Shadows of Greatness: The Structural Collapse of African Church Grammar School, Iwo

Osun State’s current administration frequently uses its media channels to broadcast a narrative of educational revival and mega-school maintenance. However, an unvarnished look at African Church Grammar School, Kuta/Ileogbo (Iwo LGA) tells a starkly contrasting story.

Founded in 1957, this historic institution—operating under the motto “For Knowledge and Progress”—has spent nearly seven decades molding minds in the state. Today, under the watch of the Adeleke government, it stands as a tragic monument to administrative neglect, architectural decay, and unsafe learning conditions.

Ruins in the Classroom: The Visual Evidence

Photographic evidence from the school campus shows that students are being forced to take lessons in environments that are structurally compromised.

1. The Perilous Classrooms of Block J
Inside the Junior Secondary School (JSS 2) classrooms, the ceiling network has experienced massive failure. Large sections of the white asbestos or PVC ceiling boards have cracked and fallen away completely, exposing the raw wooden framework and the underside of the corrugated roofing sheets. This creates a severe safety issue: remaining loose panels could fall onto students during class, and the lack of a ceiling creates an unbearable greenhouse effect under the hot Osun sun.

2. Deep Structural Fracturing
The exterior facades of the main yellow-painted classroom blocks reveal deep, vertical structural cracks tearing through the concrete walls above window frames. These fissures run from the roofline down through the masonry, signaling deep-seated weathering and lack of routine structural maintenance. Wooden support beams holding up the verandas are visibly rotting, split, and peeling away from the main roof framework.

3. Dilapidated Legacy Blocks (ETF 2009)
Even blocks that received past funding interventions, such as Block J (inscribed with ETF 2009), are in an advanced state of decay. The green and yellow paint is heavily weathered, walls are covered in student graffiti out of pure institutional lawlessness, and window shutters are either broken or completely missing. A past investment by the Education Trust Fund has been left to rot without standard maintenance from the state.

4. Encroachment of the Jungle
The perimeter of the school blocks, including older classroom wings and external facilities, is heavily overgrown with dense bush and tall weeds. Creepers and wild vines can be seen physically scaling the walls and windows of the school buildings. What should be a clean, safe, open campus footprint has transformed into a dangerous jungle habitat for pests and reptiles.

Where is the Emergency Education Fund Going?

The historical significance of African Church Grammar School should make it a priority for state-led school rehabilitation projects. Instead, it appears completely abandoned by the Osun State Ministry of Education and the local government council.

The Accountability Audit:

If the administration is truly delivering “light and progress” to Iwo LGA, why must JSS 2 students look up at exposed, hazardous roof cavities during classes?
Millions of Naira are claimed under maintenance portfolios; why has not a single maintenance crew been deployed to clear the dangerous jungle growth taking over this historic 1957 campus?
Are the children of the masses in Iwo meant to risk their physical safety just to acquire a basic secondary education?

Conclusion: The Reality Beyond the Rhetoric

A historic school founded in 1957 should be treated as a pride of the state, preserved for its legacy and its ongoing service to the community. Allowing it to decay into an overgrown, structurally failing hazard is a direct failure of modern public governance.

The dancing and campaign promises have long concluded. It is time for real infrastructure investment to begin. AfterTheDance.ng calls on the Osun State Government, the Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology, and the Secondary Education Board to immediately rescue African Church Grammar School, Iwo. The roofs must be rebuilt, walls structurally stabilized, and the grounds cleared before an entire piece of Osun’s history collapses into ruins.