*… employs canoes to bring pupils to school

*…teaches pupils with borrowed textbooks, personally pays teachers

By Elizabeth Osayande

It is often said when life throws at you a lemon, you make a lemonade from it. Such is the story of 23 years old January Urban Wheduto , one of the founders of Divine Nursery and Primary School, House on Lagoon, Makoko Water Front, Yaba, Lagos, where about 147 pupils are being offered tuition-free education.

Divine Nursery and Primary School is one of those low income homes that carter for children, especially orphans and other less-privileged in the slum of Makoko.

Despite being young, Wheduto, with the help of his mother and partners provide a shelter for pupils who hitherto would not want to have anything to do with formal education, talk less of walking a distance to town where Lagos state government built schools.

On the side of their parents, they prefer their wards stay at home and help them earn a living from the meagre income they get from their fishing occupation.

However, a recent visit to the school saw the deplorable condition these young future leaders learn under.

READ ALSO: Makoko flooded school caters for 350 pupils free of charge; demolished

While the pupils sit on wooden planks to learn, there was visibly no chair and desks for either the children or the instructors.

Again, the space provided by January’s mother seem small as the pupils were packed.

‘Why we set up the school/home despite the challenge of having to force the pupils to class, lack of teaching and writing materials’

“In Makoko community, we find that 70% of children are out of school. So, in 2019 after I wrote the West African Examinations Council, WAEC, I decided to set up this place with the help of four of my friends and my parents especially, my mother, Mrs. Janet Wheduto who supports us with resources from her meagre fish and firewood business.

“We set up this place as most parents here do not value education. They are mostly concerned with getting their daily bread from the little income they get from fishing, which is our major occupation.

“And for the pupils, life in the water is all they do. So going to the land where the government built schools is usually difficult. And they find walking to school, which they said is far, difficult.

“So, in order to get these Makoko children off crime, we gather them on daily basis and teach them. However, since the home is not registered, we get most of our teaching materials from friends in the city.

“You can see that the children are happy learning. Presently, we have up to 147 pupils here,” he said.

Explaining the methods used in teaching the pupils, Wheduto said: “We teach them using English and French languages. This is because most of them are from Egun.

“Some parents prefer their wards learn only French language. That is why we have the classes divided into two: those that learn English and French languages and those that learn French language alone.”

Challenges

“The home basically offers free education. Since we started, no dime has been collected from any of the pupils.

“However, being free, pupils still find it difficult to come to school. So what I and my team did was to hire about six canoes that go to their houses to bring them to and fro to school.

“Yet, we still have to beg them to come, and this is partly why classes start late.

Any assistance?

According to him: “We have not had much assistance in the last two years that we started. Our assistance comes from within.

“For instance, we don’t pay ourselves as founders who teach the children. The only people we pay are the two teachers teaching English Language. One is paid N15,000, the other one is given N12,000 monthly.

“However, last year one of my friends gave us N50,000, which we used to make school uniforms. And only half of the pupils have school uniforms.”

Needs

The founder of the Makoko school explained that getting two additional canoes to bring the pupils to and fro to school, writing materials, fund to expand the space of the home, among other things are needed.

“We need to get more canoes to bring our pupils to and fro to school. They come to school without school uniforms; without writing materials such as books, pencils and pens; and we don’t have furniture to study as our children sit on the floor.

“We also need support to expand the space we are using in order to get more classes”

We feel happy coming to school, but…

Expressing delight that they could get a grasp of formal education, being from Egun, Badagry, where French is their major language.

“I am Kengbo Bose. Coming to school gives me happiness as I can now speak and write better in English Language a little

“The only challenge is that we sit on the floor, and I don’t have enough books to write,” she said.

For Gbenonnu Mesmin, “I don’t have a father. So, Divine Wisdom Nursery and Primary school is helping to learn so that I can be a doctor that will help treat sick people in my community.

“I want to say thank you to Uncle Urban for teaching me without collecting money,” the 13 years old Basic five pupils explained.

I assist him in teaching and paying teachers — Co-founder

Aside teaching the children, I also help to argument in paying salary to the teachers we employed. I am a pastor,” says Hungbo Frank.

I feel happy as our first Basic 6 students will be writing Common Entrance Examination

Expressing delight over the little progress he and his team were making in the lives of the pupils, young Wheduto said: “We are so happy that our first set of primary six would be writing Common Entrance Examination into secondary school.

“Despite the challenges we are facing, our Basic six pupils will be writing the common entrance examination. We plan to coach them with external help.

“Then we will look for schools that will help in registering them although we are working to register our school with the appropriate authority,” Wheduto said. 

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