Prominent human rights advocate, Aisha Yesufu, has expressed concern over the deplorable state of LEA Primary School in Kpebi Sarki village, Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC), urging immediate intervention to address the situation.
Speaking on Wednesday during her tour of rural communities in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) under the initiative ‘Developed Abuja For All’, Yesufu highlighted the stark inequality in development between rural and urban parts of Abuja, describing it as deeply troubling.
“I’m here because I have decided that I am going to focus more on Abuja issues and one of the things that I hae been working on is a ‘developed Abuja for all’ because we have a situation whereby there is no equitable development. You find one side of Abuja, it’s amazing, it looks as if you can compare with other cities around the world and then you go to another side within the same Abuja, you are asking yourself is this really Abuja?” Yesufu said.
She described the condition of the school as “heartbreaking,” despite the dedication of its teachers.
“And right now we are in this particular school and for me it’s quite heartbreaking having to see the the things that are happening here. We have amazing teachers who are doing so well. I’ve just had conversation with them, went through the classes, seen the work that they’re doing, but they don’t have the necessary infrastructure, the necessary equipment and everything for them to be able to work better for our children.
“For me, one very heartbreaking thing is seeing where children are being combined, of two different sets are being combined in the same classroom. So you have primary, for example, primary three and four are in the same classroom. Primary one and two are in the same classroom.
“One teacher having to teach all of them. That’s not something that we should have in our country, especially Abuja that is supposed to be the lead. This is the Federal Capital Territory,” she said.
The renowned activist, known for her uncommon passion in Bring Back Our Girls (BBOG) campaign, pledged to reach out to relevant authorities, groups, and individuals, irrespective of political differences, to mobilise resources aimed at improving the school’s learning environment.
I need to come back to this school in a few months and be able to see that some of the problems that we talked about, for example, they talked about the perimeter wall (fence), they don’t have a perimeter wall, so the school is being vandalized all the time.
“They have had situations whereby they had bike accidents where their pupils are being hit. They talked about the roofs are leaking and so some classes, they are not, they can’t even use them because of that. Their bore hole has been vandalized, they don’t have water, so because of that, the children don’t have toilets that they are going to use.
“I mean, these are all things that we need to get fixed and I’m going to work on that to ensure that my coming here today has a positive impact on the children. And most importantly, for the children to know that they have a great future and we should begin to define that future for them,” she said.
Earlier, the headmaster of the school, Dada Samson, who spoke on the school’s challenges, including inadequate staffing, described Yesufu’s visit as a welcome development and a signal of hope for not only the pupils but the community.
“You have not come as spectator, but as partner. You have come with a mission to uplift grassroots schools, not just in the FCT, but across Nigeria. This mission resonates deeply with us, for it speaks directly to our daily struggle and our deepest aspirations.
“Your presence here today signals a turning point. It tells our pupils that their dreams are valid. It tells our teachers that their dedication is seen and valued. It tells this community that they have not been forgotten,” he said.
On his part, the village head of Kpebi community, Chief David Audu. commended Yesufu for visiting the school to provide support, adding that government alone would not be able to meet all the needs.
“We pray that may God give her more wisdom, knowledge so that she can achieve the reason for coming here today. And wherever she go to seek for assistance, let that door be opened to her. So we are very happy for having her today in our school,” he said.
On some of the major challenges confronting the school, the village head said fencing remains one of the pressing needs to ensure pupils and staff are well secured, adding that the community’s resources are not enough to meet the needs.
“Even the secondary school, we tried to fence part of it too. We have been trying our best, even you see all the drainages from the other side there, we are the ones that put them in place in order not to fall the other side of the school,” he said.
The AUTHORITY reports that the school, which was founded in 2014, is said to have over 250 pupils with only about three government teachers who are supported by another four Parent Teacher Association (PTA) volunteers who have been assisting since inception with the hope of getting employed.
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