(EXCLUSIVE) Behold! Delta School Where Pupils Sit On Bare Floor, Learn Under Broken Windows, Doors, Foul-Smelling Rooms

Rita Enemuru, Reporting

STANDING at jetties and looking ahead, one would normally expect to see vast water bodies stretching as far as the eyes can reach. However, the sight at Ogbe-Ijoh Market presents a striking contrast. Instead of open waters, what confronts the observer is a maze of makeshift settlements. In between the water bodies stand thatched roofs perched atop planked, zinc-roofed houses, all built on reclaimed landfill. Watching people move around within these fragile structures naturally stirs curiosity, how do they live here, what are their stories, and how do they survive?

It was this curiosity that prompted a Stonix News reporter to cross the waters in a shaky canoe on a Good Friday in December to listen to the stories of the people who call this place home. Within these structures live traders, fishermen and women, students and families, people predominantly of Ijaw descent, who have adapted their lives to the rhythm of the river.

Upon arriving at the community, Fenegbene, located in Warri South West Local Government Area of Delta State, it was discovered that the entire settlement sits on waterlogged sawdust. Despite the harsh living conditions, the community buzzed with activities. Kiosks dotted the area where men and women gathered to trade, drink and smoke. At another spot, a woman cooked with firewood over an open flame. This is a community without standard toilets or bathrooms. A plank-built church stands in the settlement, serving as a place of worship for residents.

While moving around the community, the reporter encountered a Point-of-Sale (POS) operator who also serves as the vice-chairman of the community. He introduced himself as Apoyi. Speaking with him, it emerged that Fenegbene has existed for a very long time.

Apoyi disclosed that he arrived in the community in 2004 and, according to residents who had lived there long before his arrival, Fenegbene was founded by two brothers. He added that the community has more than 5,000 voting strength and two polling units. Sadly, he lamented that the government, particularly the local government, has failed to do enough for the people.

According to him, it is always difficult for elderly men and women, who depend on canoe trips for their livelihood, to work when the water level drops during the dry season.

He further explained that because the community is filled with sawdust, flooding often washes the sawdust into the river, causing the waterways to become shallow.

“So, the local government should come to our rescue and help us sandfill the community because if they don’t, we will not give them our votes during elections,” he said.

A Community With Clear, Achievable Demands

He speaks further: “My name is Odli Pere Apoyi. I am from Bomadi Local Government Area of Delta State. I came into this community in 2004. I am the vice-chairman of this community. According to people who have lived here for a very long time, the community was founded by two brothers. We have two polling units in the community and more than 5,000 people living here.

“To my understanding, the government is not supporting the community as it should. It is always difficult for our old men and women who depend on canoe trips for their livelihood to work when the water is dry.

“Because the community is filled with sawdust, the sawdust washes into the river when the community is flooded, and this causes the river to become shallow. So, the local government should come to our rescue and help us sand fill the community because if they don’t, we will not give them our votes during elections.

“If the government is serious about helping us, they can dredge the community, sand fill it and even build a bridge that people can use to cross to Warri,” he said.

The solutions proposed by the community are neither abstract nor complex. Dredging, sand filling and bridge construction are existing interventions already implemented in other riverine communities across the Niger Delta. Residents argue that applying these same measures in Fenegbene would not only improve navigation but also protect livelihoods and reduce deaths linked to delayed access to medical care.

Education and Healthcare: Where Delay Becomes Dangerous

Speaking with the Chairman of Fenegbene Community, Mr Jacob Morkor, he explained that the community school was built in the year 2000 but has since become dilapidated. Over the years, the condition of the school has worsened, from classrooms without desks and writing boards to destroyed staff offices, leaving the entire school environment rough and unconducive.

In his plea for a healthcare facility, Mr Morkor recounted how the community has lost lives due to the stress and delay involved in transporting sick persons from the riverine settlement to dry land using local boats. He lamented that during the dry season, when the river becomes too shallow, crossing sick persons to Warri becomes almost impossible.

