Rainstorm: Queen Elizabeth School, Ilorin, counts losses
By Adebayo Olodan
The management of Queen Elizabeth School(QES), Ilorin have been left rueing their losses following Saturday’s torrential rainfall that lasted three hours in major parts of Ilorin, the Kwara State capital.
While conducting our reporter round the school premises, the Principal, Senior Secondary School, Hajia Ramat AbdulRahman said the rainstorm damaged six electricity poles, facial boards and roofing sheets worth N400, 000. The Principal however expressed delight that no casualty was suffered.
Mostly affected by the development is the sports pavilion which is located at the entrance.
Speaking with National Pilot on Monday, Hajia AbdulRahman said, “I received a distress call on the havoc caused by the rain from one of my staff at the weekend, so I immediately rushed down first to ensure my students are safe and to assess the level of damages.
“On getting to the school, we had to call an electrician to disconnect the affected poles from power supply to ensure no one is electrocuted. I then put a call through to the Ministry of Education to inform them on the situation and I am glad our Permanent Secretary promised to dispatch a team to assess the level of damage and what needs to be done,” she disclosed.
Speaking further, she said, “When I heard, the sports pavilion was affected, I was a bit apprehensive because often times our students relax at the facility. Fortunately for us, they (the students) were in the dining hall when the rain started.”
The Principal added that but for the concurrent renovation of the school blocks under her administration, the situation may have been worse.
When contacted on Monday, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education and Human Capital Development, Hajia Maryam Garuba said she has already dispatched officers of the ministry to ascertain the level of damage.
“I have already alerted our officers and they have been asked to visit the school in order to know the level of damage and what should be done. It is not only Queen School that was affected, we have received calls from other schools affected by the rainstorm and we shall evaluate all the losses and how to go about putting those facilities back in place,” she stated.
Among the schools affected by the rainstorm, this medium gathered include; Amoyo Primary School and Government Day Secondary School, Adeta.
It would be recalled that several residents of llorin, the Kwara capital, were rendered homeless as a result of the torrential downpour, Saturday evening.
Some of the affected buildings, which had their roofs blown off by the storm, were Ganmo, Gaa-Saka, Alore Guniyan, Agbooba, Adewole, Kuntu, Magaji Ogidi compound and Okelele among others. Several belongings of the victims including clothing, food items, electrical gadgets and other valuables littered the ground in the affected areas.