The deplorable state of facilities at the Federal Government College (FGC) Ilorin has pitched the old students’ association against the school management and the Parents-Teachers Association (PTA). The alumni association is accusing the principal of being incompetent, and the PTA of mismanagement. ADEGUNLE OLUGBAMILA and NNEKA NWANERI report.
Forty-four-year-old Federal Government College (FGC), Ilorin in Kwara State, is one of the 104 Unity Schools that have produced many prominent Nigerians, including children of former President Shehu Shagari; and his number two man, Dr Alex Ekwueme. However, many of them would not be proud of the present state of their alma mater
The school gate, painted in national colours, may make a visitor think all is well. However, a few steps into the premises tell a different story. First, the stench that assails the visitor’s nose serves as a precursor for worse scenes to come.
Just beyond the gate, the sports field is spotted on the left – overgrown with weed – and then building after building in various states of degeneration. Some no longer have roofs, others have gaping holes; while some are uncompleted. Window nets are in shreds and doors no longer in place, leaving the visitor alarmed about security, especially at night.
Flooding has not helped matters, worsening the state of the already- dilapidated buildings. Some buildings have sunk to the extent of being abandoned and now serve as make-shift lavatories for students. Iron rods for the decking of some buildings are now exposed. Weeds scramble for nearly all available space.
Indoors, naked wires of electrical sockets hang out of walls, posing a danger to students. There are telltale signs of leaking pipes which have weakened the walls. The bathrooms are a sorry sight – with water-logged floors that breed spirogyra.
This unpleasant scenario is pitching the FGCI Old Students Association against the PTA as well as the management of the school. The National President of the association, Jummai Ndalugi, is accusing the PTA of mismanagement, and the Principal, Mrs Rita Okpaleke, of sharp practices.
Speaking with The Nation, Ndalugi, who was elected in February, lamented the sorry state of her alma mater and faulted the management for allowing the facilities to degenerate to such a shameful level.
She said the association had been taking stock of the rot and sending pictures to many of their chapters within Nigeria and the Diaspora.
“No water, no light, the students’ food is horrible, hostel is in a terrible state, in fact almost everything is in shambles,” Ndalugi lamented.
Before she assumed duties, Ndalugi said some concerned old students had been sending money to the management to upgrade the facilities, but there was nothing to show for it.
She accused the PTA of converting a classroom block to their office when pupils are crammed in classrooms.
To ensure transparency and avoid project duplication, Ndalugi said the alumni has told Mrs. Okpaleke to stop collecting donations on her own or cajoling old students to pay. She said the association would now be the only channel through which funds would be sourced.
Ndalugi also accused Mrs Okpaleke of compromising standard by allowing burgeoning class population.
She said: “When I visited this place in November last year, the students were 48 in a class. Now, they are about 60. I had to confront her and she said she took the action to assist parents who pleaded with her to assist their wards.
“I then demanded from her the handbook or educational guide. Up till now, she has not given me. She runs the school on her own discretion.”
She also accused the Principal of misguiding some religious organisations, which, she said, planted a church in the school in the face of many pressing infrastructural challenges.
“A new building being erected is a Catholic church, and it is almost completed. The school already has a mosque and a church, and now another church is being planted. Soon, all denominations will build theirs here. If she (Okpaleke), as a Catholic member, had told the church that the students have no conducive place to lay their heads, I am sure families from Catholic Church are passionate about humanity, and would have fixed all the leaking roofs,” she said.
She expressed sadness that an ICT facility built for the school by previous administration was yet to be put to use.
“The computers have remained fallow for about three years now. When we asked her why she did not allow students use them, she said it is because the building was not inaugurated. Now that the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has introduced computer-based examinations, why aren’t the students being taught how to use computer instead of allowing them to lie fallow?”
The alumni president also accused the principal of using the media to mislead the public on the true state of things.
“One newspaper publication shows that road works are ongoing but there is nothing in reality. The boreholes donated are not well maintained. She (Okpaleke) claimed that they buy new pumping machines every six months, but I wonder if that is possible. We (alumni) wanted to give some money and requested for the school account. Rather, a personal account was given. Management’s claim was that the money would take time to be released,” she said.
Ndalugi said she was on a mission to restore the glorious past of the college – the past that she enjoyed as a student when schools offered quality education.
“We want to start with the roofs, then windows and floors. Chairs and tables are not important for now because there are still heaps of unused furniture the principal kept aside for no tangible reason. There are no fittings. If we start with that, the students can live and be more attentive in class,” he said.
The alumni is reaching out to members, donors, and NGOs, and keeping records of those who have promised to fund specific projects to forestall a situation where the school management makes similar requests from the government.
Reacting to the issues raised by the alumni president, the PTA Chairman, Isiaka Tunde Adesina, said the infrastructural challenges of the school were huge and beyond what the PTA could handle. He urged the government and the old students to come to the school’s aid.
Adesina denied the allegation of misappropriation of funds by the PTA, saying all dues collected over the last two years of his administration were judiciously used. He said the PTA had introduced some fees to augment the poor feeding and pay PTA workers and housemasters. With the reduction of PTA dues to N5,000 per child per term by the Federal Government, Adesina said the PTA was further handicapped and would find it difficult to start capital projects.
Adesina said before the government pegged PTA fees at N5,000, parents used to support the school by paying meal subsidy.
He said: “Last year, we released N3 million to subsidise feeding. That is N1 million per term. The issue of hostel is beyond the power of PTA. It needs total overhauling by the government. At worst, the old students can come in.
“Government warned us not to embark on any capital project. That is why the new circular states that no student should pay more than 5000 per term, which translates to 15,000 per annum.
“Before now, students paid N7,500 per session which means N2,500 per term. New intakes in JSS1 and SS1 pay N15,000, while returning students pay N9,000, including meal subsidy of N3,000 per annum.
“We pay PTA staff salary not less than N450,000 per month, including the housemasters so they can cater for our children well. There are 26 of them on our list – teaching and non- teaching. Since the beginning of my tenure, I increased their salaries by 15 per cent.”
However, Adesina credited his administration for completing the school clinic, which the old students equipped with beds and mattresses.
A parent, Mrs Toyin Abdulahi, said two of her children in the school complained of clumsy and over-crowded hostels with inadequate water supply. In her view, the living condition is terrible.
“Each time my children come back on holidays, they complain of the way the food is prepared: their beans is on one side of the plate and water on the other.
“I am particularly concerned about the amount charged for text books this year. We are asked to pay N12,000, which is too much, yet to me, does not cover up to half of the books,” she said.
Another parent simply called Mrs Jimoh recounted how she spent a fortune treating her daughter of skin infection. According to her, her daughter contracted the infection while cleaning stagnant water in the bathroom.
“Each time she comes home, she is either taking an injection or using one expensive skin cream or the other. Her legs are full of spots now and I am afraid she might end up hating herself in the future because of those spots,” she said.
Mrs Okpaleke, on her part, declined to speak on the matter, claiming she is a civil servant. Calls and SMS put through to her were not answered.
She claimed she was in church the first time our reporter reached out to her on phone. The next day, she said she was in a meeting. However, the third time, she just ended the call.
A week after, her phone was answered by a male who introduced himself as her Personal Assistant (PA) though he declined to give his name.
His response to the allegations was: “I have no comments.”
Ndalugi urged the Federal Government to take a cue from FGCI experience, adding that, henceforth, the government should send principals with passion for children to Unity Schools, “rather than those who see such appointments simply as an opportunity to make money.”
