- The Sun reporter, out to monitor the anti-Ebola war in Lagos schools, stumbles on an unsightly scene at a school in Iba Town, Lagos, that shows that even if Ebola is not around the corner, cholera is.
Although my task was clearly spelt out to me, right from
the onset – get to the schools, the education editor ordered, and found
out how the anti-ebola war is being waged with the materials, (drums of
water with taps, buckets, liquid soap, hand gloves, thermo-scans,
sanitizers provided by the Lagos State government), as schools reopened
on October 8 – nothing prepared me, ahead of time, for the sight that
greeted my arrival at Iba Estate Primary School, Iba Town, Lagos. By
7.30am on the day of this report, I had already gulped a chilled bottle
of stout. Oh no, I am not a drunk. The act was to help me fight off the
nausea that could lead to vomiting in the course of taking snapshots of
the disgusting, nauseating sights that greeted me in a school where
Nigeria’s leaders of tomorrow are being groomed. Your Excellency, no,
the honourable Chairman, Sir, for this important discovery, your bill is
to offset the cost of the bottle of stout. The highly unpleasant sight
is at Iba Estate Primary School, Iba Local Council Development Authority
(LCDA) in Ojo Local Government Area.
There exists in that school, a life-threatening danger. Disaster
looms there. And it is one that calls for urgent attention and of
course, action from concerned authorities, including the management and
staff of the school. Even though the environment of the school is not
one that can be described as filthy most portions of the school are
overgrown with weeds. Within the school are a few trees that provide
shades and makes for a serene atmosphere for learning. That is not all.
It is located on a very large expanse land with a massive field. And
this ensures the pupils have large enough field for recreation and
exercises.
Ebola out, cholera waiting to come in
Like every other school in Lagos, the school also benefited from the largesse of necessary equipment and facilities given to schools to fight off the Ebola Virus Disease scourge. In the school were two newly built, semi-modern classroom blocks. This is excluding an old dilapidating classroom block, located at the far end of the premises. That block is Iba Estate Primary School 11. One of the two relatively new structures has inscribed on its signboard the following words: ‘Iba Estate Primary School Built By Iba Council Development Area; Hon. Toyin Suarau Administration.’
The second block has inscribed on it, UBEC/SUBEB/2008 REN 024. Behind this classroom block, there is a bush path leading to a track road. The road serves as a shortcut for passersby and leads from the last bus stop end to the main entrance gate of Estate Secondary School on the Ipaye Road axis. The disturbing thing about this track road is that it does not seem to be a part of the state primary school in terms of cleanliness. This is because the no-man’s land area of the primary school is that, that particular area has been turned into a public toilet by, perhaps, the students, passersby, destitute or all of the above. This is so, judging from the human excreta littered here and there. Not even the elevated portion of the classroom block is spared. It is not just an eyesore, the foul odour that oozes from all around the compound is something else. Doubtless, this situation is highly unhealthy. The condition of the place is one that endangers the health and life of the pupils who spend about one third of their daily 24 hours in that environment.
As at the time of filing this report, The Sun Education Review found some students being conducted round picking up pieces of paper under the supervision of one of the teachers. Around the vicinity of the ‘public toilet,’ called school, the teacher issues the following directive to the pupils: “ma gbe iyagbe o, ebola wa o! meaning: ‘do not pick up excreta. there is ebola o!’ And then, she ended with: “please, make sure you go and wash your hands; there is ebola!’
You ought to have been there to see the disgusting expression on the faces of the pupils. Some of them struggled to close their noses with clean pieces of papers, others with their shirts and blouses while a few more tried to fight off the odour by closing their noses with their hands, even as they went about the task of cleaning. You tried to find out whether they were responsible for making the compound unsightly with the litter of excreta. “No auntie, we have toilet,” majority of them chorused. “No Ma, we’re not the ones; we use our toilets”.
