As she prepared to take little Edosa to school that morning, not even the dark cloud hanging menacingly up in the sky and the threat of an impending mighty rain could hold her back.
Stepping out the door of her house on Igun Street, she took a quick glance at her mobile phone. Time was 7.20 and school starts at 8. She held Edosa firmly by the hand and hurried off. Ten minutes later, mother and son were at the school gate but it had been cordoned off with a red tape.
While she was trying to figure out what was amiss, a sturdy man walked up to her and told her and other parents who had come to drop their wards that the school had been shut down on the order of the state government. The pupils and teachers have been temporarily relocated to nearby Agbado Primary School pending the renovation of their school.
Holy Aruosa Primary School had come into public consciousness after a video and photographs of its dilapidated structures went viral on social media.
The school is tucked right behind Holy Aruosa Cathedral on the main street of Akpakpava, Holy Aruosa Primary School, Benin, was established for the children of priests and workers of the cathedral. Holy Aruosa Cathedral, about three hundred meters from Ring Road city centre is the traditional church of the Benin monarchy. Tailored after the Catholic Church, it was established over 400 years ago during the reign of Oba Esigie.
Without a sign post, many city residents are not aware of the existence of the school which is situated right within the sprawling premises of the cathedral. In 2016, shortly after his coronation, the Oba of Benin, OmoN’Oba Ewuare 11 was at the Cathedral for a thanksgiving.
In sharp contrast to the ambience of the traditional Bini Church with interlocking tiles, Holy Aruosa Primary School is in shambles. The reality of the situation is distressing. The school is a tragedy waiting to happen as it can cave in any moment with dire consequences for the pupils.
Mama Magdalene knew all along that the school was in a bad shape but as a widow with six hungry mouths at home, she couldn’t afford to take Edosa to a private school. The sorry state of the school made her weep each time she brought her boy to the school.
“My brother, it is not that I don’t know that the school is bad but what can I do? I am a poor widow with six children. I used to sell bread at Oba Market but the government drove us away,” she said.
When Saturday Tribune visited the school on Thursday, some teachers were seen herding the pupils who shivered during the midday downpour to their temporary abode, pending the renovation of the unsafe structure.
Persistent pleadings to be allowed to enter the premises were rebuffed by the stern-looking man who insisted that the “order from above is that no journalist should be allowed to go near the school” and that taking photographs of the school with the tape was also forbidden.
The tough who was drafted to the school, allegedly by top government officials, to scare off journalists after a video and photographs of the dilapidated structures posted on social media went viral, barred journalists from accessing the school on Thursday. A plea that it is journalists’ social responsibility to tell the story of the crumbling structures was snubbed.
“I know you to be a journalist. I was told not to allow any journalist into the school so as not to embarrass the government. I know you very well. You can’t go in there. Even EBS was here and I didn’t let them in. It is order from above. You can go. All I have to say is that the pupils have been relocated to Agbado Primarv School,” he said.
A peep from the sidewalk and images from the viral video, however, told a sordid tale. Torn roofs from a devastating rainstorm, falling doors, broken windows, gaping holes in the walls, water logged classrooms, crumbling chairs and desks, were all that were seen.
An electrical part dealer on Akpakpava Street opposite the cathedral said it was the grace of God that saved the pupils as the ramshackle school buildings were on the verge of collapse due to total neglect by the government.
Two questions readily come to mind: how did the children, the future leaders of the state and the country, carry on in the hostile environment? Were the authorities so insensitive to the plight of the school children?
Mama Magdalene attempted to answer the question. “We have complained to the government several times. All that we heard each time were promises. There is nothing we have not done to draw government’s attention to the plight of the school but our efforts have been in vain. I don’t know why they suddenly woke up this morning and ordered the relocation of the pupils to Agbado Primary School. I am still trying to find out.”
Special Adviser to the Governor on Media and Communication Strategy, Mr Crusoe Osagie, gave a reason for the hasty decision. The move to relocate pupils of the school, which is situated right in the heart of Benin City, was informed by the shocking reports that despite an earlier relocation order given by the state government, the teachers continued their activities in the dilapidated structures.
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From all indications, the hasty action however looks like a desperate measure following the video and photographs of the sorry state of the school. With roofs torn off by rain storm many years ago and without desks and tables, the children were drenched right inside their classrooms in the heavy downpour in the Edo State capital on Wednesday.
