FCT Village Head Reports Children in His Community No Longer Attend School

HRH Alhaji Sani Adamu, the village head of Dogon-Ruwa in the Gawu ward of the Abaji Area Council, has stated that primary school children in the community have stopped attending school because there are no teachers available.

In an interview with Abuja Metro at his palace on Thursday, Alhaji Adamu revealed that staff assigned to the Local Education Authority (LEA) primary school in the area have ceased to show up, forcing the children to remain at home.

He pointed out that the problem escalated after a year of bandit attacks in surrounding communities, which caused teachers to stop making their way to the vicinity.

Despite attempts by the palace, local elders, and the Parents-Teachers Association (PTA) Chairman to address the situation, there has been little to no response from the officials or the educators.

“When insecurity became a critical issue due to bandit attacks two years ago, teachers assigned to the school abruptly stopped coming,” he noted, adding that even though the security situation has improved in the past year, teachers have yet to return to the school. As a result, many parents are now involving their children in farming activities.

The chief expressed regret over the prolonged absence of education for the children, who have remained out of school for over a year.

He mentioned that the palace has established committees on multiple occasions to engage the LEA authorities in Abaji, but their efforts have not yielded any results.

“The only justifications we receive from the teachers are that Dogon-Ruwa is located too far from Abaji town and that the security situation is unpromising,” he explained.

Supporting the chief’s claims, PTA Chairman Shedrack Gambo emphasized that the teachers' prolonged absence presents a significant hurdle.

While parents are keen for their children to receive an education, the absence of teachers has halted the learning process completely.

The chief also criticized the dilapidated condition of the LEA primary school facilities.

“If you visit the school, you'll see that some roofs are missing while ceilings have collapsed. The structures are deteriorating as they remain unused,” he reported.

To remedy the crisis, Alhaji Adamu suggested that the FCT Universal Basic Education Board (UBEB) should hire local residents qualified with a National Certificate in Education (NCE).

“There are individuals in Dogon-Ruwa and neighboring villages like Gawu and Mawogi who are NCE holders. I advise the FCT UBEB to enlist them as teachers, since those dispatched from Abaji are reluctant to stay in the community,” he proposed.

In addition to education, the chief highlighted a severe shortage of clean drinking water, pointing out that many residents rely on water from ponds.

He noted that the community’s single hand-pump borehole cannot cater to the expanding population.

“We have numerous Tiv and Hausa farmers who have been engaged in yam cultivation for years. Given their numbers, a single hand-pump cannot accommodate everyone,” he lamented. He urged the local authorities to provide motorized boreholes to help resolve the water crisis.

An official from the area council, who preferred to remain unnamed, informed our correspondent that the council chairman had recently assured the community that these issues would be addressed during a visit.

“About two weeks ago, the chairman visited the village and promised the residents that more boreholes would be installed to tackle the water shortage,” the official remarked.