For years, Nigerians have grappled with the fact that our collective action holds power, and when harmonized, we can single-handedly change the trajectory of the nation. This is why when our success and impact stories are hinged on change that happened as a result of community action, it gladdens our hearts. That is one more community with a testament to the power of community action.
The teachers and over 450 pupils at Salvation Army Primary School, Oke Atan in Ife East LGA of Osun State, had been suffering and carrying out their official duties under a cracked wall, dusty floor, and blown-off roofs for over six years. Despite several complaints to the local government and the Ministry of Education in the state, nothing positive was done.
During a call for tracking schools with dilapidated blocks of classrooms in the state in 2021, Salvation Army Primary School, Oke Atan, was one of the schools we captured.
Tracka visited the school and uncovered some information on budget implementation processes with the school headmistress, and she expressed some of the challenges facing them in the school: dilapidated blocks of classrooms without windows and doors, cracked walls, and blown-off roofing sheets, inadequate finance to manage the school needs and maintenances.
The headmistress lamented bitterly about the situation and how the school had become unsafe for the pupils and teachers and affected their work rate.
After listening to their plight, we called for the government’s attention to renovate the school blocks of classrooms, worked with the Parent-Teacher Association and enlightened them on various channels to engage with their representatives with the Tracka project publication and platforms, and they promised to follow up with the representative through visitations and calls.
The PTA commenced advocacy to all the necessary stakeholders, and we provided periodical support. The activities all paid off as in the 2022 FG budget, ₦17 million was allocated to the Renovation of Salvation Army Primary School, Oke Atan (ZIP20220985), under the supervision of the Public Complaints Commission.
We informed the PTA chairman and headmistress about the allocation, and they were overjoyed. We encouraged them to press on with the advocacy, as allocation does not equal execution. The project commenced in January 2023 with the renovation of an existing block of three classrooms, and the work was completed in February 2023.
The headmistress expressed her joy at the success of the advocacy that had begun in 2021. Mr Rafiu, a parent, said this was the first time he would witness a collective community effort bear fruit.
“Normally, we try to talk to the government, but they will not listen to us, or some people will go behind our backs to spoil everything, but this was successful. Thank you, Tracka, for helping us and relieving our pain,” he said.
Story by Ayomide Ladipo and Tolulope Akinola