Osagie said all such schools with dilapidated structures throughout the state have been shut down with immediate effect, while the students and pupils in the affected schools have been relocated to other schools that would be announced soon.
According to him, the Secretary to the State Government, Mr Osarodion Ogie, visited Holy Aruosa Primary School as early as 7.00 in the morning on Thursday to announce the government’s decision.
“The state government has ordered an investigation to ascertain why the initial relocation order of the pupils with their teachers was not enforced.”
According to the governor’s media aide, one of the allegations being investigated is the suspicion that some teachers, who refused to be transferred out of the school, selfishly kept those kids in the school under unsafe condition.
On the ongoing reform in the state’s education sector, Osagie said “on assumption of office in November 2016, Governor Godwin Obaseki ordered an inventory of facilities and the enumeration of primary and secondary schools in the state.
“After the census, the schools were categorised into three: those in grade A are in good condition; those in B need little intervention and schools in grade C require total renovation.
“It is obvious that Holy Aruosa Primary School, Osula Primary School, among others, fell in the third category and required urgent attention. The worst of them like Holy Aruosa were shut down.”
He added: “As is the culture of this administration, groundwork has already begun for this renovation process to commence, as only a few months ago bid rounds were held for the rehabilitation of some of these schools.
“The renovation work is expected to cover 1,200 public schools in the state, with the first batch of 230 schools captured in the pilot phase of the exercise.”
He lamented that despite the huge investment in remodelling most of the schools by the Adams Oshiomhole-led administration, “some of them have been vandalised with facilities looted by hoodlums.”
To correct this anomaly, the governor’s spokesman said the Obaseki administration had made commitment to partner communities hosting government projects such as schools and hospitals to ensure they are protected from vandals.
“We assure that work will soon commence at these schools within Benin metropolis and other parts of the state, and call on communities to protect the structures as soon as they’re built.
“The state government will expedite action on the renovation work to ensure that our pupils learn in conducive environment even as we roll out the Edo Basic Education Sector Transformation (Edo BEST) programme to some of these schools in coming weeks,” Osagie added.
The Publicity Secretary of the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state, Mr Chris Nehikhare, faulted Osagie, insisting that the decision was haphazard and was based on the damaging video of the school which “clearly exposed the lies and propaganda” of the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led government of the state.
Nehikhare, however, conceded that it was pleasing to hear that the state government acted swiftly by relocating the pupils and teachers to another school, adding that it was cause for celebration that the video had succeeded in waking up Obaseki from his deep slumber and penchant for signing Memorandum of Understanding (MOUs) and “endless” ground-breaking ceremonies.
In a statement in Benin, entitled: “The Shame of a Propaganda Government: The Holy Aruosa Primary School Video Exposé,” the PDP scribe noted that the video was actually the tip of the iceberg in relation to the infrastructural decay which, according to him, litters the nooks and crannies of the state.
“It was a sorry sight to see and preposterous to hear that Edo State government is blaming vandals for the rot it has superintended over in the last 10 years and then went into overdrive again posting videos of the few schools it had managed to apply “band aid” to. Even more laughable and unforgivable is the lame statement that they will investigate why the initial relocation order of pupils and teachers of Holy Aruosa Primary School was ignored.
“This is an afterthought and should be beneath even a government as clueless and insensitive as this Godwin Obaseki led government. Instead of Governor Godwin Obaseki to get to work, his government is still coming up with fancy acronyms to bamboozle a citizenry that he was imposed upon,” Nehikhare said.
The opposition spokesman explained that the major reason Holy Aruosa Primary School suffered the fate was because it was strictly not a polling centre.
According to Nehikhare, the present government and its predecessor, in preparation for the 2012 and 2016 elections, applied some cosmetic renovations over and over again to the same schools that were voting centres in an attempt to hoodwink Edo people, emphasizing that they forgot that the chickens will come home to roost.
“The proverbial wind, like it is said, has exposed the rump of the chicken. Our sympathy goes to the parents, pupils and teachers who were exposed for political expediency to such harsh conditions not fit for animals.
“As a political party, we will continue to expose the ills of this government and propagate good and responsible governance,” he added.
Going by the level of decay, there is no iota of doubt that a miracle would definitely be needed to restore the glory of Holy Aruosa Primary School which is situated on holy ground.
and then