Efforts to get their teachers to comment on the matter as who did this yielded no fruit. However, some parents who came to drop their children and wards at the school were more forthcoming as they told me that some hoodlums who make the school their abode after school hours are responsible for the mounds of shit that litter the school compound. According to them, the street urchins come through the collapsed parts of the school fence to mess up the school compound.
“They do not just come in to defecate here, they also bring girls here for sex romps,” one of the parents revealed. “They do it right inside the classrooms. They take drug and alcohol here and smoke hemp. If you come into this school anytime from three o’clock, it assumes the status of den of robbers. This is why you see most of the chairs broken and the doors, knocked off. These little children could not have done all these.”
The health implications
Commenting on the health implication of the ugly and disgusting situation, the Chairman, Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) National Committee on World Health Organization Activities, Dr. Dumebi Owa said that it could lead to a serious disease outbreak.
“The children can get infected by mistakenly stepping on the mounds of excreta,” she said. “They can have worm infestation from there. And you know, we’re spending so much money on de-worming children. And that’s a great source of worm infestation. Apart from worm infestation, there’s also the contamination of the environment, contamination of the water. And it’s a ready source of spread of infection to others members of the family or community because a child can mistakenly step on the excreta and take the remains home. And whatever disease the excreta carry will be spread around. Again, it’s a ready source of contamination of surface water. And when the water is contaminated, somebody is going to drink it and we know that in this part of the world, we don’t have portable water. People rely on the well for water. And such is a serious contamination in that area.”
On what step that should be taken to address the danger posed by this ugly development, Dr. Owa said there is urgent need for concerned authorities to secure the school with good fencing and engage people to man the gates. “As a place where our children learn, we don’t expect to see such ugly situations. Schools should be very child-friendly. This one is definitely not a child-friendly environment. Psychologically, it can put off some children from going to school because the environment is very unsightly and not child-friendly at all. So, if there are no fences, the authorities should put up fences. And they should employ school guards to secure the schools day and night. There is need to do this because the children are the future of this country”.
Further investigation by Education Review shows that the school authorities have since communicated the local council on the matter, with assurances from the local authorities that situation will be taken care of. But when the much needed help will come is anybody’s guess.
Situation report
But other than this chance discovery, things are a bit okay in almost all schools visited, from Oriade Local Council Development Area to Amuwo Odofin Local Government Area, to Iba LCDA and Ojo LGA. Staff and students alike praised efforts of the Lagos State government in the provision of Ebola Test Kits, washing liquids, hand sanitizers and washing hand water dispensers with running waters.
“These are not all. There is also other larger water dispenser which government gave us. That one is inside the school,” a teacher in one of the schools visited told Education Review. And, toilet facilities? “Oh, very good. We’re okay. Lagos State government has tried in that aspect too”, was his response. For now, it would seem that the culture of regular hand-washing is being inculcated into the students as they queue up outside the school gates to get screened and to clean their hands.
But that comes with a great price: appreciable time is being spent in the process of screening and hand washing. And reason is that punctuality has been a very serious issue with the Nigerian student. A teacher, Mrs. Pauline Bernard Njoku, opines that there is a lot parents can do to help ensure that lesson periods are not lost to the screening and hand-washing exercise. She suggested that parents should, as a matter of urgency, reduce the house chores their children do in the morning.
“House chores like dish washing can be done at night,” she opines. “Even in the mornings, some parents send their children and wards out to sell bread and ogi (pap) before going to school. This should be discouraged. Children should wake up earlier and come out on time so that they can do the hand-washing and observe their first lesson.”
“Most parents do not prioritize the education of their children,” another teacher added. “They should give them less work to do in the mornings, allow them to prepare early enough and come to school. If they do not allow their children come to school early, at the end of the day the children will be the ones missing out some things they needed to learn or know.”
