INVESTIGATION: Uyo school locked one year after completion because students dropped out

As other children walked home from school on Friday afternoon, Emmanuel Aniede was seen running around Ikpa Street in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, trying to sell every water bag in his bowl.
Twelve-year-old Emmanuel, nicknamed “Vinicius” for his talent in football, said he dropped out of school in 2017 due to the lack of schools in his community and his parents’ financial inability to send him outside the Oku community.

Oku’s only public secondary school has been locked since it was completed in 2023, forcing hundreds of children in the community to sell on the streets or stay at home.

The lawmaker, who represented Uyo Federal Constituency from 2018 to 2020, Michael Enyong, proposed the construction of three classroom blocks at Oku Secondary School to address the rising number of out-of-school children in Uyo. The project cost a total of N56 million. A 2021 report by UDEME, a social accountability project of the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development, showed that the school project did not exist.

Likewise in 2023, his successor, Etim Aniekan Bassey nominated the project again for N23 million, bringing the total budgeted funds to N79 million.
The projects and budgets are listed in the Federal Zone Intervention budgets for 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2023.
A visit to the school in June showed that construction was complete. However, the building remains locked since it was completed in 2023.

Inside the locked Oku Middle School

Located along Ikot Ekpene road, Oku Secondary School is hidden in Udo Okonkwo market, Uyo. Oku Secondary School was a ray of hope for the residents when construction work first started in 2022.
During a visit in June, this reporter noted that the building was new, but the school told a different story; weeds had covered the yard, and padlocks had sealed the entrances to the classrooms. Despite its new appearance, the Oku high school stands as a glaring symbol of neglect.

Community members claim that the school has not been opened a year after its completion, and has been treated as a memorial statue that is looked upon by the community. Emmanuel Aniedi is just one of the many children in the Oku community who want to go to school but are not fortunate. When interviewed in the presence of his mother, Faith Aniedi, Emmanuel stated that he wants to go to school, but his family does not have the money to send him to a private school and the government school that only a few children from Afaha Oku attend is very far away.

“Every morning, I see my friends going to school. I want to go to school, I like school, but my mother always says she doesn’t have money to pay for school,” Emmanuel said bitterly.

READ ALSO: INVESTIGATION: Kwara residents living in darkness ten years after ministry, contractors fail to deliver transformers

Many children in Afaha Oku drop out of school because there are no schools. Mr Benjamin Lucky, a farmer in Afaha Oku, told this reporter that his children want to go to school every day because they see their friends dressed and ready to go to school. However, he stressed that schools in the Oku community are only for the rich. “My children, whenever they see their friends dressed to go to school, they always want to go to school too, wearing those uniforms, but the schools here are for the rich. If you don’t have money, don’t start what you can’t finish,” he said.

A 2019 report by the Federal Ministry of Education ranked Akwa Ibom as one of the states with the highest number of out-of-school children, at 581,800, second only to Kano State.
Although the built but locked Secondary School in Oku is not located in Afaha Oku, the school is expected to serve the entire Oku community, which in turn serves as the only functioning secondary school in Oku community and is intended to reduce the number of out-of-school children in Oku community.

Uyo LGA chairman: ‘Schools will open’

Uyo local government area chairman Uwemedimo Udo told this reporter that the locked Oku Senior High School will be opened for the next academic session. “We understand the concerns of the residents, and we are working to address the issue. The school will be operational soon, and we appreciate the patience and understanding of the community,” he said.

He explained that the delay was caused by several administrative obstacles, which are currently being resolved.

‘School Not Yet Handed Over’ —Ministry of Education

In an attempt to find out why the school was still locked after its completion in 2023, the reporter visited the Ministry of Education.
Director of Secondary and Higher Education, Dr. Ekama Etese, informed that the school has not been handed over to the ministry, resulting in the school being without teachers and a principal.

“You said the school was completed in 2023, the question you should ask is, has the school been handed over to us? When you arrived there, did you see any students? Principal or even teachers?” he asked.

“What you see is just a completed building, nothing makes it a school until we staff it and enroll students,” he said.

Efforts to contact the member of parliament representing Uyo federal constituency in 2018, Honourable Michael Enyong, were unsuccessful as the member of parliament did not respond to calls at the time of filing this report.

By Confidence Chibueze

This story was supported by funding from the Center for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID)

INVESTIGATION: Uyo school locked one year after completion due to dropout appeared first on Latest Nigeria News | Headlines from Ripples Nigeria.