Dawaki, a rural community with an estimate of 4000 residents, is located in Kanke Local Government Area of Plateau State. The community Primary school which see’s to the education needs of 620 pupils has only 5 functional classrooms and 75 desks. Leaving the school authority with no choice but to merge children of different grades in one class, having as many as 6 children per desk and the larger number sitting on bare floor.

We have initiated the #EducateDawaki campaign advocating for immediate intervention by government in building better facilities to educate this community. We invite the public to get involved in the campaign today. Help us in this campaign so that Dawaki children will have access to a better learning environment.

Join us in amplifying the voice of this community via ifollowthemoney.org

The Community Demands For Better Service Delivery

05/09/2018: The Village Head of Dawaki Community, Nde. Julius Dimbak demanded that proper implementation should be carried out, with strict adherence to technical specifications, ceiling fans should be done away with as the school has no light, and all excesses from the project should be reinvested in building a toilet within the school premises.

The PTA Chairman Highlights Issues Surrounding The Completed Project

The PTA chair explaining to our FTM Plateau Chapter lead the issues with the implementation of the project

German Flooring Poorly Done

05/09/2018: The PTA Chairman Mr. Richard Ngorong states the following issues regarding the project:

  • Work plan for the construction was not adhered to
  • German flooring is flawed
  • Building is already wearing out even before it’s usage commences; open ceilings, broken floors etc
  • No standardization in construction fittings; low dangling ceiling fans were fixed which can injure the pupils
  • Ceiling is already falling off
  • After construction, the building was not handed over to LGEA or any authorities, contractors just went into thin air
  • SUBEB and UBEC are not aware of the construction
  • They are yet to ascertain Yakubu Dogara’s role in the whole project circle i.e if he truly put Dawaki as part of his constituency project.

Poor Execution of Project After Series Of Engagement

Completed Classroom Block

05/09/2018: The FTM Team visited Dakawi for a update report as regards the construction of classrooms to cater for the educational needs of the community. Although, construction has been completed, the team gathered that the project was poorly executed with series of issues emanating from the work done.

Contractors visit RCM Dawaki and kickoff construction

16/04/2018:  The community leadership called and informed Follow The Money that the construction of 3 blocks of classroom has started at the school.

SUBEB Chairman Assured Follow the Money of Immediate Intervention

30 November 2017: The Chairman of SUBEB, Prof. Sule commended the Follow The Money Team for picking up critical issues in community development such as education, and assured them that the board will intervene immediately in the school through accessing funds from government.

 

Community Ready to Provide Portions of Land for School Construction

30 November 2017: The PTA representative stated that; “The community is ready to provide portions of land and also clear them should the board decide to include it in its work plan”. He also said he and the village head had put some monies together in the past year to build classrooms with mud blocks but the rains were heavy and had brought down the structure before its completion.

 

Village Head tasks SUBEB on Reorientation of Stakeholders on Communication Channel 

30 November 2017: The village Head of Dawaki, Mr Nde Gombwer J. Dimgak spoke on behalf of his people to call for the reorientation of local communities on the appropriate channels of communication when the need arises especially in situations like this, stressing on the need for SUBEB to immediately intervene in the school.

 

Follow The Money State Lead Calls for Immediate Intervention From SUBEB

30 November 2017: Follow The Money State Lead in Plateau State, Preston Obadan further called on the State SUBEB to intervene immediately on the structural challenge that the school is facing to enable students learn under a more conducive environment stating that, “in as much as the report portrays PSUBEB in a bad light, the objective of the meeting is largely toward proffering a solution to improve the Learning environment in Dawaki community”.

 

SUBEB Claimed They are not Aware of any Intervention

30 November 2017: The Chairman of SUBEB in the State, represented by the Permanent Member on the board of SUBEB, Sarah John Ramadan, claimed the board were not aware of any intervention in the school that brought in contractors who later disappeared and also accused the headteacher for not informing the Board on such development. She further said that SUBEB sends out it monitoring teams round schools for regular assessments on infrastructure and the quality of education been dispensed in the State. She also advised communities to report their challenges to the board.

 

Dawaki Community Stakeholders Met with SUBEB

Community Members with SUBEB Officials

30 November 2017: Members of the Dawaki community went for a meeting with the Management of Plateau SUBEB in furtherance to the advocacy on rebuilding its RCM Primary School. The Permanent Secretary SUBEB, Hon. Linus Waklek; the Director of Planning & Logistics, Pst. Michael Gowon; Head of Public Relations, Mr. Richard Jonah; Hon. Sarah John Ramadan, Permanent  Member 1; Village Head of Dawaki, Nde Gombwer J. Dimgak; RCM PS Headmaster, Haruna Yusufu Suwa; PTA Rep, Clement Gogwim etc. were all in attendance.

Reports here.

 

School Teacher Disappointed Over The Varnish of Contractor 

19 October 2017: Mr Gambo, a teacher in the school spoke about how some contractors came to the school and actually dug a foundation. The students and teachers after joyously celebrating this feat where soon disappointed when they discovered the contractors had varnished never to return again to the community. This incidence was reported to the Local Government Authority but fell on deaf ears. The PTA had to contribute to patch some of the class rooms to enable students use their classes.

 

Head Teacher Laments Decay of the School Infrastructure 

Picture of Patched Classrooms

19 October 2017: The head teacher of the school, Mr Haruna lamented bitterly about the state of the school and the general infrastructural decay that had been experienced, he further complained about how the school had been stripped of all benefits apart from the Federal Government school feeding projects. He said “in all honesty, wouldn’t it be better to have classrooms and toilets than feeding? Who would be feed when we have no more classrooms? I must also add that cooking for the feeding program is done in a fallen block of what used to be classrooms”. 

 

Follow the Money Team Holds a Community Outreach at Dawaki

19 October 2017: Follow The Money team in Plateau arrived Dawaki, Kanke LG for a community outreach to substantiate details gotten from Cable Newspaper an online newspaper, and to begin the journey of advocacy to ensure governments prompt response to the rebuilding of the school to enable the children have a more conducive space for learning.

Full report here.