Helpless natives and residents of Kaani Community in Khana Local Government Area of Ogoni, Rivers State, are begging for the immediate intervention of the state governor, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, to rehabilitate the dilapidated Kaani Community Secondary School.
Kaani Community Secondary School, which is the only state government-owned secondary school in the community has become home to a madman, even as snakes, grasses, and trees have taken over most classrooms.
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Aside from the school whose state has been abandoned for over 35 years now, the cottage hospital that was built by the community and the modern health center are also in a collapsed state.
Kaani Primary School is also dilapidated and the community has no light.
The school has an abandoned uncompleted building identified as the school laboratory, and is without roof, doors, or windows, rather grasses have overtaken the entire space.
The situation is the same in other classrooms, devotion ground, and staff room blocks. The only classrooms with roofs have broken floors, and walls, and lack seats.
There is no toilet in Kaani Secondary School but there is a very deep soak-away pit that is not well covered.
Speaking in an interview with Journalists, HRH of Kaani, Chief Godwin Barikpoa Apere, explained that Kaani is the single largest community in Khana Local Government Area and the first community that built a community school in 1979.
According to him, “The school that you saw is an old school that was built by the community before the government took over. But even when the government took over, we did not see sufficient government presence. There was a time in the ’90s when they attempted to add one or two structures there, but it has been abandoned till today, and yet the children have to go to school because they can not trek from here to other villages to attend schools. You can see the cost to parents and to the community.
“That school is right at the center of Bori Urban. Kaani is part of Bori Urban Center and there should be an overflow from the various schools around that place. However, by God’s grace, it has been posting beautiful results.
“As a community, we have made efforts to also fix the school, those structures you see now, the roofing that is still standing were those that were done by the Kaani elites, organizations in the community.
“We’ve called and are still calling on the attention of various governments at various levels to come to the aid of the school. Apart from the secondary school, even the primary school that was built is also dilapidating, without teachers, there are no teachers in those schools, we had to find a way to hire volunteer teachers to teach in those schools.”
Barikpoa revealed that “there is a cottage hospital that was built by the community, it is also abandoned. There is a modern health center that was built by the government, but it is also abandoned. We have plenty of abandoned projects, and besides that, even light, there is no electricity in this community, see Bori, see Kaani, so, it’s a source of concern, I felt so sad, it’s discouraging, but I am still hopeful that something will happen. It should be a concern to every parent, every leader, and every citizen who has a passion for their community.
“We expect interventions in those areas in this year. I want to plead with you to call the attention of the government to those projects because those are the reasons we can feel that we have a government, without those things being put in place, we don’t have a government, we feel abandoned and neglected. We are highly concerned.”
Mr. Kigbo Barikul Nnaannee, who expressed himself in pidgin English, further said, “Since I dey here, we dey the school now, I dey show una things wey no dey good for our community. I do like how this school day, eh dey pain us well, well. You see this community school, Kaani, as you see I am, na so so big, big men don go this school, graduate from this school. Their pikin do graduate from this school too.
“See the school now, eh don turn to the bush area, snake dey bites small, small pikin. You see the classroom, you do not go fit, stay there, chop, or learn there because of the classroom. You see the zinc nothing dey again. This na school wey been get everything. Abeg, make una carry this school talk to the government say make government help Kaani school, we no get people for government wey go help us.
“Kaani no get commissioner, eh no get chairman, them no get better appointment for politics, so I beg our chairman and the governor say make them look into Kaani school, if I dey tell them lie, make them come see am. I dey beg them, make them help Kaani people so that when our children dey learn everything go show say na school be this but now, children no dey fit stay for the school and nobody go say my pikin go this school because of the environment.
“Abeg, them been get lab, classrooms but now, eh no dey, even principal office you no go fit enter, abeg make them help us. This school don dey like this almost 35 years now, the school don spoil, government no look into it and na the only government school wey dey Kaani. Na Kaani wey get the school but children from Kor, Kpong, Yeghe, Kpere, Bori and others dey come school here because na the second best in the whole of Khana local government area, but overall best when you talk about better WAEC result.”
He added that, “Parent don carry their pikin go boarding school because of how the school dey, abeg make government enter Kaani go look the school. Nobody tell me, na school wey I dey see and me and una dey here now.”
Speaking about the young man found cooking in one of the classrooms, Nnaannee explained that “this man wey dey cook na mad man, as them no care for the school, mad man don come, em name na Ndoonu, na em dey cook, I no fit lie to una. More than 7000 been dey this school but because of the condition of the school them no plenty at all.”
