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When sometime in '97 when I left primary school, hopes were that I would be admitted into one of the unity schools but as fate would have it, I ended up in FESTAC GRAMMAR SCHOOL. At that period when private secondary schools were for the super rich, I settled down hoping to enjoy my stay (which I did anyway).

A school which many people in my hood had attended, I went in with great expectations. Fot those of us who attended private primary schools, coping was not as easy but we still forged ahead. Right from the onset the school was referred to as a poultry just because it lacked modern structures. As at the late 90's, there was no functional library, the school clinic and computer room were under lock and key. We went to school and were called chickens since our school was referred to as a poultry, very annoying but we still persisted and hoped that government will do something before long.

One thing however that worked for the school was the academic excellence. Little wonder in 1998, the school won the "bournvita brain match" contest, this got the school some computers. People attended from as far mile 2, kirikiri town, satellite town, and other parts of Lagos. That was how popular festac grammar school was despite its shabby structure, the academic standard was good.

From the early 2000s however, academic standards starting falling as reflected in the yearly SSCE result of the school. My class for example didn't have a physics teacher for over a session, we didn't have a chemistry teacher for a while too. All through SS1, we had an english teacher who won't come to class but always sends test and exams as and when due. Only the biology teacher made us feel like students, God bless him wherever he is right now.

So we eventually left in 2003 and for years I did not return to the school until earlier this year when an ALUMNI was formed by different sets as one. It spans from the first set(84/85) to the latest set (2011). Holding monthly meetings since April this year, the alumni has waxed on stronger and stronger. One thing that was brought to our notice is that the school is a Lagos state property and so we can't do anything about it in terms of erecting structures. It was interesting and also sad when we discovered that FESTAC GRAMMAR school is the only school in the whole of Amuwo Odofin Local Education District with such "poultry like structure" and without a modern building. According to an ex student, the only 'manageable' building is a one storey donated to the school in the 80s for its academic excellence. Since then the school has been neglected from further development. The senior school benefited from ICT equipments donated by the government but the junior school could not benefit because there was no room and no electricity, it was taken to another school.

The Alumni which I'm a regular member has done little things from the school in our little capacity but more needs to be done because the school has become a shadow of its old self, population has drastically reduced from our days, structures are life threatning and in need of urgent attention by the Lagos state government who is soley responsible for the development of the school as one of its properties. If the state government won't allow "intruders" on its property then it should be bold enough to tackle the problems facing "our" school.

As I conclude, I want to appeal to the ever dependable Lagos state governor to come to the rescue of the school, unconfirmed source claimed the governor has been to the school before. I, on behalf of the FGS ALUMNI appeal to the Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola SAN to save the school from further degradation.

As the school anthem concludes"GOD BLESS PRESERVE OUR DEAR SCHOOL, FESTAC GRAMMAR SCHOOL"

http://pheesayor.blogspot.com/2011/09/school-is-dire-need-festac-grammar.html

Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN) will be the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) governorship candidate for Lagos in the 2011 general election, THEWILL can report.

Sources close to the ACN National Secretariat told THEWILL that all the issues, which pitched Mr. Fashola against some powerful interests in the rank of the party have been totally resolved.

But Deputy Governor, Princess Sarah Adebisi Sosan may not run as Mr. Fashola’s deputy as the current Commissioner for Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Mrs. Adejoke Orelope-Adefilure is being seriously considered for the position, checks revealed over the weekend.

We gathered that Mr. Fashola "is still making a case for Sosan on the ground that both have had a robust relationship short of conflict since 2007" when the Fashola administration came on board, a top ACN chieftain told our correspondent.

The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed confirmed to another source that Fashola has been given the governorship ticket as the ACN flagbearer for the 2011 Lagos guber race adding that the ACN primaries for the governorship ticket would just be a formality.

Commenting on the friction between Mr. Fashola and the Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Adeyemi Ikuforiji, our source said the ACN leadership has also resolved the differences between both men. The resolution was responsible for the ‘top of the roof’ reception accorded Mr. Fashola during the presentation of the 2011 budget proposal at the House of Assembly.

