Panic and frustration have gripped Iyiowa Odekpe community in Ogbaru Local Government Area of Anambra State over the deplorable condition of its only government primary school, as residents appeal to Governor Chukwuma Soludo to urgently intervene.
The Landlords and Residents Association of the community has called on the governor to fulfil his promise to reconstruct Community Primary School, Iyiowa, whose facilities have deteriorated to the point of being inaccessible to pupils and teachers.
The school, comprising several classroom blocks constructed in 2010 under the UBE/PN/2010 intervention project, is now in a state of severe disrepair. Its premises are overgrown with thick bushes, while the classrooms and surrounding areas are submerged in swampy and waterlogged conditions.
The Chairman of the community, Mr. Sunday Peter Obinze, accompanied by other executives, led journalists on an inspection tour of the school, where they observed that the overgrown vegetation had become a potential breeding ground for snakes, other dangerous reptiles and mosquitoes.
Speaking with journalists, Obinze described the situation as unbearable, saying the community lacked the resources to address the problem.
He recalled that Governor Soludo, during his second-term campaign, promised to reconstruct both the community’s access road and the primary school.
“We are grateful to the governor because he has fulfilled his promise on the road. Work is ongoing as we speak. But we are reminding him that the primary school is still pending. The condition is too terrible for our children in this modern age,” he said.
Obinze expressed concern that children aged eight and nine were being exposed to potential health and safety hazards in their quest for education.
“It is painful to allow children of eight and nine years old to endanger their lives studying in an environment prone to diseases and deadly reptiles. We need the governor’s intervention,” he added.
He further recalled that the community supported Soludo’s re-election, expressing confidence that Iyiowa Odekpe would continue to support the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in future elections.
The Secretary-General of the community, Dr. Chukwunonso Okoli, displayed a letter previously sent to the governor to draw attention to the school’s condition.
The letter, dated September 18, 2026, and officially acknowledged on September 30, 2026, was signed by the community’s executives and stakeholders.
Copies were sent to the Speaker of the Anambra State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Somtochukwu Udeze; the member representing Ogbaru two Constituency; the Commissioner for Education; the Chairman of the Anambra State Universal Basic Education Board (ASUBEB); the Mayor of Ogbaru Local Government Area; and the Igwe of Odekpe, among others.
“It is unfair to subject pupils to this kind of danger. These children do not deserve this treatment in this present age,” Okoli lamented.
Also speaking, a resident, Chief Christopher Mgbike, thanked the governor for commencing work on the access road but urged him to extend the same intervention to the school.
“We thank the governor for the road project, which he promised on the same day he promised the school. We are now begging him to also reconstruct the school. Even teachers find it difficult to enter the classrooms,” he said.
Other residents expressed fears that pupils and teachers could be exposed to snake bites and waterborne diseases if urgent steps were not taken to rehabilitate the school.
They appealed to Governor Soludo to intervene and provide a safe learning environment for the children, stressing that the future and welfare of young pupils should not be compromised by the school’s deteriorating condition.
