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From leaking roofs and flooded classrooms to children sitting on bare floors, Delta’s public schools have endured years of neglect while those entrusted with protecting the people’s interests looked the other way.

The Delta State Government’s approval of ₦10 billion for the construction and furnishing of classrooms in 92 public primary and secondary schools across the state is, on the surface, welcome news. Any genuine intervention aimed at rescuing public education from infrastructural decay deserves to be encouraged. Children deserve decent classrooms, teachers deserve conducive working environments, and parents deserve the assurance that their children are receiving an education in facilities that meet basic standards of safety and human dignity.

But beneath the announcement lies an uncomfortable question which Governor Sheriff Oborevwori and his government must answer: Why has it taken this long for the administration to demonstrate such urgency about the deplorable condition of public schools in Delta State?

Is this a sudden awakening to the importance of education, or is it an eleventh-hour attempt to address an embarrassing public perception that has continued to undermine the administration’s claims of delivering dividends of democracy?

For Deltans who have followed the persistent complaints about the condition of public schools, the latest approval is not necessarily a revelation of governmental compassion. Rather, it is an acknowledgement, perhaps unwittingly, of a problem that citizens, teachers, parents and concerned observers have repeatedly brought to public attention, often without receiving the seriousness it deserved.

THE PICTURE GOVERNMENT COULD NOT WISH AWAY

Only recently, the disturbing spectacle of pupils at Okwue Primary School, Owa-Nta, in Ika North-East Local Government Area, removing rainwater from their classroom brought the state of public education infrastructure in Delta back into the national conversation.

The footage was heartbreaking. Children who should have been concentrating on their lessons were seen scooping water from their classroom following rainfall. The classroom reportedly had a damaged or open roof, while its seating facilities were grossly inadequate.

It was an image that exposed, in the most humiliating fashion, the distance between official government rhetoric about development and the everyday realities confronting some of the state’s youngest citizens.

But Okwue Primary School was not an isolated reminder.

In October 2025, videos showing pupils sitting on classroom floors at Eghreka Primary School, Ewu, in Ughelli South Local Government Area, generated widespread public concern. Rather than allowing the disturbing images to trigger an unreserved examination of the condition of the affected schools, the Chairman of the Delta State Universal Basic Education Board, Hon. Samuel Mariere, attributed the videos to political opponents seeking to discredit the government.

He described the controversy as politically motivated and argued that the government had made substantial investments in school infrastructure and furniture.

That response was particularly revealing. It suggested that the first instinct of some government officials when confronted with uncomfortable evidence was to question the motives of those exposing the problem rather than engage sufficiently with the substance of the complaints.

Yet, whether a video is circulated by a political opponent, a concerned parent, a teacher or an ordinary citizen does not change the condition of a leaking roof, repair a broken desk or provide a seat for a child sitting on the bare floor.

The condition of a public school is not a political conspiracy. It is a matter of public responsibility.

In July 2025, another report by The Punch documented the deplorable state of schools in Opuama, Warri North Local Government Area. Classrooms had damaged ceilings and roofing sheets, pupils sat on broken chairs or bare floors, and the community complained about a shortage of teachers. The community’s education committee chairman disclosed that residents were even paying for additional teachers because government provision was inadequate.

These were not imaginary problems invented by political opponents. They were documented conditions that demanded administrative attention.

Indeed, on August 31, 2026, the state government itself announced that the Ministries of Primary and Secondary Education had been directed to assess schools across the 25 local government areas to identify those requiring rehabilitation, renovation or complete reconstruction.

That announcement was followed by the latest approval of ₦10 billion for interventions in 92 schools.

The sequence of events raises a legitimate question: how many more reports, videos, appeals and public embarrassments were required before the government moved from acknowledging the problem to approving substantial funding for its resolution?

A GOVERNMENT THAT SHOULD HAVE LISTENED EARLIER

The greatest indictment of this administration is not necessarily that some schools require rehabilitation. Infrastructure deteriorates, facilities require maintenance, and no government can reasonably promise that every public building will remain perpetually new.

