Kwara State Governor, Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq has apologised to ‘special needs’ children in the state over the decrepit condition of their school and the lack of facilities there.
“Now that I have seen things for myself, I know the depth of the problem we have in this sector and we’ll be responsible in allocating scarce resources. We’ll come back here to ensure that basic standards are met. The truth is that basic needs are not met and it is a shame,” AbdulRazaq said during a visit to Kwara State School of Special Needs, Apata Yakuba, Ilorin.
“As a government, we want to apologise to them for living in this kind of condition and we will make sure that minimum standards are met.”
Abdulrazaq toured the school facilities along with some government officials and administrators of the school.
In what seems a deliberate move to give them a sense of belonging, AbdulRazaq took turns to shake hands with the children and the teachers of the school whom he commended for their resilience and commitment.
He directed the Permanent Secretary, State Ministry of Education and Human Capital Development, Mariam Garuba, to urgently submit a recommendation to the government on what the school needs to give the children a good head start in life.
Aroyehun Faoziyah, principal of the special needs school, said they lack basic amenities to take care of the children even as the classrooms are totally dilapidated.
She said the school lacks toilets while its clinic is without basic drugs to treat malaria and other common ailments.
Abdulrazaq had earlier visited the office of the Deputy Governor Kayode Alabi to assess the facilities that are mostly damaged.
He also visited the Kwara Hotel to assess its facilities.
SIKIRAT SHEHU, Ilorin
