The Old Boys of Government Secondary School, Ilorin (GSS) have a great plan for their alma mater, which is counting down to its centenary celebrations. They are giving the school N1 billion for its infrastructural development.

The National President of the alumni association, Alhaji Nurudeen Alabi told reporters yesterday in Ilorin, the Kwara state capital, adding that the old boys would intervene in the refurbishment of classrooms, building of upgrading of the school information technology centre (ICT) etc.

He also urged old boys associations in the country to complement government efforts in the educational sector by giving back to their alma mater.

This to him is the way out of the parlous state of the country's educational sector.

Alhaji Alabi decried the rising insecurity in parts of the country, saying it is capable of threatening the educational fabric of Nigeria.

Said he: "The decay in infrastructural facilities in schools is a nationwide problem in Nigeria. The way out is for all who have benefited from the schools to rise up to the occasion by assisting government in giving back to their alma mater.

"Government alone cannot do it because there are so many areas of contending needs. So the old boys are the prime movers in addressing the decay; thereafter they also identify all the stakeholders.

"The issue of insecurity in parts of the country is certainly a threat to the educational sector. The way out is for our leaders to have the political will because mere wish to solve the problem may not be the way out. Of course every member of the society should rise to the occasion because this is a challenge that can threaten the very fabric of the society where somebody is going to school and you are not sure of his safety and security. It creates a lot of questions. So the earlier government sees it as a major problem, as a cankerworm the better for the educational sector of the country.

"You can imagine the plight of parents of the affected schools and even those who are not parents, because what is happening there can happen elsewhere; so it is an issue that must be holistically confronted otherwise it might affect the very fabric of education in the country."

On the centenary celebration, the association president said that "situation of things in most schools in Nigeria now are not as they used to be in the years back and as stakeholders we think we have a gap to fill to complement same in the government efforts.

"It behooves on every responsible person of the old boys to rise to the occasion; to see that missing gaps that exist. We have a vibrant old boys; so we have been trying to identify critical areas we can intervene as save our school, so that we can restore lost glory.

"The celebration will stretch for a week starting from the October 23rd to November 1st of this year. Basically, we intend to mobilize our members and our well wishers as well to assist us in filling the gaps so that name and glory of the schools can be maintained. This has been the driving motive for us.

"The first intervention is the one that will directly affect the academic attitude of the students. In the olden days if you were a student of that school you were almost certain of coming out well. The magic was simply that the school was well equipped. We are also looking at getting the laboratories well equipped; getting decent classrooms for the school for teaching to more interesting and upgrading of information technology centre (ICT) of the school etc Perimeter fencing of the school."