See Ogoni School Where Snakes, Mad Man Rule

Edith CHUKU

A mad man identified simply as Ndoonu, has turned the classrooms of Community Secondary School Kaani, in Khana Local Government Area of Ogoni, Rivers State to his personal kitchen and living room.

This is even as students of the school now share most of the classrooms with snakes, as grasses and trees have grown to the roof top.

TNN recently visited the only state government-owned secondary school in the entire community to see how children cope in such an environment which poses severe threat to their health, well-being and lives.

Kaani appears to be the hub of several abandoned projects. Aside the decayed secondary school, the cottage hospital that was built by the community and the modern health center are in a state of comatose.

The primary school is also dilapidated and without teachers. Also, Kaani has not seen light for ages. Natives and residents of the community are calling on government at various levels to come to their aid by rehabilitating the school before it collapses completely.

A native of the community, Mr. Kigbo Barikul Nnaannee, took our correspondent round the school environment, as well as to the palace of Mene Bua Kaani, His Royal Highness, Chief Godwin Barikpoa Apere.

The abandoned uncompleted school laboratory where students in senior secondary school, mostly those preparing for WAEC are expected to do their practicals, is without a roof, doors or windows. Rather, grasses have overtaken the entire space.

The situation was not any better with some other classrooms, devotion ground and staff room blocks. The only classrooms with roof had their fair share of dilapidation. Some have broken floors, walls; there are less than 30 desks in the entire school.

Kaani Secondary School does not have a toilet, but has a very deep soak-away pit that is not properly covered. It sits on the path leading to the staff room and the assembly ground.

Grasses have also taken over the uncompleted security post while the sign post which is expected to carry the name of the school has been turned into an obituary announcement point with, so many posters of dead people.

But there is an ironic twist. Even with the deplorable condition of the school, TNN learnt that students who sit for and write their WAEC there, usually do extremely well, an apparent reason why most parents feel comfortable to withdraw their children from private and other government schools and send them there, especially when they are about to write the exam.

A staff of the school however said some parents would withdraw their children and wards form the school for safety reasons, but would register them to write WAEC there.

Alhough, it was not said if any life has been lost as a result of snake bites or ill health, but a source confirmed that some children have been bitten by snakes in the school, which he revealed has produced great men and women in Nigeria.

The life-threatening condition of the school has left children attending CSS Kaani from Kor and Kpong communities stranded, as there are no government secondary schools in those two communities.

Expressing his grievance in an interview, HRH of Kaani, Chief Godwin Barikpoa Apere, explained that Kaani was the single largest community in Khana Local Government Area and the first community that built a community school in 1979.

According to him, “the school that you saw is an old school that was built by the community before government took over. But even when government took over, we’ve not seen sufficient government presence.

“There was a time in the 90s when they attempted to add one or two structures there, but it has been abandoned till today and yet the children have to go to school because they cannot trek from here to other villages to attend schools. You can see the cost on parents and on community.

“That school is right at the center of Bori Urban. Kaani is part of Bori Urban center and there should be an overflow from the various schools around to that place. However, by God’s grace it has been posting beautiful results.

“As a community, we have made efforts to also fix the school, those structures you see now, the roofing that is still standing were those that were done by the Kaani elites and organizations in the community.

“We’ve called and are still calling on the attention of various governments at various levels to come to the aid of the school. Apart from the secondary school, even the primary school that was built is also dilapidating, without teachers, there are no teachers in those schools; we had to find a way to hire volunteer teachers to teach in those schools.

“There is a cottage hospital that was built by the community, it is also abandoned. There is a modern health center that was built by the government, it is also abandoned. We have plenty abandoned projects.

“Besides that, even light, there is no electricity in this community, see Bori, see Kaani. So, it’s a source of concern, I feel so sad. It’s discouraging, but I am still hopeful that something will happen. It should be a concern to every parent, every leader, every citizen who have the passion for their community.

“We expect interventions in those areas in this year. I want to plead with you to call the attention of government to those projects because those are the reasons we can feel that we have a government, without those things being put in place, we don’t have a government, we feel abandoned and neglected. We are highly concerned.”

Mr. Kigbo Barikul Nnaannee, who expressed himself in pidgin English, further said “since I dey here, we dey the school now, I dey show una things wey no dey good for our community. I no like how this school dey, eh dey pain us well, well. You see this community school, Kaani, as you see am, na so so big, big men don go this school, graduate from this school. Their pikin don graduate from this school too.

“See the school now, eh don turn to bush area, snake dey bite small, small pikin. You see the classroom, you no go fit stay there chop or learn there because of the classroom. You see the zinc nothing dey again. This na school wey been get everything. Abeg, make una carry this school talk to government say make government help Kaani school, we no get people for government wey go help us.

“Kaani no get commissioner, eh no get chairman, them no get better appointment for politics, so I beg our chairman and governor say make them look into Kaani school, if I dey tell them lie, make them come see am. I dey beg them, make them help Kaani people so that when our children dey learn everything go show say na school be this but now, children no dey fit stay for the school and nobody go say my pikin go this school because of the environment.

“Abeg, them been get lab, classrooms but now, eh no dey. Even principal office you no go fit enter. Abeg make them help us. This school don dey like this almost 35 years now, the school don spoil, government no look into it and na the only government school wey dey Kaani. Na Kaani wey get the school but children from Kor, Kpong, Yeghe, Kpere, Bori and others dey come school here because na the second best in the whole of Khana local government area, but overall best when you talk about better WAEC result.

“Parents don carry their pikin go boarding school because of how the school dey, abeg make government enter Kaani go look the school. Nobody tell me, na school wey I dey see and me and una dey here now.”

Speaking about the young man found cooking in one of the classrooms, Nnaannee explained that, “this man wey dey cook na mad man, as them no care for the school, mad man don come, em name na Ndoonu, na em dey cook, I no fit lie to una. More than 7000 been dey this school but because of the condition of the school them no plenty at all.”