Obawole community wants a school

Six-year-old Seki Kofoworola attends Iju Station Nursery and Primary School, the closest public primary school to her home at Obawole community in Ifako-Ijaiye Local Government Area of Lagos, which is about five kilometres away. But Ms Kofoworola is forced to stay at home anytime her elder sister is not available to accompany her to school.

"We need a public primary school close to us here so that our children won't have to go very far, and also cross a major road to school," said Ms Kofoworola's guardian, Elizabeth Akinrounbi.

The closest public primary schools to the community are: Iju Station Nursery and Primary School; St. Kizitos Nursery and Primary School; and Fred Williams Nursery and Primary School, which share a compound along Iju road, and pupils from Obawole community are required to travel some distance and cross the busy Iju expressway to get to any of these schools.

Risky schooling

However, some of the parents in the locality have been forced to put their wards in private schools because of the distance and risks of accessing public education, while some busy parents have alternatively been paying commercial motorcyclists (okada) to take their children to the public schools, an option generally considered risky by the parents. The average cost of having a child in a private primary school in the community is N15,000 per term. There are three school terms in a year.

"It's not safe; just two days ago, I was looking at three kids on their way to school. One of them was about four years or so, and the others were not much older; this looked so improper somehow," said a parent and teacher, Tunrayo Towoju, who was forced to put her two children in a private school.

"My children are attending private schools because the private schools are nearer than the public schools, but I would have preferred them in public schools," she added.

Another parent forced to enrol her child in a private school, Oluwaseun Ogeleyinbo said: "It's not good for little kids to go that far; it's too far for a small kid, even for a 10-year-old because the road is always full of cars and okadas."

However, Mrs. Towoju would not hesitate to put her children in a public school close by, should a good one be provided. "If the government can give us a good public school here, I will withdraw my children and put them there," she said.

Community school

The information officer of Ifako-Ijaiye Local Government Area, Dapo Okeniran, who spoke for the local government chairperson, Demola Doherty, told NEXT that plans are underway to provide a public primary school for the people of Obawole community.

"I am aware that the local government is making frantic efforts to provide a school there, but I don't know how soon; it's the chairman that has the details and how soon the project will start," he said.