The Ette Enugu community, where politicians only come during election campaigns
Sad stories from the Enugu community, where politicians only enter during election campaigns
An indigenous resident of the Ette community, Igbo-Eze North local government area in Enugu state, condemned the abandonment of the area by the state authorities.
A source who spoke to SaharaReporter on Tuesday said the community is lacking in basic development, although it has produced more than one local government president.
According to him, the community has only one primary health care center and two home hospitals that are not functioning.
Indigenous people, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of being victimized, described the situation in the community as miserable.
He said: “The situation in the community is deplorable; the community has been neglected for a long time. The situation worsened about five years ago, and some members of this community are already campaigning for a merger with Kogi State, as Enugu State no longer cares about their needs.
“The community is a border town between Enugu and Kogi states, but is administered by Enugu State, although it is not an Igbo-speaking community. It is a community that speaks the Igala / Idoma languages, but was somehow merged with the Enugu state. It is recognized by Nigeria by the community within the Northern Igbo-Eze Local Government District of Enugu State.
“In this community, politicians are campaigning [/b]we have three advisors from this community: Haruna Idiris (ward 1); Haggadah Innocent (chamber 2) and Abraham (chamber 3). One of our sons, Tony Ogidi, was a member of the Enugu State House of Assembly for two terms. Chief Emmanuel Alachi has held various positions in the past. We had our own people who served as the president of local government: SS Abula; Suleiman Yusuf Akwu; Aaron Odu Alachi and Matthew Abula.
[b]“But the problem we have is that politicians here do not represent the interests of our people, some things are related to society, they do not fight for them.
“We have three hospitals: a polyclinic and two home hospitals. They are in poor condition, no medicine, no adequate staff; only one or two nurses follow these posts. When they have problems that they cannot afford, they turn to outside doctors. People die from this. Recently, there was an outbreak of yellow fever in the community (from August to December 2020), people were dying in large numbers.
“The condition of the hospitals here is so bad that we didn’t even know it was yellow fever when it hit. People go to the local government office in Enugu-Ezik for treatment. In this accident, we lost over 80 people.
“When the death rate became excessive, we started a media campaign and brought it to the attention of the government, and they responded. Medical workers arrived and took samples for COVID-19 and yellow fever. The results showed that our people had yellow fever. The government sent a medical team to the affected areas, treated people, brought in vaccines, and by December the death rate had dropped.
“Basically, this happens until the situation gets out of control and we shout that the government is listening to us; advisors do nothing.
“Recently I learned that one of the cottage hospitals was transformed into a base for the district guard, a group of local vigilantes. They use this building as a base to arrest criminals, lock them up, and so on. “
He said that he created the group in 2019 and is constantly working on the issue of education, as local schools did not have the necessary supervision for employees to actually resume work.
He added that some schools in the area have no convenient places for students and some classrooms are abandoned.
According to him, his team’s investigation of the state of these schools showed that the director of one of 15 elementary schools in the area was assigned as a teacher at Kogi State University, got a job, and dropped out of school. still receives a salary as a person who still works there.
He said: “I started the group in 2019, the goal is to try to bring our people together and see how we can help ourselves. In 2019, we found that while there are only two public high schools in the area, one does not. t work, nothing happens there: Exemplary secondary school The institution is there, teachers, students, nothing happens there.
“Another school, a public high school that functioned, premises in disrepair, we also found that they did not even have the accreditation of the National Examination Board, they can only be found to pass the certification exam at the West African high school and when it was time to take the National examination board, they go to another community to do it. This is one of the things the government needs to do for us. My association took on this task, we invited NECO employees, we paid, we got the school accreditation.
“Last week I received a report about a shortage of teachers at a public primary school in Etta, so we decided to set up a committee to investigate the case. We have about 15 elementary schools in Etta, and we sent people out for important information about the state of these schools to find out why teachers are not going to school.
“We found that some of these schools have teachers, but since the government and the local government minister of education are not in control of the situation, the teachers simply decide not to come to work, some have even run away from work. still get paid. We also found crumbling structures, some buildings were completely destroyed, and teachers were unable to teach students there. Pupils have to travel long distances to travel to nearby villages for their primary education.
