by Ajadi Daniel
To these communities where the projects are abandoned, development is everything but a blessing. They are calling on the government to pull down the structures because they are now threat to lives and properties, according to the community leaders, the buildings have become weak and viberates at every sound, it has become the abode of criminal elements in the community. They have written several letters to the government, and even a coalition of NGOs have come to their aid to release a press statement on the issue, all to no avail.
The Schools have been abandoned for close to six years, and the Lagos State government has failed to yield o calls by community leaders and NGOs to continue the project. The Schools are Onike Girls High School, Yaba; Fazil Omar High School, Iwaya; St. Francis Junior Grammar School, Iwaya; and Igbobi Junior High School, Igbobi.
According to a Press Statement by a coalition of NGOs obtained by YMonitor dated September 17, 2015, The School buildings are almost at the stage of completion with roof, doors and windows, the statement also read that the projects were abandoned by the immediate past administration and have continued to deteriorate thereby constituting nuisance .
The Press Statement also read that “Information gathered revealed that construction of the modern school building in each of the above-mentioned schools was awarded by Lagos State Government Lagos Metropolitan Development and Governance Project (LMDGP) to CONTRANSIMEX Nigeria Limited. The construction which commenced on 12th January, 2009 and was expected to be completed by July 2010, is believed to be a World Bank Assisted Project. According to the contractor, “the project was abandoned because the contract was terminated and while trying to reconcile accounts as jointly agreed upon by both parties, the Lagos State Government has hitherto only made part payment, thus the project could not be completed”.
“We therefore task Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, Governor of Lagos State cum Commissioner for Education, Lagos State on the completion of the abandoned 3-storey school buildings at Onike Girls High School, Yaba; Fazil Omar High School, Iwaya; St. Francis Junior Grammar School, Iwaya; and Igbobi Junior High School, Igbobi for the benefits of the students, teachers, parents, community members and as a way of improving the quality of education in Lagos State”
Despite the press release and several letters written to the Lagos State government by the communities where these projects are located, the Lagos State government has failed to continue the project two years after the press release.
YMonitor visited the locality last year october and we confirmed that the projects were actually World Bank Assisted projects, we spoke with community leaders who confirmed the report, and most of them urge the government to come pull down the building because it is already constituting threat to lives and properties.
Apart from the fact that the project has become habitation for criminal elements in the area, the building is becoming weak and vibrates at every sound.
The question is, if the Lagos state government is responsible for the project in partnership with the world bank, what then happened in the course of the project to warrant the contractor abandoning the project when it is almost completed? Why is no one coming to give explanation for the abandonment of the project at its final stage? Why has the Lagos state government not responded to the letters written by the community association on the state of the projects?
The most important thing for us at YMonitor is that the State government should go back to complete the project or pull the projects down to avert any loss of lives and properties that may rise if the abandoned projects collapsed. We would rather implore the government to complete the project as it would better the lives of the citizens in the area.