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Inside Rivers Primary School With No Roof, Windows, And Where Pupils Learn With Faeces On The Floor

According to one of the indigenes, the school is the only state-owned primary school in the community which has been left to rot.

The government of Rivers State has allegedly abandoned the community primary school in Mgbede, Egbema Kingdom of Ogba Egbema Ndoni local government area of the state.

According to one of the indigenes, Lukeson Oguchi, the school is the only state-owned primary school in the community which has been left to rot.

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Oguchi told SaharaReporters that aside from the dilapidated state of the school buildings, which resulted from a lack of maintenance, the classrooms have also turned to makeshift public toilets for residents and visitors.

He stated that the governor, Nyesom Wike, had promised the community people in 2014 to address the issues but since he came into power to date, there has been no intervention in the academic facility. 

He said, “This Community Primary School in Mgbede, Egbema Kingdom is now in ruins. It has been long abandoned by the government and it is a state-owned primary school. Students learn in classrooms that are already falling apart, some of the classrooms have no roof, and some walls are ripped. The place is in shambles yet there are students at the school.

”Some of the students do not have chairs, they sit on the floor to receive lectures. In some of the classrooms, there are human faeces on the floor, in a learning environment!

“Meanwhile, the Rivers State governor Nyesome Wike, in 2014 promised the people that he will address most of these issues even before he became the governor of Rivers State but that was just a promise because ever since he became the governor, he has not even visited the community.

“He celebrated his birthday and Valentine’s Day in the community in 2014 during his campaign, trying to get people's support but now his aides don’t even want to meet with anyone coming from our kingdom.

“The Egbema people has long been forgotten even with our massive economic contributions to the entire nation. Egbema people seem to be the most hit by bad governance.

”The Egbema Kingdom is made up of three communities namely: Mgbede, Aggah, and Okwuzi communities. We share a common border with the Egbema Kingdom of Imo state.

“There used to be 16 communities under the Egbema Kingdom during the old Eastern region era before the political Balkanization that took 13 communities to Imo state, leaving 3 communities for Rivers state. Since then, our people have become a minority in Imo state and even in Rivers state.

“People from these communities are gradually clamouring to join their brothers in Imo state since Rivers state has not favoured them for decades now."

According to Oguchi, the community also lacks a functional government-owned hospital.

He stated that the only government-owned hospital in the kingdom is the General Hospital, Okwuzi which has also been abandoned for over 20 years. 

“The hospital has been long abandoned with just the mortuary slightly functioning probably because the government is very sure the people are subjected to conditions that should kill them in their numbers daily,” he said.

He also alleged that some road repairs done in the community through a Memorandum of Understanding reached with Nigeria Agip Oil Company Limited since 2000 have gone to ruins, as a result of lack of maintenance. 

Oguchi said at every election period, contractors try to repair the major road linking the communities to the rest of Rivers state, but the project gets abandoned immediately after the elections.

He alleged, “I believe that the contract for the construction of that road (Egbema-Omoku-Ahoada Road) may have been awarded up to three times with the monies meant for it going straight into private pockets.

There may be a synergy between government, oil companies, and a few persons in power from the region to short-change the people. Nyesom Wike has awarded the same contract for that road for the past 3 years but has not gone beyond 40% completion even though it has been published to have gone over 70% completion."

He also alleged that a member of the House of Representatives representing the constituency, Prince Uchechukwu Nnam-Obi never visited the kingdom after the 2015 general elections but later came back to the community during the 2019 elections.

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Education