The group has called on FCT Minister Nyesom Wike and Senator Ireti Kingibe to address the long-standing neglect of the school, which has been in a state of disrepair since its establishment in 2008.

A primary school in the heart of Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, has become a symbol of government neglect, leaving over 500 children to learn in hazardous conditions. 

MoniTNG, a non-governmental organisation advocating for education reform, has exposed the deplorable state of the LEA Primary School in Sabon Gari-Orida, Karshi, under the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC).  

The group has called on FCT Minister Nyesom Wike and Senator Ireti Kingibe to address the long-standing neglect of the school, which has been in a state of disrepair since its establishment in 2008.

Established in 2008, the school was constructed by the Sabon Gari-Orida community using mud blocks in the hope of providing basic education for their children.

However, over 500 pupils are now struggling to learn in an environment unfit for human habitation. 

Decaying structures, a lack of furniture, and a general absence of essential learning materials paint a grim picture of government neglect.

Sixteen years later, the school remains in ruins, with no meaningful government intervention despite billions allocated to education in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).  

Despite the Federal Government’s stated commitment to education — allocating approximately 30% of public sector spending to the sector — the reality on the ground tells a different story.

Pupils at LEA Primary School are forced to sit on bare floors in dilapidated classrooms.

The buildings are so severely damaged that they have become a refuge for snakes, creating a hazardous environment for both students and teachers.

According to MoniTNG, "We visited LEA Primary School, Sabon Gari-Orida, Karshi AMAC, FCT Abuja, and what we found was nothing short of a crisis. Established in 2008, this school was built by the community using mud blocks, yet it has remained in a state of extreme neglect. Over 500 children are being denied access to quality education, forced to learn in unsafe and inhumane conditions.

"Pupils sit on bare floors, with no desks or chairs. The classrooms are dilapidated and crumbling, creating serious safety hazards. Snakes hide in the cracks, and the environment is anything but conducive to learning.

"Despite the Federal Government allocating 30% of public sector spending to education, this school has seen no meaningful government intervention. The only time officials appear is during elections, making empty promises while the children of this community suffer," they added.

Speaking with SaharaReporters, the FCT Universal Basic Education Board (UBEB) Chairman, Dr Alhassan Sule, had said the board had commenced distribution of facilities to schools across the six area councils, adding that more inteventions would still come. 

The chairman noted that most of the schools in need were established by the Area Councils and only handed over to the board to monitor. 

He had said, "I constituted a committee to look at these issues in the area councils. Like in Mpape, we made provision for six hundred students, some that were in private school because of the economic hardship they had to come back to public school increasing the population to 1000. So the population keeps increasing. 

“We keep an open door policy to education. Even a child if he doesn’t have uniform, let him come, the most important thing is to be in school. 

“Most of those schools we have them in our action plan already”

“Where you see children standing in a community, I asked them; what can you do because I don’t want these children to be menace tomorrow and so we are working on it; more interventions are still coming.” 

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