By Ben Atonko
Roman Catholic Mission (RCM) Primary School Adamgbe, founded in 1932 is the oldest primary school in Vandeikya LGA and the second oldest in Jechira land.
Today, it stands in a very sorry state — a silent testimony to how far we have fallen in prioritizing basic education. Walls are left bare. Roofs have been ripped off by wind and rain.
In the classrooms, teachers still rely on outdated chalk and blackboards to teach children who are supposed to be the future of Benue State.
Yet in the same land, appointees of Governor Hyacinth Alia, traditional rulers and religious leaders cruise the dirt roads that crisscross our poor agrarian state in exotic cars reportedly worth N280 million. The contrast is painful.
The irony is starker at St. Robert Catholic Rectory, Adamgbe, the founder of the school, which receives serious attention and regular maintenance.
Meanwhile, the school that builds the future leaders, the doctors, teachers and politicians of tomorrow is left to rot.
What kind of life will children who pass through RCM Adamgbe live? What kind of people are we becoming?
This school is not ordinary. It boasts of men and women who have excelled in diverse areas of endeavour.
Some are professors. Some are big politicians. Some are leaders in government and the private sector.
The foundation they got was laid here, in these same crumbling classrooms.
Governor Alia’s government has repeatedly claimed it has renovated all dilapidated schools in Benue State.
It also claims to be running free primary education. If this is “free education,” then it is free indeed — free of roofs, free of desks, free of modern teaching tools.
What is the essence of opening new universities and announcing mega projects when basic education is barely provided? Is this not putting the cart before the horse?
You cannot build a house from the roof. A state that neglects its primary schools is mortgaging its future.
The children of Adamgbe, Mbayongo, and Vandeikya deserve better.
They deserve classrooms with roofs, teachers with tools and a government that matches its words with action.
We must ask: will we allow this legacy to collapse on our watch?
The time to act is now.
