The fate of pupils of Humani Alaga High School, in the Ibadan-North Local Government Area of Oyo State, currently hangs in the balance as the school now lies in ruins.
A lot of infrastructure in the school were now dilapidated, and all efforts by the management, staff and alumni of the school to get the attention of the state governor, Seyi Makinde, had been futile and frustrating.
The president of the alumni association, Dr Musiliu Agboola who spoke to SaharaReporters on Saturday said the three buildings of six classrooms each housing the pupils were now in a terrible shape.
According to him, several letters had been written and physical appeals had been made to the government but they yielded no result, as there had been outright neglect on the part of Makinde’s administration.
A copy of one of the letters written to the Executive Chairman, Oyo State Post Primary Schools Teaching Service Commission (TESCOM) by HAHS signed by the Principal, Mr Tijani Salami, on October 7, 2021 to inform the government on the sorry state of the school facilities was seen by SaharaReporters.
Agboola said former Governor, late Abiola Ajimobi, and the incumbent, Governor Seyi Makinde had both been invited several times to grace the school’s anniversaries and witness the ordeal of the school, but they never honoured nor sent a representative.
The school was formerly Sango High School established by the old Oyo State Governor, late Chief Bola Ige, in September 1980, but it was renamed by late Governor Lamidi Adeshina in 2003.
“Currently the school has five buildings and all of them are in bad shape and you will be looking at the sky from every class in the school from June 2014.
“Parents are already withdrawing their children and wards from the school. A school that had a student population of over 2000 now has less than 400 because of bad infrastructure.
“The Old Students on some occasions organised to raise funds for the school by launching appeal funds during Senator Ajimobi and the current dispensation of Seyi Makinde. Both governors did not turn up for the events.
“We have done several things to appeal to the Oyo State Government but they turn deaf ears. In our last reminder letter to the Education Trust Fund (ETF) in the state, the government acknowledged our letter that our school has been on their list for the past three years but the fund is not available,” Dr Agboola said.
He also said that the HAHS alumni had embarked on many projects to help the school and encourage the current students, but lamented that these could not be compared with what government should do.
“The old students bought benches in the laboratory. For the past eight years, the Old Students Association has been organising Prize Giving Day to encourage the current students. The 1998 set donated sets of computers during its 40th year anniversary in 2020.
“It was at the 40th anniversary that even 1992, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2001 and 2003 sets with renovated six classrooms with the help of Humani Alaga’s family which the school is currently named after.
“The renovation cost of each class costs N600,000, and Humani Alaga family donated N1.5million during the 40th anniversary but it is so disheartening that the Oyo State Government does not care a bit about the plight of the school, its staff, students and their parents.
“We are appealing to Governor Seyi Makinde and all those concerned in the Ministry of Education to come to the aid of the school,” he added.
Another alumnus of the school who spoke on the condition of anonymity said, “It is a big shame that the school is located inside Trade Fair complex but faces terrible infrastructural decay, whereas the school is surrounded with Old Airport Estate, Ventura, A-Three hotels where well-to-do men in Ibadan live and attend as the case may be.
“Government should just do the needful to help the school in the renovation of the decayed school facilities. It is already a gory site, but can be revived.”
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