Unless a drastic step is urgently taken to contain the incessant flooding at the Methodist, Ewu-Elepe in Ikorodu Local Government, pupils and teachers in the school may soon be subjected to Ita-Faji – like incident which claimed scores of school children’s lives in Lagos last year.
Although, no fatalities or causalities have been recorded yet, but the ferocious manner in which the flood takes over the school and render its entire premises impassable calls for concern and quick actions from the government and stakeholders to avert a potential danger lurking around to consume innocent school children.
Our reporters were in the school recently and had a firsthand experience of the terrible nature of the flooding situation as their visit coincided with an early rain which got the entire school premises flooded while pupils were seen wading through the flood with fears.
Teachers and pupils of the school, despite their previous appeals which had received no attention, have once again cried out for help from the Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu led state government over the incessant flooding of the school.
According to the report gathered, the flooding problem which have been facing the school for the past six years, is due to lack of drainages that can properly channel flood away from the school premises.
Those who spoke with our reporters explained that each times it rains, the flood around the school vicinity usually overflow into the school premises through the space under the school main entrance gate and opening holes under the school fence. This, according to them, is as a result of location of the school on a sloppy land.
Of major concern to the teachers of the school is the damages being done to the teaching and writing materials each time the flood overflows into the classrooms as well as prevention of pupils from coming to school whenever it rains as parents fear that their children might get drown.
Meanwhile, while speaking with a source who did not want her name in print, she stated that the flooding issue has become a nightmare to both the teachers and the pupils and urged the government to urgently come to their aid before it is too late.
She explained that when there is a rainfall, flood flows into the classrooms and staff room and disrupts learning activities while several school properties and pupils writing materials are either damaged or swept away by the flood.
Another source, who equally did not want his name mentioned, expressed his disappointment over the failure of the government to address the flooding issues despite several letters written to that effect.
He explained that each time the premises is flooded, a long plank is usually laid down to enable the pupils to gain access to their classrooms while sometimes, they wade through the dirty water when the plank is submerged by the flood.
He also accused the residents living around the school environment for worsening the situation by dumping their refuse into the rain water and are later deposited into the school premises by the flood.
According to him, this unlawful act usually leaves the school dirty as heaps of refuses liter the premises after the flood disappears.
In another interview with another source, he opined that the school would not have faced the flooding problem if there had been a drainage system that can allow free flow of water during rainfall.
He explained that officials from the state Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) sometimes ago came to the school to create a hole under the school fence to allow easy passage of flood out of the school premises but stated that the hole has worsen the flooding situation and urged the state government to provide a standard drainage system around the school environment to permanently address the flooding problem.