The real concern is the apparent failure to respond with sufficient urgency to complaints about basic facilities that are indispensable to learning.

A classroom without a functional roof, adequate seating or safe learning conditions is not merely an old building awaiting renovation. It is a failure of the public education system to provide the minimum environment necessary for children to learn.

What makes the situation more troubling is that Delta is not a state without the financial resources to address its educational infrastructure. The state receives substantial public revenue and makes annual budgetary provisions for education and other sectors. Deltans are therefore entitled to demand explanations for the prolonged existence of such conditions.

If the government could approve billions of naira for other infrastructure and administrative priorities, why did the classrooms in which the future workforce of Delta is being educated have to wait for so long?

Why should pupils have to endure leaking roofs and inadequate furniture before their plight attracts the kind of executive attention now being advertised?

And why should a teacher’s appeal for help, accompanied by images of children struggling to remove water from their classroom, become a matter of public embarrassment before government responds?

These are questions that cannot be answered by invoking the MORE Agenda or repeating familiar assurances about bringing development closer to the people.

Governance is not measured by the elegance of its slogans. It is measured by the extent to which public resources are deployed to address the actual needs of citizens.

WHERE WERE THE PEOPLE’S REPRESENTATIVES?

The responsibility for this state of affairs does not rest exclusively with the executive arm of government.

Delta has a House of Assembly populated by elected representatives of the people. It has councillors and local government chairmen whose responsibilities include representing community interests and ensuring that the needs of their constituents receive appropriate attention.

Where were these representatives when pupils were sitting on bare floors? Where were the councillors and council chairmen when classrooms in their communities were reportedly leaking, dilapidated or unsuitable for learning?

Where were the lawmakers whose constituencies include communities where parents and teachers were crying out over the shortage of desks and other basic facilities?

The legislature has oversight responsibilities. Its members are expected to scrutinise government expenditure, interrogate public policies and hold ministries and agencies accountable for the delivery of services.

Local government representatives, equally, should not wait for viral videos before becoming aware of the conditions of schools within their jurisdictions.

The silence or apparent lack of sustained public pressure from elected representatives is a serious governance concern.

It raises questions about whether political loyalty and the preservation of relationships within the ruling establishment have, in some instances, taken precedence over the responsibility to speak for constituents.

A representative who cannot bring the suffering of his constituents to the attention of government, or demand explanations when public facilities deteriorate, has failed an essential part of representative democracy.

The duty of elected officials is not to defend every government action. It is to defend the interests of the people who elected them.

WHEN CRITICISM BECOMES THE ENEMY

Equally disturbing is the tendency to interpret legitimate criticism of government performance as an attack by political enemies.

The October 2025 response by the SUBEB chairman to the videos of pupils sitting on classroom floors is an instructive example.

Instead of allowing the images to open a broader conversation about school infrastructure, furniture distribution, maintenance and the needs of disadvantaged communities, the controversy was framed substantially around alleged political motives.

To be fair, the government presented its own figures. Mariere said SUBEB had constructed and distributed more than 16,000 dual desks in 2025 and that 234 classrooms had been built, including 162 through the 2024 UBE Intervention Fund and 72 by the state government.

Those figures deserve recognition and independent scrutiny. They do not, however, invalidate the evidence of schools still requiring urgent intervention.

Indeed, the government’s own subsequent decisions to assess schools across all 25 local government areas and approve a fresh ₦10 billion programme demonstrate that substantial infrastructure needs remain.

The important distinction is that government must never confuse criticism with hostility. Citizens who draw attention to leaking roofs, broken desks and unsafe classrooms are not necessarily enemies of the administration. They may simply be insisting that public institutions work as they should.

A responsible government should welcome such scrutiny, investigate the complaints and provide answers. It should not make the messenger the issue while the problem remains unresolved.

TO BE CONTINUED IN PART TWO.