King’s College Lagos reacts to reports of an outbreak of water-borne disease

Sunday Ameh, the Chairman of King’s College Parent Teacher Association (KCPTA), has reassured parents of the association’s commitment to providing standard amenities that would not compromise the welfare of the students.

Mr Ameh gave the assurance in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Lagos.

The chairman spoke against the backdrop of reports by some parents alleging poor environmental sanitation and unavailable potable water in the college, especially the annexe in Victoria Island.

The parents complained of a water infection that gave rise to fever, resulting in blisters on various parts of the skin of some students, specifically those in Junior Secondary School One (JSS1).

He maintained that there was no outbreak of waterborne diseases in the college.

Mr Ameh stated that only one source of drinking water served the entire college community, including the principal and staff, and wondered how the alleged infection could have targeted only the JSS I students.

Speaking further on the development, the chairman stressed that there was no issue of lack of potable water, not with the presence of an industrial borehole provided for the college by the Federal Government.

According to him, the two boreholes that provide water for drinking and washing, respectively, always undergo routine maintenance.

He added that the annexe environment was equally conducive for teaching and learning to thrive.

“Yes, I got complaints from some JSS1 parents about the ill health of our Kings, and I felt very pained and concerned. These children are our first and foremost priority, joy, responsibility, and why we are here.

“We can never afford to compromise their education, health, general welfare and other things that concern them. We are to partner government to ensure that they get the best possible.

“When these complaints got to us, we alerted the principal and immediately set out to the annexe to get firsthand information from the sick bay.

“We discovered that about three of the students had reported there, been examined and administered some antibiotics before they left for their break.

“Be that as it may, I have reached out to the concerned parents to express our concern and to reassure them, as the school management is meeting to establish the real cause of the development, after which, we take it up from there.

“Meanwhile, we want to reach out to our kings to sympathise with them and to assure them of our prayers for a very speedy recovery,” he said.

Mr Ameh pleaded with the parents to find time to visit the school, see things for themselves, and engage the association or college to clarify issues that concerned the welfare and academics of their children and wards.

According to him, such will reduce incidences of poor perception, unverified information, doubts, hearsay and misleading of the general public.

On his part, the Director/Principal of the college, Andrew Agada, noted that since his arrival in 2019, there had never been any incident of water-borne diseases.

He said that the college had always taken the boys’ water, food and welfare issues in both the main campus and the annexe with extreme care.

According to Mr Agada, this is coupled with the fact that the 1991 set of the Old Boys graciously assisted the college with providing a borehole at the main campus, accompanied by continuous turnaround maintenance.

He said the college had inherited a borehole from the Federal School for Arts and Science that had served the place for over 20 years at its annexe campus on Victoria Island.

According to him, in 2020, the borehole collapsed, and the college brought in some water engineers who came to examine it and advised that it could not be revived.

The engineers urged the management to go for a new one.

“When we looked at the cost, we discovered that we could not do it alone, so I wrote a letter to the ministry for urgent attention, which was acknowledged, and we did the follow-up and eventually, the contract was awarded.

“Meanwhile, within that period, we bought water to ensure that our boys were cared for, irrespective of the huge number. We survived it. Now we have an industrial borehole where we are all drinking from, including my humble self and the staff. The water is always treated.

“We cannot afford to run a school with very young children without potable water. No government will approve of that. We will continue to do all we can to provide, from our very limited resources, a conducive environment for teaching and learning to thrive.

“On completion of the construction of the industrial borehole by the Federal Government, officials from the Lagos State Water Resources came around to collect a sample for testing, after which they certified it fit,” he explained.

He regretted the health concerns of some of the JSS 1 students with fevers and skin infections.

He also assured of the management’s ongoing investigation for the remote cause of the health concern for necessary action.

Mr Agada added that, already, the chairman of the college’s patient forum, Mr Ameh, had paid a visit to the affected students at the hospital, and they are showing signs of a speedy recovery.

“I even spoke with some of the parents and my students, and they all expressed appreciation for the care, concern and love shown to them by the association and college management,” Agada told NAN.