The Chairman, Orile-Agege Local Council Development Area (LCDA), Mr. Johnson Babatunde, on Friday handed over 15 classrooms and three administrative offices to three primary schools in the council area.
Babatunde while handling over blocks of classrooms and offices to the schools, said that it was better to build more classrooms than constructing roads.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Babatunde handed over a block of six modern classrooms to Araromi Primary School; a block of four modern classrooms with a store to Yewa Primary School; and a block of five modern classrooms and a block of three offices to Saka Tinubu Primary School.
Babatunde said that the school buildings were dilapidated, “so we decided to make these schools conducive for the children and teachers.
“The whole structures were dilapidated, when it rains the teachers and school children cannot stay in the class, so we decided to come in and intervene.
“We cannot be building and constructing roads while neglecting our own future.
“Our future are these children and that is the more reason we came here to put up these structures.”
He said that his intervention was based on the fact that the administration was noted for impacting on the lives of the people.
“If children in Ikoyi and Victoria Island are enjoying this kind of facility, what stops our own children in Agege from enjoying this kind of facility. That is why we decided to intervene,” he added.
According to him, the administration has given same transformation to 12 out of the 24 primary schools in the LCDA and was working hard to make the remaining ones conducive for teaching and learning.
Babatunde said that his administration had done same at Alaagba Primary School, Methodist Primary School, Ideal Primary and Shiloh Primary School.
The chairman said: “We are promising the teachers and pupils new set of furniture.
“We have a lot of laudable school programmes. We are going to build school fences and put gates to ensure security.
“Adequate and modern toilet facility will also be provided. We also want to see what can be done on the provision of temporary teachers so that these children will not be left behind.”
According to him, some of his administration’s school projects have been attracting many children to schools.
He said that some parents who had taken their children away from public schools were now bringing them back.
Babatunde, however, said that the council was only making the classroom available for students’ use while the proper inauguration would be done later when other projects were concluded.
The chairman, who noted that he was using tax payers money to fixed roads, healthcare centres, and schools, appealed to the teachers and pupils to maintain the facility.
Speaking, Mrs. Sherifat Adedoyin, the Permanent Board Member, Lagos State University Basic Education Board (SUBEB), described the projects as laudable.
Adedoyin said it would go a long way to affect teaching and learning process.
Adedoyin said: “Making our own children to learn under serene, good, comfortable and convenient environment is the best gift for them.
“There is no how these children will not concentrate. Good buildings are very serene for teachers to always teach well and for the pupils to understand,” she said.
NAN reports that the excited pupils and teachers sang praises to God and to the council boss for the renovations
The new classrooms and offices had iron doors, casement windows and modern ceiling fans. (NAN)
