The village of Okoijorogu in Delta State,
Nigeria, did not have a school. Children would walk miles, braving the traffic
on the highway, braving storms and rain, bad weather and potholes. They would
run the gauntlet of bad weather, difficult terrain, incomparable traffic and
highway vehicular movements, and even their own health and physical conditions
just to be able to go to school.
In this day and age when Education has been
perceived not just as an ideal, but as a Millennium Development Goal – a bare minimum
that simply needs to be provided no matter what – it was disheartening and
unacceptable that this was the plight of the children in Okoijorogu. On the one
hand, Malala Yousufzai fought the Taliban in her crusade for her right to
education. On the other hand, her compatriots in Delta State were no different
– except that they simply hadn’t even had a school to go to, to start with.
To still pursue the education that they
dreamed rightfully to have, they were forced to cross the dangerous and
unattended Benin/Sapele Express Road on the way to the neighbouring village –
this road is a hub of traffic, construction and rough activity that can be
disparaging to the safety of the children. Consequently, it wound up depriving
many children from five years of education – since many children relied on
transportation by their mother’s backs – as mothers cannot participate in this
owing to their statuses as bread-winners of their families. Should they leave those
responsibilities and take their children to school, their families might have
to go without a meal. The nearest school was situated 4 kilometres, and it did
not have chairs, either. If they continued without assistance, a child might have
lost his life while crossing the express road. Nigeria has about 190 school
days in a year. One need not be an expert to understand the impact this lengthy
trip might have on children.
When Delta Women came to understand that
this was the prevailing scenario, we lost no time in ensuring that we would
fight for the justice and the rights that these children, and their children in
the coming years deserve. In the process, we began out activism by reaching out
to the Ministry and letting them know that they had a duty to the children of
Okoijorogu, a duty that obliged them to take action in interests of not only
the children, but also of the community and its future.
We wrote letters, campaigned online
aggressively and also sent petitions to the Ministry. We blogged extensively,
wrote to the ministry and commissioners, and finally, the school was
sanctioned. In pursuant to this, the NGO had written a request letter dated 21,
August 2012 with reference number DW/Oku/001 to the state governor, Emmanuel
Uduaghan, the speaker, Delta State house of Assembly, Hon. Victor Ochei, and
the state commissioner for basic and secondary education, Professor Patrick
Muoagbahare.
We also started a group on
Facebook to garner support for our cause. We made a video that we uploaded on Youtube and
sought to garner more international attention. Our campaign was made into a CNN iReport and eventually,
the sanction for the school was given. There has been considerable improvement,
and the school is in the process of being built currently.
What’s happening currently is what you see
in these pictures! The job is being done by the Universal Basic Education
group, (UBE) in collaboration with the government of Delta State!
At this point, we would like to extend our
heartfelt gratitude to our team, the volunteers, our well-wishers and all the
people who supported our venture. We are also especially grateful to the
Governor for keeping his promise.