“Some of these schools have no chairs, students sit on the floor. We learned that one of the principals of one of the schools was assigned to teach at Kogi State University and is still receiving a salary for his role as principal in that primary school, despite his absence. He dropped out of school
“Her daughter is also a teacher at the same school, she ran away to start life in Abuja and continues to earn her salary as a teacher, so this is a serious problem.
He complained that there are many abandoned projects and roads in the area, the completion of which will lead to the positive development of people.
“We have a farm in this village where a lot of people work. The income from this farm can feed the entire local government area, but the farm has been abandoned. There are tractors, but the government has abandoned the projects. It’s a problem of neglect of government. “
In a report published by SaharaReporter, primary schools in the area were named with their own unique challenges.
It stated, “Schools visited: (1) Ainebe Elementary School: A visit to this school shows that five (5) teachers have been assigned there. Four (4) were on duty. The structure of the school is in poor condition, there are no places even for students.
“(2) Ogodo Elementary School: There are only three (3) teachers in this elementary school, two were present and the third was absent. The head teacher told us that he asked to send more teachers to the school, but get ENSUBEB approval. The old structure of this school is in poor condition, but there is also a new structure.
“(3) Efeche Iaya Primary School. A visit to this school shows that the school premises are in poor condition, there were no teachers in the school as the children wandered while others sat at home, helping their parents with the housework needed to alleviate the plight of these children.
“(4) Efeche Aiebe:“ Two (2) teachers were assigned to this school and both were absent. The teachers we met in the field were two (2) teachers working in the community. Interaction with students showed that they are worried and eager to go to school, but the lack of teachers and classrooms for teaching is a major obstacle.
“Names of teachers sent: Mr. Augustine Akoji (who currently teaches at Kogi State University but works in Enugu State as a teacher at Ette); Akoji Mary (daughter of Augustine Akoji, who lives in Abuja and receives a salary as a teacher in Etta) and director Mr. Simeon.
“(5) Idekpe Elementary School: This school has seven (7) seconded government teachers, but only two were present and the whereabouts of the other teachers were unknown at the time of our visit.
“(6) Olyama Elementary Schools: (2) teachers were assigned to this school, only one was present, the director, Mr. Daniel Aquu, was absent.
“(7) Adupi Elementary School: A visit to this school reveals that five (5) teachers were assigned to the school, four (4) were present, and the whereabouts of the fifth were unknown. Missing (1) Philip Nelson Itodo said the school wants Mr. Philip to be a stubborn teacher who never goes to school.
(Ogboyaga Elementary School: Two (2) teachers have been sent to this school, none of whom have been seen on duty. The school is in a deplorable state.
“(9) Emachanye Primary School: No teachers were seen in this school. Due to the attitude of the seconded teachers to this school, the facility was converted to a private school to help the children of this community learn.
“(10) Unyi Ette Elementary School: A report from this school shows that a teacher seconded from Kogi State was seen on duty, while those assigned from Enugu State were not on duty. The details of their whereabouts have not yet been established.
(11) Ayisi Elementary School: A visit to this school reveals that four (4) teachers were assigned to this school, two were present and two others were absent. The school is in a state of disrepair, and the students have no seats or desks in the classrooms. “
Ogo Ayisha’s school is in the same state. Not a single teacher in school and school is in a deplorable state.
Umuagada School has only one teacher, (1) Ugwuani Ndidiamaka, whose whereabouts are unknown, and also the teacher of Ms. Ogwuch Felicia, who is the headmaster of the school.
(12) Oliepe Primary School: During the visit there was a good review of this school. Six teachers were assigned to the school and all of them were present at work. The school is in good condition, teachers urge parents to send their children to school, since they are fully prepared to teach them.
(13) Ette Central School: The school is very well structured and well equipped. Eight teachers were seconded to the school, six (6) of them were present at work, and two were absent at the time of the visit.
(14) Adokpe Elementary School: There were no teachers assigned to this school. The structure of the school is in good condition. Only PTA teachers were available to help students learn.
(15) Elementary school in Ilea: The teachers were not seen at the school because all classes were closed. “
Source: – Sahara Reporter.