After the budget presentation, Speaker Ikuforiji described Fashola as Governor of all governors, a comment, which elicited mass applause from a sophisticated gathering of party leaders, political stakeholders, lawmakers, investors and almost all members of the State Executive Council (SEC).  

Ikuforiji also commended Fashola and his team for the achievements they had recorded in the past years, though he said the Assembly “considers budget a very important tool for nation-building, accelerated growth and rapid development, especially in the face of disaffection and discontentment everywhere.”

we also learnt that the friction between Fashola and Ikuforiji was settled on the eve of the state congress of the party, which was held penultimate Saturday, the day the supporters of the former were billed to stage a protest at the state secretariat of the party over what they described as irregularities in the ACN congresses.
 
Recall that the protest did not hold as earlier scheduled and no reason was given for the cancellation though security at the state party's secretariat was beefed.

But on the same day of the state congress, Fashola surprisingly arrived at the state secretariat of the party in the same Land Rover SUV with former Governor Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who many believe was behind Fashola’s woes over disagreement on tax commission due Tinubu’s Alpha Beta, a revenue collection company contracted to collect taxes on behalf of the state government.

After a close-door meeting, the state party’s Chairman, Otunba Oladele Ajomale told journalists that there was no point changing a winning team, which was the first signal that the party had settled for Mr. Fashola as its choice.

Analysts have argued that the ACN will be defeated in the 2011 Lagos governorship election if the party dumps Mr. Fashola for another candidate following the friction between the Tinubu and governor.

Agitations have been mounted on Governor Babatunde Fashola to create a new state to be called Lagoon State out of Lagos State, South West Nigeria .

This time around, the agitation is coming from lawyers as they joined the leagues of prominent Lagosians championing the call for a new state to be created out of the state .

The Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, Ikorodu Branch, said it has become necessary to create Lagoon State because many Lagosians were championing the cause.

Speaking at the 6th Annual Babatunde Olusola Benson Lecture to commemorate the branch’s 2010 Law Week held in Ikorodu yesterday, the Chairman, NBA, Ikorodu Branch, Prince Kazeem Adebanjo, said the move would bring about greater development, economic advancement and prosperity of Lagos State as a whole and the proposed Lagoon State in particular.

According to him, the Ikorodu NBA chapter would convene a special forum to discuss the possibility of the creation of Lagoon State , urging all stakeholders to give support to the agitation.

Also, the chairman decried the congestion of cases before the Lagos and Ibadan division of the Court of Appeal and called Fashola to fast track the creation of an additional Court of Appeal division in Ijebu-Ode or Ikorodu.

“There is need to arrest this trend by increasing the number of court rooms and/or panels to guarantee the appearance of more lawyers at the appellate courts as well as ensure speedy dispensation of justice at the appellate courts so that the efforts made at the High Courts to achieve quick conclusion of cases could be completed at the appellate court level”, he said.

Speaking at the event, Fashola did not comment about the agitation for the creation of Lagoon State, rather his speech, was anchored on taxation.

He advocated the need for voluntary tax payment, saying it is rooted in the essence of representative and good governance.

“Tax gives us the choice of the type of life we want to live”, he said, adding that it also helped government to fulfill its part of the Social Contract.

According to the governor, the landmark achievements credited to his administration across the state in the last three and a half years could not have been possible without the people fulfilling their own part of the social contract by paying their taxes as and when due.

Explaining the correlation between Politics and Law, Fashola said as the various political parties began to contest for power, all their engagements and processes being used by them were founded in law.

Also present at the occasion which took place at the Ikorodu Town Hall were President of the Appeal Court, Justice Isa Ayo Salami; his immediate predecessor, Justice Umar Farouk Abdullahi; Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice of Lagos State, Mr. Olasupo Sasore; the Ayangburen of Ikorodu, His Royal Majesty, Oba S.A.A. Oyefusi; and his wife, and the Chief Host, Chief Babatunde Olusola Benson, among others.

Highlight of the event was a lecture with the topic, “Taxation and Good Governance in a Developing Democracy”, given by Special Adviser to the Governor on Revenue and Taxation, Mr. Ade Ipaiye.

—Kazeem Ugbodaga