Aftermath of Oriwu Sun story on Odogunyan Grammar school’s defective building

Following the exclusive story/published front page by Oriwu Sun in April, 2019 on Odogunyan Junior Grammar School, a disaster waiting to happen as in Ita-Faji School building collapse, the Lagos State government has made a rapid response to the distress calls by parents, and their pupils over the two storey main school block that is threatening to collapse.
The same state government, through the office of the Tutor General, has begun massive redeployment of students from Odogunyan Junior Grammar School to other schools to avert a major disaster following discovery that the school compound is preventively flooded with storm water chasing students out of their classrooms on the ground floor of the school building.
Oriwu Sun had reported in April about the two storey block in that school, built by the State government about six years ago, which is said to be vibrating and showing deep cracks.
Some parents who complained to Oriwu Sun on the threats of a possible building collapse prompted our investigation which was published on the front page of our April 2019 edition.
Our reporters confirmed that the state government immediately responded to the report and other social media reportage and photographs of that school environment.
We learnt that a Quality Assurance Group has visited that school three different times to take photos and carry out investigations. We also gathered that on two of the times they visited, it rained and they saw the enormity of the problem.
Latest report says that the Tutor-General District II, Mr. Ebenezer Ogunsanya, has passed a directive to the school to relocate some of the students of the junior school to nearby senior secondary school and public primary school.
Between Monday July 1 and Wednesday July 3, 2019, seven classes were said to have been moved to Odogunyan Senior Secondary school while six classes were moved to the neighboring public primary school.
The affected students, who moved to the senor school, will take over the classrooms vacated by SS3 students who have completed their WASC examinations.
Thereafter, the government will decide what to do with the main building block and the flooding of the premises which forces teachers, staffers and students to squat in cars, or overcrowded upstairs whenever it rains.
One of the photos in the social media which went viral was students of Odogunyan Grammar School Junior swimming in the dirty floodwater in their compound and the flooded classroom which stink days after the rain bout has stopped.
The academic community in Ikorodu has praised the state government and the Tutor-General for their rapid responses but are pleading for decisive remedies in these two schools in the division and others facing similar fates.

 

…And collapsed walls injure 6 students in Ipakodo Grammar school

 

Frantic efforts are said to be in progress by the Lagos State government to address the challenges in two secondary schools in Ikorodu now in distress and under the public eye following a tragic incident that took place in one of them while the other faced threats of a possible building collapse.
Oriwu Sun investigation shows that Ipakodo Grammar School, near Majidun/Ogolonto axis, suffered a partial building collapse on Tuesday, June 25, 2019, during school hours when a section of the walls of the classroom collapsed, injuring six students in JSS 2 and 3.
Two of the injured students are said to be in critical condition at an orthopaedic hospital in Lagos, with one of them said to have suffered a spinal injury and rumoured to be dead.
The tragedy prompted the Tutor-General of District II, Mr. Ebenezer Ogunsanya and his team of officials to visit that school almost consecutively for three day, last week to address the emergency.
Oriwu Sun gathered that this is about the 4th time there will be such an ugly incident in that school involving school buildings, erected in the 80s during the Jakande administration.
Our reporters learnt that a similar tragedy took place in 2013, another in 2017 while one took place in 2018. In each of these cases, the stakeholders traded blames.
A source told Oriwu Sun that school authorities, the PTA, the community and the state government each absolves itself of blame each time this tragedy occurs.
Meanwhile, it is not certain the remedial measures so far taken both by the Lagos State government and the school authorities on the matter.

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