Respite may have come the way of Opeji Secondary School which had been abandoned about half a decade ago and its students added to another school several miles away.
The people of Opeji in Odeda Local Government Area of Ogun State have roused themselves up to rehabilitate the school which is the only one in the town and was serving over 30 other suburban villages before it came to total disrepair due to long years of government's inattention.
Pictures above and below show the yet to be renovated blocks ruined by years of neglect.
The school had over long years of neglect became overtaken by forest with large trees in its classrooms while some of the dilapidated classes have been seized by Fulani Herdsmen who now sleep and cook there using it as their abodes.
But the people of Opeji have now mustered resources to rehabilitate the school as they are moved to pity by the daily suffering of their children who have to trek about 12 miles daily to Oke Ona Secondary School, the nearest nearby school where the students of Opeji were integrated.
The people are joined in the task by some old students of the school and some other good Samaritans who wanted the old glory of the school to be restored.
A portion of the school taken over by Fulani Herdsmen
A resident of the town who spoke with us on condition of anonymity revealed that "It has not been easy for these students as some of them have to crowd themselves as many as five, oftentimes, on a motorbike to go to school miles away".
He told us that many atime these students have had accidents on the way to or from school, sustaining serious injuries especially during the rainy season when the only road into the town skids.
When THE STATEPOST visited the site of the abandoned school, it was observed that one of the three blocks of classrooms in the premises has recently been cleared of bushes, repaired and re-roofed.
But even at that, the renovated block is still far from being tidy enough for educational purposes as there are no ceilings nor doors, Windows and burglarproofs yet on the classrooms.
Speaking with THE STATEPOST, the Baale of Opeji, Chief Rasak Adesina lamented that "it is like starting from the scratch but we don't want the school to die like that".
The now re-roofed block of classrooms (above) but still lacking necessary finishing like windows, doors, burglarproof e.t.c (as shown below).
He said that the on-going renovation would be accomplished instalmentally noting that the block adopted by the community for renovation out of the ruined three blocks of classrooms in the school compound is about fifty percent completed but "we still have to get the community to clear the whole compound and to employ teachers".
Chief Rasak therefore appealed to all members of the community not to be daunted by the Herculean project noting that apart from the matter of infrastructural rehabilitation, the school would still need blackboards, and other educational hardwares.
The Baale pointed out that government may not immediately look the way of the abandoned school but the community is determined to restore the school's glory and manage it till it comes back to government's reckoning.
Opeji Secondary School is reputed to be the alma matter for several notable people in government and in other spheres of life in the country as the school serves not only the indigenes of Opeji but several other tribes resident in the town and its several neighbouring villages since the town used to be the headquarters of Opeji Local Council Development Authority of Ogun State in the heydays of the past administration.
Meanwhile, THE STATEPOST observed that Opeji Secondary School is not the only amenity neglected by government in Opeji but the entire town. Opeji which is on the outskirt of Abeokuta and a boarder town of Ogun State with Oyo State is seemingly a reject of successive state governments as the place is bereft of government's attention.
The road into Opeji domiciled by the Ibarapa people, one of the ancient tribes that settled in Abeokuta is the first pointer of government's neglect as it remained untouched by several past governments. The road is a vestige of the demised Western Regional Government of Chief Obafemi Awolowo in the 60's.
The case of Opeji General Hospital which is expected to serve the town and over thirty other villages in the area is even worse.
The building has gone to rot as its ceilings have caved in and many parts of it have gone to disrepair since no repair was carried out on it in the last decade.
Government's hospital at Opeji pic 1
Government's hospital at Opeji pic 2
Government's hospital at Opeji pic 3
Information garnered by THE STATEPOST confirmed that the hospital has woefully failed to meet the health needs of the town and its surrounding villages as the people have to resort to assistance several miles away especially for maternity and other emergencies like when pregnant mothers begin to Labour in the dead of the night.
The hospital which is manned by only one or two health workers at a time is ran as if it has been deleted from the list of government's health outposts for its citizens.
The only facility still pristine in the "government forsaken town" is its Police Station which was recently built through the efforts of its Baale, Chief Rasak Adesina and was commissioned just last year by the Alake of Abeokuta and the Paramount Ruler of Egbaland, Oba Adedotun Gbadebo.
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