By Lukman Olabiyi
Members of Kiriji Memorial College, Igbajo, Boripe Local Government, Osun State, Class of 1972, have called on the indigenes of the town, old students and state government for a Kiriji Educational Summit, to look into ways of returning the school to its old glory.
They said the summit is urgent and necessary to strategize on what should be done to arrest the continued downward spiral of the fortunes of the 73-year-old institution. In a statement signed by Mr Akin A Onipede and Amb Eniola Ayo Otepola on behalf of their mates after their 53rd reunion anniversary at Davies Hotels, Bodija, Ibadan, Oyo State, they frowned and lamented the decayed infrastructure, lack of teaching staff and the general unattractive sight of the school.
They were not only shocked that the school had only three teaching staff, but also wondered how these teachers who included the principal and his vice are coping in teaching about 240 students.
“Kiriji requires a total social re-engineering that will engender a renewal of the school and its old glory,” the statement said.
On the recruitment of teachers, the Class of 1972 appealed to government to speed up the process and urged it to put Kiriji Memorial College on the priority list.
With a proud history of academic excellence in the West African Examinations and General Certificate Examinations Advance Level when the school was running Higher School Certficate, the present state of affairs reared its urgly head when the school was taken over fully by the old Oyo State Government, which also abolished the boarding system.
Kiriji Memorial College is one of the oldest secondary schools in Nigeria ranking impressive 75th out of thousands of schools in the country.