COMMUNITIES GET SCHOOL, 29 YEARS AFTER

by Tajudeen Adebanjo

TWENTY-SIX communities in the Resettlement Area of Eti-Osa East Local Council Development Area of Lagos on Thursday got the first primary school after 29 years.
The people were moved from old Maroko in 1989 to Ilaje for developmental purposes according to the state government.
Maroko was what is today known as Oniru Royal Estate; some parts of Victoria Island and Lekki Phase one.

The communities’ leaders and residents rolled out the drums to celebrate the birth of a school in their area.
Their children, The Nation learnt, have been travelling miles to other communities such as Ajah and Ogombo to study.
They daily took the risk of going by boat or cross the Lekki-Epe Expressway to get educated.

Many felt a sigh of relief on Thursday when the school was inaugurated.
The inauguration is one of the projects the council is showcasing to the Office of the Auditor-General for Local Governments during the flag-off of Project Inspection of the 20 local governments and 37 local council development areas (LCDAs).

Permanent Secretary/Auditor-General for Local Governments, Mrs. Adesumbo Idiat Abolarin said the exercise would cover all completed and ongoing projects in 2018.
The school was named after a former Lagos State House of Assembly member, representing Eti-Osa Constituency I, the late Kazeem Alimi.

Thanking the Eti-Osa East LCDA Chairman, Rafiu Olatunji for building the school, Baale of Orooke, Alhaji Rasaq Folami said their suffering is gradually coming to an end.
He thanked the former council Chairman, Alhaji Owolabi Yisa for starting the project.
“Since we were relocated here, our children have been finding it difficult to go to school. They travel a long distance to other communities for schooling. As parents, we were not happy seeing the children risking their lives on boats to and fro the school. We have been knocking on the doors of various governments to build school in our community. We thank God it is now a reality,”Alhaji Folami said.

Eti-Osa East LCDA Chairman, Rafiu Olatunji said the school was meant to improve the socio-economic development of the residents.
Olatunji said, “The Resettlement Area of Eti-Osa East LCDA comprises about 26 communities with a population of over 300,000 people. These communities have been in need of governmental social amenities for years. I can recall during our electioneering campaign, the good people of these communities complained about the stress and risk taken by the pupils while going to school at the other side of the Lekki-Epe Expressway, Ajah and Ogombo Communities. The newly constructed primary school was named in honour of the late Alimi for his contribution to the development of Eti-Osa as a whole. We have decided to honour him with this primary school for posterity and to serve as an example for others to emulate.”
Special Adviser to Lagos State Governor on Central Business District (CBD) Prince Anofiu Elegushi described the initiative as a right step in the right direction.

Primary school, Elegushi said, is the bedrock of education.
He thanked the council boss for honouring the late Alimi with the project.