An official of the firm which handled the renovation of the famous Omoyeni Special Basic School for the Blind, Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, on Thursday narrated how hoodlums invaded and raped pupils of the school before a parameter fence was erected round the school.
Many of the physically challenged children in the school were said to have been unduly exposed to criminals owing to the dilapidated school hostel buildings and lack of a porter to take care of the visually impaired pupils in the school.
The consultant of the firm, Mr Tajudeen Owolabi, who spoke with The Nation yesterday, explained that the situation of the school when they first got there was appalling and devastating.
“But, thanks to the milk of human kindness of Chief Raymond Zard, who out of love for the physically challenged children, decided to renovate the school and provide for the sustenance of the children. Already, he has spent over N10million on the renovation of the two halls, parameter fence, putting on a new roof, ceiling, provision of beds, mattresses, food and so on,” he stated.
The ugly situation was said to have been arrested when the good samaritan , and a renowned philantropist, Chief Dr. Raymond Zard came to the rescue.
Sources close to the school said that for several months, the school has been a subject of attack by hoodlums who took advantage of lack of fence and dilapidated structures to invade the school.
“The school halls had no roof, as the roof had caved in, while the other building was a hiding place for hoodlums, who smoke Indian hemp there. But, we are very grateful to Baba Zard who took up the construction of the parameter fence, renovated the two halls used as hostel for the pupils. Apart from, he (Chief Zard) bought beds , mattresses, ceiling fans, and a generating set for the school. And every month, he refills our gas used for cooking for the children and supplies food items to the school,” he said.
Established in 1980 by Elder C.A. Aborisade, after studying Special Education at the University of Ibadan, Omoyeni Special Basic School for the Blind has 286 population , out of which 76 pupils stay in the hostel.
A staff of the school, who pleaded anonymity said though, the school has since been taken over by the Oyo Ministry of Education, alot needed to be done to save the lives of the pupils , such as challenges of insecurity, inadequate personnel , and feeding among others.
He expressed appreciation to the philantropist, Chief Zard for his kindness and called on other well meaning Nigerians to come to the assistance of the poor children.
Speaking further on the challenges , he explained that the monthly grant of N350 ,000 from the state Ministry of Education is not enough to pay salary and feed 76 blind children resident in the hostel, and called on good people of the state to assist in the upkeep of the pupils.
“Going by the testimonies of those who had direct and indirect contacts with Chief Raymond Zard however, it can be emphatically stated that the man who came to be popularly known as Ray of Hope exhibits the ideals he espouses very religiously. Indeed, his kind gestures have saved the precious lives of these special children”, he said.
