By OFONIME UMANAH
A visit to Akwa Ibom’s premier secondary school, the Western Annang Secondary Commercial School, WASCO, especially by those who spent five or six years in that institution as students, used to bring tear drops. You must be very heartless as an old boy of that school, if you go there and leave the same way, without shedding tears.
Tears, ceaseless tears, would just flow, very naturally, when you walk round the school, towards the areas where hostels, laboratories and dining halls were located. Bushes have since taken over those structures. What greets you from the entrance gate is the “ancient of days” security post, then the storey building which now stands a monument of shame.
Ironically, WASCO has produced great men and women, some of who now occupy high political offices. This was the painful scenario before some of the old boys decided to congregate to celebrate 50th anniversary of an institution that was founded in 1971, but which had been abandoned by the government and some products of the school who had served or were serving in various government offices and had the opportunity to draw government’s attention to the decay there.
At the anniversary under the theme WASCO: abandoned but not forgotten, the old boys who organized the event drew the attention of the government to the deplorable state of the school. Those who had passed through the school and were privileged to be in positions of influence in government circles were also challenged to make a difference.
Dr Unyime Idem, the member representing Ukanafun/Oruk Anam Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, was one of the old boys who was invited to the celebration. He honoured the invitation and on arrival, was taken round to behold the sorry sight that the school had become. He was also taken to see the state of the computer lab that he attracted to the school some years back. The building where the computers were kept had become badly a death trap.
When he was given the opportunity to speak, he made some commitments-he would illuminate the school premises with solar-powered street lights. He has since kept the promise. He promised to construct two buildings that would serve as an administrative block as well as a classroom block. That promise earned an ovation that lasted up to five minutes. The students were excited. The teachers were exhilarated. The old boys smiled for joy. Everybody was happy that WASCO may have been abandoned by some, but was not forgotten at all.
A few months after that anniversary celebration, construction workers were on site, at a section of the expansive school premises. Tippers started supplying sharp sand. Then trucks of cement arrived. Then rods came. Then chippings arrived. All was set for the foundation laying ceremony. And, on January 2, 2025, Idem himself, with the support of some of his political associates and some old boys, tore the ground open to lay the first block.
Months after, a gigantic storey building stood out. It did not end there. Another building, a bungalow was also erected, just as Idem promised. Less than one year after, the two buildings were completed and both will be inaugurated on Saturday, August 8, 2026. Idem made the promise. Idem kept it.
Idem will be there to cut the tape and declare the classroom block and the admin building ready for use by the students who have, in the recent past, been learning in very uncomfortable environments.
Idem’s gesture has not just brought joy to WASCO students, it has shown that if a man had 10 children, not all of them would turn out to be useless. Now, there is an indication that better days are ahead for WASCO. It shows that in the near future, WASCO will have students hostels again. It shows that WASCO will have functional laboratories again. It shows that in the days ahead, students will have functional toilet facilities again. It shows that tomorrow, WASCO will regain its status as a secondary school to reckon with in Akwa Ibom, in terms of facilities and structures. It shows that WASCO has not and cannot be abandoned. Let that tomorrow come. Let it come quickly, because Idem may just make another promise to attract more projects to the school as well as the road opposite the school gate.
