A project awareness campaign embarked on by BugdIT’s Tracka team has revealed some shocking developments in Akanran, the capital of Egbeda/Ona-Ara Local Government, Oyo state. A constituency projects which ought to see to the supply of furniture as well as learning aids to junior secondary school pupils in the area is yet to see the light of the day.
When Tracka project tracking officer visited the community, dwellers and leaders lamented the sorry state of schools in the community as a result of lack of furniture for people to utilize during classes. Some school heads in the area further stressed that they have not received any furniture provision since 2014, a situation which forced pupils to provide their own furniture or resort to sitting on bare floors.
“The lack of furniture has reduced our student’s motivation for learning, especially since some of the parents cannot afford to make private arrangement for their wards”, a teacher who pleaded anonymity said. The teacher further added that the absence of learning aids and instructional materials has also made the impartation of knowledge a herculean task for teachers.
Another challenge facing the community is the persistent lack of electricity for so many years which has impacted negatively on the economic development of the community. The Balogun, a chief in the community disclosed that most of the petty traders and youths who need electricity to enhance their work have been forced to rely on generators, thereby leading to increase in the prices of goods and services. He also made mention of the recently constructed motorized borehole which did not last a month, even as efforts to get it repaired by the contractor has not yielded fruits.
The Akanran community has been struggling to survive as a result of negligence from government and their representatives, a situation which has made the community backward in terms of education, basic amenities and infrastructure. The people complained bitterly of being neglected by lawmakers representing them at the national assembly.
The mission of Tracka is to monitor capital projects and improve transparency and accountability in governance by demanding updates on projects implementation. During the sensitization exercise, Akanran residents were encouraged to engage their representatives for successful implementation of constituency projects, particularly the supply of furniture to selected schools in Egbeda/Ona-Ara Local Government at the cost of 23 million naira and the supply of learning aids for junior secondary pupils in selected schools in the local government area. Both projects are yet to be implemented.
