Pupils Learn Under Broken Roofs in Abuja as School Crumbles Without Government Help

In a quiet part of Gwagwalada Area Council, Federal Capital Territory, children at LEA Primary School, Tsauni, start their day in what many would not recognize as classrooms.

The roofs are missing in places, ceilings have fallen in, and wooden planks hang dangerously over scattered desks. Instead of books and blackboards, the pupils’ attention is often drawn to leaking rainwater or the scorching sun overhead.

The school, which falls under the supervision of the Nyesom Wike-led FCT Administration, has been in this broken state for years. Parents, teachers, and residents say they have raised alarm many times, but no meaningful response has come from the authorities.

A recent on-the-ground report from Monitng, a civic technology platform, showed just how severe the situation has become. Inside the classrooms, large holes gape where roofs used to be, and ceiling boards dangle inches above children’s heads. On rainy days, the rooms flood. When it’s sunny, students endure direct heat. In many cases, lessons are interrupted not by noise or distractions—but by the weather itself.

Community members say they have sent multiple appeals to the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, and Senator Ireti Kingibe, asking for urgent repairs. None of the letters have been acknowledged, they claim. Meanwhile, large budgets continue to be allocated to education in Abuja, yet schools like LEA Tsauni remain in ruins.

Parents describe the classrooms as a disaster waiting to happen. Some say they now fear sending their children to school. “It’s not just a roof problem,” one mother said. “It’s a threat to life. These kids sit and learn under wood that can fall any moment.”

Teachers haven’t been spared either. Several say they haven’t received salaries in months but continue to teach because they worry that if they leave, no one else will come. One teacher said, “We stay because of the children. But this is no place for learning. It feels like we’ve been forgotten.”

Residents say the neglect reveals how little value is placed on the education of children in low-income and rural parts of the capital. They argue that if a school this close to the heart of the federal capital can suffer this badly, the condition of more remote schools must be even worse.

The community has issued another public plea, asking Wike and Kingibe to visit the school and see the damage for themselves. They warn that if no action is taken soon, the school could collapse entirely, putting more lives at risk.

Despite promises made in various budgets, no renovation work has begun. Until something changes, the pupils of LEA Tsauni will continue to learn under dangerous roofs, in unsafe classrooms, hoping someone in power finally pays attention.