Shut Ajegunle High School: Now Cultists’ Temple, Community Nightmare

Once upon a time, precisely in 2010, there was a flooding that left a bad taste in the mouth of the people of Ajegunle, Ikorodu road in Kosofe Local Government Area of Lagos. Its aftermath has since then led to the closure of Ajegunle Junior and Senior High School, the only public secondary school that serves the community and 13 others, till date.

What the community thought would be an intervention to fortify the school against environmental hazard, has lingered for almost a decade, ruined the buildings, gave room for hoodlums to vandalize the structures and turned the complex to a temple where the cult members meet for their nefarious activities.

It is an understatement to say the closure has altered the academic and social landscapes of the community. Both the parents and the children are having a bitter share of the closure.

Based on the long suffering, Chief Moyosola A. O. Oladunjoye, Baale of Ajegunle, pleaded with the government to do everything possible to bring back the school. “We have seen the impact of the government in this community but we cannot do with the school. Parents are not find it easy in terms of daily transportation fares so also the children who face traffic jam to and fro Mile 12 on daily basis. We have lost not fewer than five of our children to accident as a result of long distance to school. I believe Governor Akinwunmi Ambode is a listening governor. I hereby, on behalf of the community call on him to intervene and bring back our school. Our Community Development Association (CDA) had spent over three million naira to sand fill and make one of the buildings habitable for students. We need government to savage the school. Government can turn water to land and vice versa. We are calling on government to bring back our school to ease the suffering of the children and the parents,” the Baale said.

Conducting the Saturday INDEPENDENT round the school, Otunba Segun Ilesanmi, the secretary of the CDA, lamented the gross setback caused by the invasion of hoodlums.

‘The CDA has tried a lot to preserve everything within the school but the bad boys will stop at nothing in vandalizing and carting away the preserved valuables. Where they could not break the door, they entered through the ceiling and made away with books, computers and furniture. The worst scenario that gives the community so much fear is using the school for their initiation. As you can see, these are their symbols on the wall and black board, the bottle and sachet of hot drink on the floor. This has become more worrisome to the residents. As Baale said, we need government to complement our efforts so that the school can regain its lost glory. This school produced the best student nationwide in 2010 in person of Remi Shittu. We cannot allow it to die. It must be revived for the benefit of our children and the unborn generation,” the secretary said.

From the available correspondences between government and the community, Saturday INDEPENDENT gathered that the rights authority knew about the plight of the community but why the situation is allowed to linger is the question begging for answer.

In line with the parents and the community leaders, students also pleaded for the return of the school to the community. Margaret Ehinmore, a JSS 3 student said she would love to go school with less stress. “No matter when you leave home, we always get to school around 9am or after because of traffic snare on Ikorodu-Mile 12 Road. The junior school was relocated to Ajelogo while the senior school to Mile 12. Despite the fact that we trek a long distance, we still pay a minimum of five hundred naira for transport on daily basis. I will appreciate if government brings back the school to Ajegunle. It will make life easier for us,” she said.