Millbank Hall Secondary School, Iba was among the schools visited. Chief Bosa Ezekwude, the Bursar of the school, disclosed that the school left no stone unturned in providing all the needed equipment for checking students, as well as visitors, in compliance with the Federal Ministry of Health directive. “Also, we have wash hand basins –three of them, so that when you get to the school, you go and wash your hands with soap and running water. And there are sanitizers. And the school nurse is on standby to administer the checks on all who step foot into the school. We hope other schools and institutions imbibe this culture. It will also, go a long way in helping to check Ebola spread.”
A doctor’s candid advice
But Dr. Leonard Chukwuemeka Okeke, Medical Director, Trinity Clinic, Igbo-Elerin, Iba, Lagos, while thanking the state government and private schools like MillBank for the facilities put in place to check the spread of Ebola, feel that local government authorities should do more to consolidate the efforts.
According to him, the origin of Ebola in the poor suburbs in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone, suggests the disease has a lot to do with poor sanitary condition and low standard of living, as being witnessed at Iba Estate Primary School. “So, if the standard of living in any place is poor, we’re no more talking only of Ebola, but also of other infectious diseases. Because Ebola is the one that is causing most of the havoc now, that’s why there is the big emphasis on it.
“Nigeria has been declared Ebola-free by the international community. But it’s not yet fully out of it. So, we must keep our eyes open. The most important thing in Nigerian schools now is, we have some of the pupils and student coming from different parts of the country or city. We don’t know if they had gone to see their relatives in Sierra Leone, Guinea or Liberia. So, there is the need to develop a questionnaire for the schools whereby they can have personal interviews with the children. They need to get their history. Assuming some of them have gone on holiday to Sierra Leone and back, the school may be the first place to pick them up.”
While emphasizing the need for creating greater awareness, the medical expert argued that if the war against Ebola is to be won completely, “there are some schools where the environment is just not suitable. In such places, something needs to be done –whether private or government. There should be a monitoring team on ground. We need to also emphasize mostly, the role of the local government because most of these schools are in a particular local government. And the effect of the local government is not being felt. We don’t have gutters. So, by the time the schools are flooded and there’s no gutter that can drain the water into the main channels, then, you don’t blame the schools.
“We know that Ebola is contracted anytime you have contact with any fluid from an infected human –whether it is tears, spit from the mouth or saliva or kissing each other or sweat from the body discharge from the genital parts, stool, or even, menses or blood –any fluid at all – once there’s contact with it, it can transfer Ebola. Why do they make it such that students would be in schools where there is heat? And the heat produces sweat. And they’re so close to one another? And then, you don’t want Ebola to spread? Why shouldn’t the schools have air condition facilities? Why shouldn’t there be fans? Why can’t the students be comfortable when they’re having classes? And we’re talking of one toilet for 500 – 1,000 students. Maybe they should also, provide such facility in Aso Rock or other government facilities, let’s see if they will enjoy it. I believe this Ebola has created a general awareness and everybody should sit up. The authorities should sit up.”
Ebola out, cholera waiting to come in
Like every other school in Lagos, the school also benefited from the largesse of necessary equipment and facilities given to schools to fight off the Ebola Virus Disease scourge. In the school were two newly built, semi-modern classroom blocks. This is excluding an old dilapidating classroom block, located at the far end of the premises. That block is Iba Estate Primary School 11. One of the two relatively new structures has inscribed on its signboard the following words: ‘Iba Estate Primary School Built By Iba Council Development Area; Hon. Toyin Suarau Administration.’
The second block has inscribed on it, UBEC/SUBEB/2008 REN 024. Behind this classroom block, there is a bush path leading to a track road. The road serves as a shortcut for passersby and leads from the last bus stop end to the main entrance gate of Estate Secondary School on the Ipaye Road axis. The disturbing thing about this track road is that it does not seem to be a part of the state primary school in terms of cleanliness. This is because the no-man’s land area of the primary school is that, that particular area has been turned into a public toilet by, perhaps, the students, passersby, destitute or all of the above. This is so, judging from the human excreta littered here and there. Not even the elevated portion of the classroom block is spared. It is not just an eyesore, the foul odour that oozes from all around the compound is something else. Doubtless, this situation is highly unhealthy. The condition of the place is one that endangers the health and life of the pupils who spend about one third of their daily 24 hours in that environment.
