Governor Nyesom Wike will on Tuesday, September 10 commission the reconstructed Community Secondary School, Ubima, which abandoned by teachers and students after it was taken over by kidnappers.
The Special Assistant Electronic Media to the Governor, Mr. Simeon Nwakaudu in a statement said about 18 months ago, the premises of Community Secondary School, Ubima was a lion’s den. He further stated that the school was deserted and dangerous, adding ‘’teachers and students fled the facility. It was taken over by kidnappers who used the facility to hold their victims captive.’’
Nwakaudu described the situation as painful because of the state of affairs of the school, arguing that ‘’nobody could understand why kidnappers were allowed to turn the Community Secondary School, Ubima into their holding camp’’.
According to him, the former Rivers State Governor, Sir Celestine Omehia led other stakeholders to approach Governor Wike for his intervention and he heeded their request and took immediate action.
‘’On February 3, 2018, Wike flagged off the reconstruction of the Community Secondary School, Ubima. He explained that the decision to reconstruct the school was aimed at taking education to rural communities.
‘’Even as Minister of State for Education, Wike tried to intervene, but the former administration in the state drove the contractors away. As a minister, he ensured that the Federal Ministry of Education rehabilitated 22 schools in Rivers State.’’
He explained that the former governor, Sir Omehia commended Governor Wike for remembering the school at Ubima, which was forgotten by an indigene of the area while in government.
Nwakaudu disclosed that Wike made history by his decision to reconstruct the Community Secondary School, which was built through communal efforts in 1980.
His words: ‘’The reconstruction of the Community Secondary School, Ubima has been completed, the kidnappers have been sent packing and the school environment has been restored.
‘’This school abandoned by the immediate past administration is a sad reminder of the collapsed state of education infrastructure that Governor Wike inherited. Steadily and surely, he is re-writing the story of Rivers State.’’
The governor’s aide said new facilities were installed in the community school, which include the administrative block, modern classrooms, laboratories, hostels and staff quarters as well as a computer center.
Nwakaudu revealed that Governor Wike will today (Tuesday, September 10th) inaugurate the new reconstructed Community Secondary School, Ubima.