Panic and frustration have gripped Iyiowa Odekpe community in Ogbaru Local Government Area of Anambra State over the deplorable state of the only government primary school serving the area.
The Landlords and Residents Association of the community has passionately appealed to Governor Charles Chukwuma Soludo to urgently come to their rescue and reconstruct Community Primary School, Iyiowa.
When our correspondent visited the school alongside the Chairman of the community, Mr. Sunday Peter Obinze, and other executives, the sight was shocking.
The school, comprising several classroom blocks built in 2010 under the UBE/PN/2010 intervention project, has completely collapsed into dilapidation. The entire premises is covered with thick bushes, submerged in swamp, and waterlogged.
Pupils and teachers can no longer access the classrooms, while the overgrown weeds have become a breeding ground for dangerous snakes, harmful reptiles and mosquitoes.
Speaking with journalists, Mr. Obinze said the situation is unbearable and beyond the community’s capacity.
He disclosed that Governor Soludo, during his second term campaign, promised to reconstruct both their access road and the primary school.
“We are grateful to the Governor because he has fulfilled his promise on the road. work is ongoing as we speak. But we are reminding him that the primary school is still pending. The condition is too terrible for our children in this modern age,” Obinze said.
He added: “It is painful to allow children of 8, 9 years old to endanger their lives studying in an environment prone to diseases and deadly reptiles. We need the Governor’s intervention.”
Mr. Obinze recalled that the community paid back the Governor’s love by voting massively for his re-election and pledged that Iyiowa Odekpe will still vote for APGA in the forthcoming general elections.
The Secretary General of the community, Dr. Chukwunonso Okoli, displayed a letter earlier written to Governor Soludo as a reminder.
The letter, dated September 18, 2026 and officially acknowledged on September 30, 2026, was signed by all executives and stakeholders of the community.
It was copied to the Speaker, Anambra State House of Assembly, Member representing Ogbaru 2 Constituency, Commissioner for Education, ASUBEB Chairman, Mayor of Ogbaru LGA, and the Igwe of Odekpe, among others.
“It is unfair to subject pupils to this kind of danger. These children do not deserve this treatment in this present age,” Dr. Okoli lamented.
Also speaking, Chief Christopher Mgbike, a resident in the area, said the community overwhelmingly supported Soludo and pleaded that he should not forget his promise.
“We thank the Governor for the road project, which he promised on the same day he promised the school. We are now begging him to also reconstruct the school. Even teachers find it difficult to enter the classrooms,” he said.
Other residents, including Mr. Loveday Udechukwu Awa and Mrs. Esther Igwe, raised alarm that pupils and teachers are at daily risk of snake bites and water-borne diseases if urgent reconstruction is not carried out.
They appealed to Governor Soludo to intervene as a father and consider the plight of the innocent children.
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