As at the time of filing this report, The Sun Education Review found some students being conducted round picking up pieces of paper under the supervision of one of the teachers. Around the vicinity of the ‘public toilet,’ called school, the teacher issues the following directive to the pupils: “ma gbe iyagbe o, ebola wa o! meaning: ‘do not pick up excreta. there is ebola o!’ And then, she ended with: “please, make sure you go and wash your hands; there is ebola!’
You ought to have been there to see the disgusting expression on the faces of the pupils. Some of them struggled to close their noses with clean pieces of papers, others with their shirts and blouses while a few more tried to fight off the odour by closing their noses with their hands, even as they went about the task of cleaning. You tried to find out whether they were responsible for making the compound unsightly with the litter of excreta. “No auntie, we have toilet,” majority of them chorused. “No Ma, we’re not the ones; we use our toilets”.
Efforts to get their teachers to comment on the matter as who did this yielded no fruit. However, some parents who came to drop their children and wards at the school were more forthcoming as they told me that some hoodlums who make the school their abode after school hours are responsible for the mounds of shit that litter the school compound. According to them, the street urchins come through the collapsed parts of the school fence to mess up the school compound.
“They do not just come in to defecate here, they also bring girls here for sex romps,” one of the parents revealed. “They do it right inside the classrooms. They take drug and alcohol here and smoke hemp. If you come into this school anytime from three o’clock, it assumes the status of den of robbers. This is why you see most of the chairs broken and the doors, knocked off. These little children could not have done all these.”
The health implications
Commenting on the health implication of the ugly and disgusting situation, the Chairman, Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) National Committee on World Health Organization Activities, Dr. Dumebi Owa said that it could lead to a serious disease outbreak.
“The children can get infected by mistakenly stepping on the mounds of excreta,” she said. “They can have worm infestation from there. And you know, we’re spending so much money on de-worming children. And that’s a great source of worm infestation. Apart from worm infestation, there’s also the contamination of the environment, contamination of the water. And it’s a ready source of spread of infection to others members of the family or community because a child can mistakenly step on the excreta and take the remains home. And whatever disease the excreta carry will be spread around. Again, it’s a ready source of contamination of surface water. And when the water is contaminated, somebody is going to drink it and we know that in this part of the world, we don’t have portable water. People rely on the well for water. And such is a serious contamination in that area.”
On what step that should be taken to address the danger posed by this ugly development, Dr. Owa said there is urgent need for concerned authorities to secure the school with good fencing and engage people to man the gates. “As a place where our children learn, we don’t expect to see such ugly situations. Schools should be very child-friendly. This one is definitely not a child-friendly environment. Psychologically, it can put off some children from going to school because the environment is very unsightly and not child-friendly at all. So, if there are no fences, the authorities should put up fences. And they should employ school guards to secure the schools day and night. There is need to do this because the children are the future of this country”.
Further investigation by Education Review shows that the school authorities have since communicated the local council on the matter, with assurances from the local authorities that situation will be taken care of. But when the much needed help will come is anybody’s guess.
Situation report
But other than this chance discovery, things are a bit okay in almost all schools visited, from Oriade Local Council Development Area to Amuwo Odofin Local Government Area, to Iba LCDA and Ojo LGA. Staff and students alike praised efforts of the Lagos State government in the provision of Ebola Test Kits, washing liquids, hand sanitizers and washing hand water dispensers with running waters.
“These are not all. There is also other larger water dispenser which government gave us. That one is inside the school,” a teacher in one of the schools visited told Education Review. And, toilet facilities? “Oh, very good. We’re okay. Lagos State government has tried in that aspect too”, was his response. For now, it would seem that the culture of regular hand-washing is being inculcated into the students as they queue up outside the school gates to get screened and to clean their hands.
