure that the girls’ death would not go unpunished. He spoke when a group led by the president of the college’s Old Girls Association, Dr Funmi Ajose, visited his office to make a case for improved funding for the college.
“In a civilised society, it is very shameful that young girls could lose their lives in this kind of manner. Let me on behalf of the Senate express our condolences to the families and the management of the school. The best we can do is to make sure that this kind of incident never happens again.
“I will direct that when this matter comes to the floor as a motion, we debate and make resolutions. Definitely, there must be an investigation. Management must explain how the situation got to this level and anybody who is found responsible must be prosecuted. The Ministry of Education must tell us what they have been doing. We are sure that there had been release of funds. What have they done with it?”
All eyes on Amodu
Much of the ire has been directed at the former principal of the college, Dr Lami Amodu. Although a position is yet to be taken by the Federal Government, there are hints at possible sanctions for what has been perceived as negligence on her part.
At the onset of the crisis, Amodu had denied that there were critical health challenges, dismissing the insinuations as the work of mischief-makers. She would later be transferred to another school, a development which only stoked speculations that she was being shielded from punishment.
Speaking some weeks ago after his visit to Queen’s College, the Director of Basic and Secondary Education in the Federal Ministry of Education, Mr Jonathan Mbaka, said the ministry would investigate Amodu’s role in the incident.
“Our people say you chase the fox away first before telling the hen not to go and play. The issue of the former principal is being looked into because she has got to answer for some of the things that have taken place in the college. I assure you of that. She will not just be covered like that.
“As of the time she was posted to another school, she was posted in a routine posting exercise and she was posted out. But now with what has happened, we are going to carry out investigations into her role and when that is concluded, whatever appropriate measures needed will be taken” Mbaka said.
Nevertheless, to the chairman of Queen’s College PTA, Sir John, the call for Amodu’s prosecution is misguided. He told Saturday Tribune that it is the system that ought to be probed and not the principal.
“Yes, there is no way the parents would be happy, because lives were lost. No single parent would be happy. I know the principal had enemies and she had friends as well. Calling for her probe would not bring back the dead. What we should be asking instead is: what are those things that caused the problem? Is it infrastructural decay? Is it lack of amenities, or is it lack of maintenance? The principal is a representative of the government; she is not the owner of the college. Apportioning blame would not solve the problem. We need to identify the cause and address it so that we will not witness a recurrence. The principal in question was in office for a year and some months; but the problem has been there for over 10 years.
“Why we parents are so much concerned about coming to the aid of the school is that government cannot do it alone; government cannot run the school alone. The essence of forming the PTA is to support the school management, to improve the educational standards of our children,” Sir John added.
When contacted, however, the president of Queen’s College Old Girls Association, Dr Ajose, declined to comment on the development.
Ripples
The tragic incident at Queen’s College has initiated across the city, an important conversation on matters that border on hygiene and management of public facilities and institutions.
Mr Mo Adisa, a resident at Akinwunmi Street, Egbe (Ikotun), told Saturday Tribune, on Tuesday, that people in his compound had, twice this year, washed their water tanks.
He said, “Usually, the tanks are left for years without washing. But when it was washed for the first time, last December, after many years, we saw different things in the tank. The water we washed out was completely black. So, we have now decided to be washing it every two months. We have also cleared our septic tanks.”
The Lagos State Ministry of Health has been at the forefront of a campaign for improved sanitation across the Lagos metropolis following the incident at Queen’s College. A recent announcement published by the ministry said: “Members of the public are also enjoined to adopt and maintain high standards of personal hygiene and environmental sanitation which include: proper disposal of refuse and sewage, and regular hand washing with soap.”
At the national level, the Ministry of Education has said it would design new policies to ensure closer monitoring of facilities at the 104 unity colleges.
“We have now discovered that there is a bit of failure along the line in the system, and this has opened our eyes to a lot of things. We have now agreed in the ministry that by the time we settle this now, we are going to go round the schools, one by one and take a look at what is on ground vis-à-vis what has happened here, so that what has happened here would not happen again,” said Mr Mbaka.
The guided tour
When Saturday Tribune visited the school again on Thursday, academic work had commenced fully and students were seen going about their normal work as though nothing ever happened.
The principal of the college, Chief (Mrs) B. A. Are and other top members of the management staff were on hand to take Saturday Tribune on a guided tour of the facilities.
Water tanks and reservoirs had been washed. The water treatment system had been overhauled; the hostels, with new mattresses and bedclothes, wore a new look.
According to the vice chairman of the PTA, Mrs Maryam Shittu, who spoke extensively with Saturday Tribune, much of the setback experienced in the recent past was not unconnected with poor maintenance culture. She urged the government to provide another water treatment plant, especially since the one available was installed as far back as 1982.
Shittu said the college still suffers from inadequate personnel, including kitchen staff, noting that the college with a student size of 3,000 would benefit more from a better complement of staff.