Lesson we must learn from the abduction of ‘Ikorodu 3’
But for matters of urgent national importance that have been in the news in the last three weeks or so, I had wanted to comment on the erection of a new fence for Lagos Baptist High School on Ota Road in Agege, Lagos. I have known the school for more than 15 years and I have never liked it. Why? Because the school fence had virtually collapsed, making its students vulnerable to all kinds of negative influences from undesirable elements that are usually taking advantage of the dilapidated fence to gain entry into the school compound.
But, if more pressing issues had been postponing my comment on the fence at Lagos Baptist High School in the last two weeks, the abduction of three students at Babington Macaulay Junior Seminary in Ikorodu on February 29 has made it compelling for the piece to come out today. The girls were rescued last Sunday. Indeed, I was in the church when one of the pastors announced that the father of one of the kidnapped girls who had been told of the prayers in the church for the safe rescue of the girls came to say thank you, even before seeing his daughter. Unfortunately, the man had left before the pastor made the announcement. Otherwise, I would have loved to have a chat with him. I must confess though that one of my former neighbours told me last Sunday too that the school is good. But the shortcoming has been the low fence which is not suitable for our kind of environment. I learn low fences are common in Ghana; but we are in Nigeria.
One of the points that made it easy for me to suspend the write-up on the Lagos Baptist High School fence is because it is not time-bound. In other words, it could come up at any time. Mercifully, the girls’ abduction which also became a national issue has made it imperative because there is a nexus between the two. And that is the role of fence in security. We learnt from media reports that the job of the abductors was made easy as a result of the low fence in the junior seminary. The good thing is that the school authorities have corrected that by raising the fence and have also done a few things to make the school more secure.
Back to Lagos Baptist High School. The school compound has been used for multi-purpose activities, from the sublime to the most ridiculous. I had cast my vote there at least on two occasions. Indeed, it is home to many polling wards and units during general elections. I also noticed that members of the Christ Apostolic Church, Agbala Itura, which is just opposite the school, park their vehicles there on Sundays when they come for service or any other religious activities. Then, it also plays host to many local footballers in the area that come there to practice. Of course, the school also had its share of social parties holding there until it was banned by the government
I have nothing against any of these.
My main problem is with the horde of shady characters that are usually in the school to smoke Indian hemp and probably plan or commit crimes there. Whenever I pass through the school, something always tells me that many students’ lives and future must have been irredeemably ruined as a result of the easy access that these anti-social elements have to the school. Until recently, it was common seeing students of the school, male and female, roaming about the streets during school hours in their uniform. At times, you find it difficult to distinguish them from ‘area boys’, with some of the boys sagging their school trousers or knickers.
But, about two weeks ago when I was at a filling station near the school, someone that I discussed with there when I saw the new fence being constructed told me that things are now looking up in the place. I am impressed not just by the fact that a government has come to recognise the danger posed to the school and the society by its lack of a good fence, but more importantly, by its quality. Without being unduly sarcastic or sadistic, it is the kind of fence that befits the school, given the menace that its porous nature had constituted in the past few years. It is now high enough to prevent its being climbed with ease by miscreants who had hitherto seen the place as home, even as it is protected by some iron barriers to deter people that may still want to climb it. The fence is as solid as it should be. But, I am neither a structural engineer nor a bricklayer; so, that is my layman’s assessment. But, as I was taking pictures at the school yesterday, I heard one of the workers complaining about materials not flowing as expected. I also overheard a passerby telling his colleague that 12 coaches cannot survive serious rainfall. I hope the government would take note of these observations.
Before now, I have always asked myself whether education inspectors come to that school at all and whether they ever reported about the need for the government to give the school a befitting fence to protect the students from undue external influences.
While I commend the Akinwunmi Ambode government for this marvelous job at the school, it is apposite to say that there are probably many other schools in the state requiring such attention. I wonder how learning could have been conducive in the kind of atmosphere that the school had been in these past years. I won’t be surprised if the school’s academic performance begins to witness gradual improvement as a result of this gesture. Learning is not only about having quality teachers and learning aids. The totality of the environment matters. I guess that was one of the reasons why the Fashola administration banned using residential buildings for schools. How will pupils not be distracted by the aroma of ‘egusi’ or ‘edika ikong’ soup from the kitchen in the same premises that serves as their school? In the same vein, how can students in a school where Indian hemp is smoked as routine concentrate without having a feeling that hemp is good; or without actually going ahead to have a taste of it? I never knew what hemp looked like as a child. But I have a feeling many of the students in the school would already know not only what it smells like but what it looks and (probably) tastes like. I won’t also be surprised if some of the students have taken to cultism because the porosity of their school makes it also a good breeding and recruiting ground for cultists.
So, as the state government is investing on study aids and teachers in its schools, it should also spare a thought for a thing like good fence for schools that need one and have an arrangement whereby it begins to focus on this aspect in phases, if financial constraints would not allow it to go the whole hog. Its investment in security was one of the things that gave it the record result in the rescue of the Babington Macaulay Junior Seminary’s abducted students. If the government adequately secures its schools, it would be on a stronger moral pedestal to ask private school owners to do same. Such investment in little things that matter can equally produce astounding results in education.
It is gratifying that the abducted Babington Macaulay Junior Seminary students have all been safely released. It is also gladdening that the school authorities have made the school more secure. But we do not have to wait to discover other schools with similar shortcoming before running helter-skelter in search of solution. God gave us brain so He can rest. Let’s engage our brains by doing the needful. As doctors say, ‘we care, God heals’. Let’s first of all care and then allow God to secure.