But that comes with a great price: appreciable time is being spent in the process of screening and hand washing. And reason is that punctuality has been a very serious issue with the Nigerian student. A teacher, Mrs. Pauline Bernard Njoku, opines that there is a lot parents can do to help ensure that lesson periods are not lost to the screening and hand-washing exercise. She suggested that parents should, as a matter of urgency, reduce the house chores their children do in the morning.
“House chores like dish washing can be done at night,” she opines. “Even in the mornings, some parents send their children and wards out to sell bread and ogi (pap) before going to school. This should be discouraged. Children should wake up earlier and come out on time so that they can do the hand-washing and observe their first lesson.”
“Most parents do not prioritize the education of their children,” another teacher added. “They should give them less work to do in the mornings, allow them to prepare early enough and come to school. If they do not allow their children come to school early, at the end of the day the children will be the ones missing out some things they needed to learn or know.”
Millbank Hall Secondary School, Iba was among the schools visited. Chief Bosa Ezekwude, the Bursar of the school, disclosed that the school left no stone unturned in providing all the needed equipment for checking students, as well as visitors, in compliance with the Federal Ministry of Health directive. “Also, we have wash hand basins –three of them, so that when you get to the school, you go and wash your hands with soap and running water. And there are sanitizers. And the school nurse is on standby to administer the checks on all who step foot into the school. We hope other schools and institutions imbibe this culture. It will also, go a long way in helping to check Ebola spread.”
A doctor’s candid advice
But Dr. Leonard Chukwuemeka Okeke, Medical Director, Trinity Clinic, Igbo-Elerin, Iba, Lagos, while thanking the state government and private schools like MillBank for the facilities put in place to check the spread of Ebola, feel that local government authorities should do more to consolidate the efforts.
According to him, the origin of Ebola in the poor suburbs in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone, suggests the disease has a lot to do with poor sanitary condition and low standard of living, as being witnessed at Iba Estate Primary School. “So, if the standard of living in any place is poor, we’re no more talking only of Ebola, but also of other infectious diseases. Because Ebola is the one that is causing most of the havoc now, that’s why there is the big emphasis on it.
“Nigeria has been declared Ebola-free by the international community. But it’s not yet fully out of it. So, we must keep our eyes open. The most important thing in Nigerian schools now is, we have some of the pupils and student coming from different parts of the country or city. We don’t know if they had gone to see their relatives in Sierra Leone, Guinea or Liberia. So, there is the need to develop a questionnaire for the schools whereby they can have personal interviews with the children. They need to get their history. Assuming some of them have gone on holiday to Sierra Leone and back, the school may be the first place to pick them up.”
While emphasizing the need for creating greater awareness, the medical expert argued that if the war against Ebola is to be won completely, “there are some schools where the environment is just not suitable. In such places, something needs to be done –whether private or government. There should be a monitoring team on ground. We need to also emphasize mostly, the role of the local government because most of these schools are in a particular local government. And the effect of the local government is not being felt. We don’t have gutters. So, by the time the schools are flooded and there’s no gutter that can drain the water into the main channels, then, you don’t blame the schools.
“We know that Ebola is contracted anytime you have contact with any fluid from an infected human –whether it is tears, spit from the mouth or saliva or kissing each other or sweat from the body discharge from the genital parts, stool, or even, menses or blood –any fluid at all – once there’s contact with it, it can transfer Ebola. Why do they make it such that students would be in schools where there is heat? And the heat produces sweat. And they’re so close to one another? And then, you don’t want Ebola to spread? Why shouldn’t the schools have air condition facilities? Why shouldn’t there be fans? Why can’t the students be comfortable when they’re having classes? And we’re talking of one toilet for 500 – 1,000 students. Maybe they should also, provide such facility in Aso Rock or other government facilities, let’s see if they will enjoy it. I believe this Ebola has created a general awareness and everybody should sit up. The authorities should sit up.”
 |
From Ebola to cholera? |
No comments:
Post a Comment