Mr Morkor also appealed to the government to provide more solar streetlights, noting that the few currently installed are insufficient and many are not functional. He further urged the government to renovate the community’s primary school, which he described as unsafe for both learning and teaching.

“This is a very large community. We have about 5,000 voting strength. We need electricity, sand filling of the community because when it rains, we can hardly move around. You cannot move without rain boots,” he said.

“Another major problem we have is healthcare. We always cross to Warri when our people are sick, and this has cost us lives. Sometimes, before you get to the hospital, the person has died. During the dry season, it is even more difficult to cross sick people to Warri. People lose their lives because of how difficult it is to get help in critical conditions.

“There are no desks in some classrooms, no doors and no windows. The government should please help us renovate the school.

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“Also, we need solar lights in the community. We have only 10 solar lights and some of them are not even working. We need more solar lights,” he pleaded.

The challenges facing Fenegbene reflect long-standing issues common to riverine settlements—limited access, fragile infrastructure and delayed emergency response. Yet residents insist that targeted investment in primary healthcare centres, school renovation and renewable energy would immediately improve quality of life.

Inside School That Still Teaches Against the Odds

A visit to Ewein Primary School III, Ogbe-Ijoh, the community’s primary school, revealed classrooms without desks, broken windows and doors, exposed ceilings and foul-smelling rooms that some persons have turned into defecation grounds. Amid these sights, the innocent students were running about playing.

Speaking with the headmistress of the school, Mrs Anastasia Timiyan, who has worked there for two years, disclosed that the school has 408 pupils from kindergarten to Primary Six and a total of 22 teachers.

According to her, one of the major challenges facing the school is accessibility during the rainy season, as the entire area becomes flooded. She pleaded with the government to renovate the school and emphasised the urgent need to sand fill the community.

“I have been working in this school for two years now. I was previously in a primary school at Isaba before I was transferred here. The Akori Primary School I worked in had better buildings and classroom facilities compared to this one,” she said.

“There are about 408 children in the school, from Kindergarten One to Three and Primary One to Six. We have about 22 teachers, two security officers and one clerical officer.

“One of the challenges we face is that it is very difficult to access the school during the rainy season because everywhere is flooded. All teachers wear rain boots on such days. The school is really in a mess. Even the building is gradually caving in. The roof is falling off day by day.

“When the school compound is flooded, the children soil themselves with water. Thankfully, we have not recorded any casualties.

“The government should please help us rebuild or renovate the school. Most classrooms do not have desks, and many pupils sit on the floor. Government should come to our aid.”

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Asked if the school had received any support from non-governmental organisations, she disclosed that the Chairman of Warri South West Local Government Area, Hon. Sylvester Oromoni, donated 100 school bags and books to the pupils some months ago.

This intervention, though limited, demonstrates how targeted assistance can make an immediate difference, suggesting that broader partnerships with government agencies, NGOs and corporate social responsibility initiatives could significantly improve educational outcomes.

A Preventable Risk

In her plea, the Assistant Headmistress, Mrs Elizabeth Emujevwro, described the environment as unsafe and unconducive for learning.

“The use of rain boots and the fact that the school is not fenced show how unconducive the environment is. The school is too close to the river; it is only God that is protecting the children,” she said.

She added that boats are not readily available for teachers to cross to the school, noting that some teachers have fallen into the river while commuting.

Some pupils also appealed to the government to renovate the school and make it conducive for learning.

For Fenegbene, survival has never been in doubt—the community has endured for decades on water and sawdust. What remains uncertain is how long this endurance can continue without deliberate intervention.

Residents insist that the solutions are clear: sand filling to stabilise the land, dredging to restore waterways, functional solar lighting, a primary healthcare centre and the rehabilitation of the community school. These are not experimental ideas, but tested interventions already in use across similar riverine communities.

For Fenegbene, the call is simple, translate promises into action, before survival becomes a story of avoidable loss.