The Untold Story of Akwa Ibom Community Where Collapsed Bridge Hinders Children’s Access to Secondary Education

Children from Aka Ikot Udo Eno, Ibiono Ibom Local Government Area, Akwa Ibom State, have long settled for primary education as their zenith for all the formal learning they can acquire in life, as far as they remain in the community.

For any of them to think of schooling beyond primary school level, such a child must be considering either trekking for a distance of more than 20 miles daily to Ono, a community where there is a government secondary school, or looking at another open option of taking a huge risk of swimming across a river to another community, to, and from school daily.

Why this sad experience has become the fate of Aka Ikot Udo Eno children is that the bridge that linked the community with Ikot Anseyen, a far away community in Ikono Local Government Area, where primary school leavers used to trek to, to attend secondary school has collapsed into the river, making going to school almost impossible.

The bridge, it was gathered, was considerably a better option than to trek almost a whole day before it collapsed. Now, the situation has somewhat conditioned the minds of the children who see it as a fate seemingly orchestrated by government’s long neglect of education and rural development.

However, given this life’s happening which they never bargained for, most of the primary school leavers in the community have long dusted themselves and moved on, joining in their parents’ craft of making local mats for commercial purposes.

For these children, joining their parents’ business, apparently, is a replacement to secondary education that circumstances have stolen away from them.

In the face of this unpalatable event, it is feared that if this situation lingers around, Ibiono Ibom might be grooming good number of out-of-school children for the state in future, a similitude of what we have in the Northern part of Nigeria, as Aka Ikot Udo Eno Community appears to be helpless, having exhausted all possible avenues to get help.

Following a social media post made by a member of the community, which highlighted the plights of school children and others in the community, Kristina Reports visited the community on Saturday, August 17, 2024.

In a chat with Kristina Reports, the Village Head of the community, Etteidung Sunday Okubre Bassey, lamented that the collapse of the bridge had dealt a serious blow on the community, as the situation was signalling a future where children from the area would largely remain without education beyond the primary level.

He said if such future would be allowed to come to pass, it would be an open invitation to a calamitous society for Akwa Ibom State and Nigeria by extension, and would, in its wake, alter all developmental efforts being made to reposition the state and country.

While rhetorically querying how far in life only primary education can take one to, the traditional leader said even the primary education being offered in his community had been so adulterated that it was only one teacher that was tutoring from primary one to six, until recently when the number increased.

The traditional ruler who wondered how knowledge from a single teacher and only primary education could held the children navigate through life’s challenges and become nation builders, said given the near emptiness of primary education these day and age, the situation had even worsened, and would be practically impossible to have children from such system play positive roles in the project of moving Akwa Ibom and Nigeria forward.

“I’m so worried about the future of our children. If they can’t go to secondary school after primary, of what use will the primary be to them? Honestly, this situation, for me, is a signal to chaos and a bleak future for Akwa Ibom and Nigeria as a whole”.

He expressed fear of the imminent contribution of Akwa Ibom to the alarming number of out-of-school children in Nigeria, owing to absence or poor education, and however warned that such contributions should not be allowed to rear their ugly heads in the state that has Free and Compulsory Education Policy.

Etteidung Bassey regretted that the present situation had even punctured the interest in education of some children, as they had come to the warped consciousness that there would be no secondary school around to attend, on completion of primary school education.

“So many of our children who are supposed to be in secondary school now, have completely lost interest in furthering their education. You know why? They feel since they can’t swim or trek many miles away to attend secondary school after finishing primary, it makes no sense going to primary school in the first instance”.

Giving a background of the collapsed bridge, the village head told this investigative reporter that the bridge was constructed more than 20 years ago by a local engineer whom the community contracted, but said out of reach of construction materials had overwhelmed the community to attempt to contemplate pulling resources together again for another bridge.

The traditional ruler said the community could have chosen to remain quiet and continue managing the second road connecting the community to Urua Abasi, another community with a different tale of woes, despite its deplorable state and number of miles to trek, but feared that the water crossing this particular road could drown children, especially when rains come.

He recounted how many community dwellers and visitors as well who attempted to display a bravado spirit to cross the water lost their valuables, while some other visitors had simply turned back to where they came from.

For education, Etteidung Bassey disclosed that an individual in the community had attempted to provide an alternative by establishing a private secondary school in the area, but he added that the inability of most parents and guidance who are majorly local mat crafters to afford school fees, and also, sufficient hands to teach the students had remained another herculean challenge confronting his community.

The village head explained that apart from denying children their right of secondary education, the collapse of the bridge had also adversely affected their businesses of mat crafting and sales of gravels which are natural deposits in the area, the only two of their sources of livelihood.

He however expressed concern that the community was doing well in the days of the life of the bridge, but its collapse, according to him, had crippled these sources of livelihood, as gravel and mat dealers no longer find the community attractive for business activities.

Speaking on the efforts made to rebuild the bridge, the village head recounted that the community had written countless of letters to the Akwa Ibom State Government and the member representing Ibiono Ibom in the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly, both past and present, to help construct the bridge for the sake of the future of the children, but lamented that nothing came out of those efforts.

Etteidung Bassey however pleaded with Governor Umo Eno to come to their aid and provide access roads to neighbouring communities so that primary school leavers in the community could go further with their education.

He said if not for the sake of the rich natural deposits and massive arable land for agriculture that should worry the government to come to their aid, the future of the children should preoccupy the attention of Pastor Umo Eno.

He therefore, expressed optimism that Governor Umo Eno, being a compassionate leader, and currently, investing in education in the state, the plights of Aka Ikot Udo Eno children and the community would be addressed swiftly.