Parents, Stakeholders Groan As Weeds, Reptiles Take Over Abandoned School

Months after the resumption of the 2026/27 school year, the Akwa Ibom State-run Qua Iboe Church (QIC) Secondary School, at Ibesit Anwa Udo, an isolated rural community in Oruk Anam local government area of Akwa Ibom State remains inaccessible by teachers, students and non-teaching members of the school management.

LEADERSHIP Sunday learnt that the apprehensive workers took a precautionary action to steer clear of the premises due to neglect by government, forcing only basic education facility to overgrow with weeds, turning the vast complex into a haven of criminal elements and reptiles including snakes, rodents and other wild animals.

“Because of the neglect, essential facilities like pipe-borne water, classrooms, lodge for corps members, laboratory for senior students, electricity facility and other educational infrastructure have been left to rot away,” Nkereuwem Essien, a community leader, lamented.

“The importance of basic education for the growing children cannot be over – emphasised because the government owe the citizenry a duty to secure the future of the boy and girl children through education, but for the children from Ibesit Anwa Udo, such luxury has become alien to them since the collapse of the only secondary school in their community.

“And because of the fact that children are prone to being lured into any criminal enterprise, the possibility of being indoctrinated into cultism at their early stages is high because no school to engage them,” he noted.

More worrisome to the community leaders, elders and stakeholders, according to Mfon Inyang, a retired teacher, “is the abandoned school could also serve as an abode or hideout for cultists who could the place to an initiation ground for new members.

“There’s a high degree of possibility that such avenue could serve armory where cultists, armed hoodlums and other criminal elements keep their guns for quick retrieval for criminal purposes especially during the forthcoming elections in January 2027,” Matilda Udofia, a Guidance/ Counselor, noted

Also tucked inside the premises with attendant wear and tear, it was gathered, is the uncomplicated classroom block erected as a constituency project of the Senate President Godswill Akpabio.

“The project had since been abandoned by the contractor because it is located in a remote village whereby the progress of work cannot be monitored.

“Therefore, because of its abandonment, cultists and armed hoodlums have taken over the afforested school and the stranded students are at risk of being recruited and their educational future truncated,” a community leader, who declined his name in print, stated.

However, to restore the old glory of the school which they recalled, had produced prominent professionals and leaders, the aggrieved residents called on the members of the school alumni, government and other stakeholders to rise towards salvaging the community school.

In a petition entitled, “A Call For Urgent Intervention: The Plight of Q.I.C. Secondary School, Ibesit Anwa Udo,” the concerned residents appealed for immediate action to restore the lost glory of the school

“Education in rural communities deserves the same attention, dignity, and investment as education anywhere else. No child should have their future limited by the poor condition of their school.

“The dilapidated state of Q.I.C. Secondary School, Ibesit Anwa Udo, Oruk Anam LGA, raises serious concerns about the learning environment, inadequate facilities, and shortage of teachers in our rural public schools.

“This is not an attack on any individual or government. It is a sincere appeal for action, accountability, and a better future for our children.

“The children of the poor deserve quality education, too. Their dreams matter, their future matters, and their education must not be neglected.

“We respectfully call on the Akwa Ibom State Government, the Ministry of Education, and all relevant authorities to visit this school, assess its condition, and take urgent steps to restore its facilities and improve the welfare of students and teachers.

“A neglected classroom today can become a lost opportunity tomorrow. Let us not allow poverty or the location of a school to determine the destiny of our children. We speak as a concerned citizens of Oruk Anam, and and we understand the pain of seeing the needs of ordinary people left unresolved.

“Our children deserve better. Our rural schools deserve attention. And the future of Akwa Ibom depends on the education we provide today for the children of the common citizen in our society.

“Let this appeal be heard. Let the necessary action be taken. Let no child be left behind,” the petition signed on behalf of other concerned residents by Comrade Eteete Udoudo, reads.

However, the Commissioner for Education, Prof. Ubong Essien Umoh, recalled that the State government led by Pastor Umo Eno, has invested massively in education reforms as one of the key pillars of the administration’s ARISE Agenda blueprint since assuming office in 2023.

He listed the construction of model schools with modern education infrastructure in all rural communities across the 31 local government areas, assuring that the ongoing emergency declared by the administration In the education sector, especially at the basic level, would be all encompassing.