Government Secondary School Ilorin (GSS), established in 1914, is one of the oldest schools in Northern Nigeria, and until recently boasts of excellent teaching and learning facilities. The school accepts students from the 19 Northern states based on a robust exchange programme.

The school, which runs both day and boarding sessions, was later converted to a full-time boarding school with the students required to live in school throughout the academic session. However, students were allegedly left without proper care and attention while ageing buildings and learning facilities remained in deplorable conditions. A visit to the school by this reporter revealed inadequate furniture in the classrooms and laboratories while most of the doors and windows in the dormitories were broken.

Senior students who were writing the Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (SSCE) during the reporter's visit said they lacked proper care while poor sanitation facilities and dilapidated buildings have created space for poisonous reptiles including snakes. The water closets and bathroom fittings were blocked; one student seen bathing in the open said there were rats, lizards and snakes hiding in the filthy toilets and bathrooms.

Despite being a government school, the students said they paid N56, 000 as admission fees and N30, 000 in subsequent terms without getting effective services. Exchange students don't pay schools fees, another senior student said, adding that most parents assumed that adequate care and facilities were provided as is obtainable in other schools. He said, "We paid N56, 000 as new students and N30, 000 for subsequent terms but we don't know what they are using the money for. Exchange students don't pay fees.

"The environment is not conducive for learning at all and the school authority insisted that we must all be boarding students. We complied but our continuous stay here has exposed us to a lot of danger and social vices." Many of the basic amenities provided in the past that attracted a lot of day students to the hostels have decayed, he added. He said the poor sanitary condition of the school had forced students to desert one of the hostels and that many parents who took time to inspect school facilities have transferred their children to better schools. "You do not need any explanation. You can see for yourself what we are going through here. No electricity, no safe water, no food and the environment is the most horrible one can ever think of. Parents are moving their children to better schools.

"We carried out the electricity wirings in some hostels to be able to read at night. The buildings do not have windows, doors and ceilings. We are just living here like criminals. The electric wiring is faulty in many places. "One of the hostels was deserted because we discovered snakes, rats, scorpions and other reptiles there," he said. In many instances, miscreants and robbers were said to have scaled the fence to hide in abandoned school buildings.

He said, "We frequently see armed robbers in our hotels. One of them recently threatened to shoot us when we tried to raise alarm. All these have serious effects on us because some of us might be tempted to join them since there is no security or somebody to check us. "For some time now we have been feeding ourselves. Although the school is on holiday but there was no feeding arrangement for those of us writing the SSCE. "We were allowed to cook but warned not to set the hostels on fire. Where do they expect us to get the food to cook?"

The president of Exchange Students in the school, Sirajudeen Sheu, a final year student, appealed to the state government to come to the aid of the school. "We usually receive visitors who promise to renovate the school but after that we won't hear anything from them again. "As you can see, we usually move our bunks around whenever it is raining because all the roofs are leaking. We came from different states such as Kano, Borno, Yobe, Kogi, Benue and Plateau but all these states give care to exchange students. So why is our own different?"

The school had celebrated its centenary anniversary in 2014 where the old students pledged to provide teaching and learning facilities. The school authority could not be reached after several attempts but a top state official said government was aware of the difficulties faced by students in some schools and that such schools would be renovated. The Senior Special Assistant to the Kwara State Governor, Dr. Muideen Akorede when contacted said the school is one of the main concerns of the government.

"The school is one of those that government planned to renovate with the N20 billion bond from the capital market. Once the bond is available, the schools would be renovated," Akorede said.