By Abdulkareem Haruna 

Maiduguri, Nigeria – As the rainy season commences, children’s education in public schools in Maiduguri is under threat. Many public schools in areas without adequate drainage systems have already been flooded, and the Ngomari Gana Primary School is one of the worst affected. 

After a first major downpour, the entire premises of the Ngomari Gana Primary School have become submerged, making it a contaminated water collection point for all the dirty water in the neighbourhood.

The school is situated at the bottom of a wide street, causing water from both dump sites and overflowing latrines to flow into the large, low-lying area of the school’s compound.” 

The flooded school has overwhelmed the restrooms, lavatories, and toilets, which are now inaccessible to the students.

Earlier this week, tHT reported that Plan International, a non-governmental organisation, had commissioned and handed over a set of inclusive toilets to the school to o promote inclusion for gender and individuals with special needs. However, it appears that the children must swim through contaminated water to access the toilets.”

The situation poses significant challenges to the issue of WASH (Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene), especially as the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET) and the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) had warned of the worst floods in 2022.

The water drains from this neighbourhood and drains into the school

The flooding has disrupted children’s education in the affected schools in the past, and the situation will likely worsen as the rainy season progresses. 

The lack of access to clean water and proper sanitation facilities also increases the risk of waterborne diseases among the students, further compounding the crisis.

The government and relevant authorities must take urgent steps to address the situation and ensure that the affected children’s education is not further disrupted. Measures such as the provision of temporary learning spaces, the construction of drainage systems, and the provision of clean water and sanitation facilities must be put in place and a priority for all schools.

The Humanitarian Times makes this a position statement that the flooding of public schools in Maiduguri is a significant threat to the education of children in the area. The government and relevant authorities must act swiftly and decisively to mitigate the impact of the floods and ensure that the affected schools have the necessary facilities to provide a safe and conducive learning environment for the children. 

But before that is done, it is worth mentioning that the situation at Ngomari-Gana primary school is a disaster waiting to happen – and sadly, innocent children would be at the receiving end. This is feared because the Borno state government has no WASH policy or law that enforces WASH culture as stipulated in goal 6 of the SDG, despite advocacies by a few concerned civil societarians.