Time was 7am, on a Wednesday. Charles was on his way to school in Jikwoyi, a community in the Abuja Metropolitan Area Council. He was lucky because he was going to the same direction as this reporter, who in a bid to avoid traffic at the Nyanya Market, decided to go through Karu, another district in AMAC.
Two minutes into the journey, Charles felt uneasy but still tried to maintain his cool. But when he could no longer control the situation he politely asked the reporter to stop for him to alight.
Curious, the journalist asked the pupil what the matter was. Charles, who was holding his tummy said, “I need to stop and go to my friend’s house to defecate. This is why I avoid eating beans during school time.”
Our correspondent, who still did not understand why he should stop to see a friend on the mere excuse of answering the call of nature, admonished him to endure till he got to school so that he could use its toilet.
“Uncle, I don’t want infection oh,” he responded.
“Infection?” the reporter asked.
“There is no toilet in our school. People defecate on bare floor,” he replied while rushing out of the car.
Two days later, our correspondent visited the school to assess the situation.
Government Senior Secondary School, Jikwoyi is in the same premises with Government Day Secondary School, Karu. Though there is similarity in their names, the two schools are supposed to be sited in different locations.
The first institution – Government Day Secondary School – wears a picture indicating that everything on the premises is in good condition. Right from well-painted structures to the well-laid out road, one might think the school is a hotel premises. But beneath this beauty lies a stunning filth that pupils are exposed to.
Separate visits to the two schools revealed the state of helplessness foisted on the students. It ranges from poor learning environment to improper sanitary system.
The United Nations Children Education Fund has lamented that sanitation coverage is lowest in sub-Saharan Africa, Oceania and South Asia. With a target of 86 per cent or higher, UNICEF says water coverage in sub-Saharan Africa, including Nigeria, is 63 per cent. These figures were released in 2013 and form a basis for a comprehensive analysis of data by the World Health Organisation/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for water and sanitation.
The United Nations also says there are 2.5 billion people without access to basic sanitation – which “perpetuates the vicious cycle of disease and entrenched poverty.
Other researchers have also listed lack of access to safe water, improper sanitation and poor hygiene as three major problems in the world, which are capable of spreading killer diseases. Unfortunately, these problems are evident in GSSS, Jikwoyi. Apart from parading over-crowded classes, the students lack access to potable water and proper hygiene. Despite the fact that pupils pay N2,350 as tuition fee for the first term and N2,850 for second term – and N1,000 Parent-Teacher-Association fee – the school can only boast a dirty, makeshift latrine with no evidence of regular cleaning.
When our correspondent queried one of the pupils for urinating on the floor behind a class, he said he could not use the toilets the old and ‘new’ because he didn’t want to contract diseases.
A visit to the toilets revealed a sordid condition. The two were in a terrible state – stinking with patches of old feaces.
The pupils interrogated said they had hardly use the toilets for fear of contracting diseases. They said a river behind the school fence serves as the source of water used in the toilet.
“We don’t have water, we pass through this small gate to fetch water from the river which we use in the toilet,” a pupil said, wondering why he should go through the stress if he could hide behind the fence to defecate on the bare floor.
Apart from the poor sanitation, the number of the classes in the school is inadequate, a situation that results in overcrowding. The SSS 1H has 111 pupils; SSS 1E, 106; while SSS 1C has 125 students. Some of the pupils were seen peeping through the windows while lessons went on. Those who could not withstand the rigour decided to hang under a tree, discussing issues not related to academics.
Experts say crowded facilities, apart from creating a stuffed environment in which there is no free circulation of air, is also a convenient breading place for diseases. This consequently contributes to the spread of communicable diseases. Epidemics, such as cholera and tuberculosis, easily spread through a crowded environment. Findings by our correspondent also show that the pupils are being denied the right to a conducive environment, which experts say is strategic to quality academic progress.
Unfortunately, many would also note, this sordid condition is happening in Abuja, the seat of power that parade a lot of infrastructure and where many the nation’s resources are consumed.
The principal of the school was not available for comment when our correspondent visited.
The Chief Press Secretary to the FCT Minister, Mr. Mohammed Sule, neither picked his calls nor responded to a text message from our correspondent.
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