Ekulu @ 70: A School, A Mirror, A Call


"Seventy years after it trained some of Nigeria’s finest minds, Ekulu Primary School alumni say the solution cannot wait for government alone."

On May 30, 2026, Ekulu Primary School in Enugu GRA turned 70.

Founded in 1956, Ekulu was a colonial-era model school. Its standards matched those of schools in Europe. Children of British officers learned alongside the children of African clerks, drivers, and cooks. For a time, Nigeria’s public education system worked for everyone.

At the 70th Anniversary Gala Night, members of the Alumni Association saw a different Ekulu: dilapidated buildings, decaying classrooms, and the same neglect swallowing public schools across the nation.

Then they voiced a hard truth:

“Ekulu is not simply a school in decline. It is a metaphor for Nigeria itself.”


The Problem We All See

Leaking roofs. Broken chairs. Laboratories without equipment.

When a school’s infrastructure fails, students begin to believe they do not matter. That is the real damage.


Government Is Overwhelmed. Alumni Don’t Have to Be.

Budgets are stretched thin. Bureaucracy is slow. TETFund helps, but it cannot carry the burden of 70 years of neglect alone.

Ekulu’s alumni possess what government often lacks: speed, memory, and networks.

An old student living abroad can fund 20 desks faster than a lengthy procurement process. Alumni remember when Ekulu was excellent, so they are less willing to accept mediocrity. CEOs, doctors, engineers, and other professionals who passed through Ekulu can mentor students, renovate classrooms, and help restore the school's lost glory.


What 70 Years Demands Now

  1. Adopt-a-Block: Each alumni set should renovate at least one classroom block annually.

  2. Digital Lab: Fund computers and internet access so Ekulu students can compete globally.

  3. Teacher Support Fund: Supplement salaries and provide training to attract and retain quality teachers.

  4. Public Audit: Publish an annual report on the state of Ekulu. Transparency drives accountability.

Ekulu proved that Nigeria can build excellence. Its alumni must now prove that we can sustain it.

Seventy years is old for a building, but young for a legacy.

Ekulu raised some of Nigeria’s best. Now its alumni must help raise Ekulu once again.


Ambrose Odiase, FIPMA, MANUPA, MAUA (UK)
Founding Editor/Publisher, CampusDialog.blogspot.com

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Welcome to CampusDialog - Where Truth Enters the Ivory Tower

Image
For 36 years, I served inside the Nigerian university system - from Assistant Library Officer to Acting Registrar of Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma. I saw the files. I signed the queries. I enforced standards. I dismissed the guilty. I also watched honest people break under a system that too often rewards compromise over merit. When I retired in April 2025, I knew one thing: I could not retire from the fight for accountability in higher education. That is why I founded CampusDialog . Nigeria’s universities are in crisis. Our institutions rank poorly globally. Our graduates struggle in the labour market. Our research contributes little to national development. And every year, we repeat the same excuses. CampusDialog exists to challenge that cycle. This is not a gossip blog. It is a platform for truth, reform, and accountability. Here, we will expose systemic failures, explain how the university system truly works, spotlight excellence where it exists, and empower students,...
Read more

A Founder’s Manifesto: Why CampusDialog Must Exist

T he Fight I Could Not Retire From I retired in April 2025 But I did not retire from the fight. For 36 years, I served inside the Nigerian university system. I rose from Assistant Library Officer in the University Library to Executive Officer, where I climbed the ladder to the position of Principal Executive Officer 1.  A cadre in the registry often seen as that of a glorified clerk. Having realised this, I fought for conversion from the executive cadre to the Administrative cadre. From Senior Assistant Registrar to Deputy Registrar, I eventually became Acting Registrar of Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, where I retired at the mandatory retirement age. I chaired SSANU AAU. I sat at the national table as a member of the FG/SSANU 2009 Renegotiation Team and served in the 6-Man Joint Secretariat of the renegotiation team. I was also Vice-Chairman of NLC Edo State. Professionally, I remained active, serving as Chairman of ANUPA  Association of Nigerian University Professional Adm...
Read more

PART 1- Private Universities Setting the Pace for Academic Excellence and Research Breakthrough: A Special Focus on ABUAD

In my last article, I exposed the rot in Nigerian ivory towers. The fraud. The indiscipline. The reason we never rank. Today, I show you the cure. While public universities decay under the weight of strikes, corruption, and abandoned research, one private university has done the impossible in 16 years: it beat them all. Its name is Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti. ABUAD. And its story begins not in Ekpoma or Nsukka, but in Lagos. With a scandal. 1. Before ABUAD: The UNILAG “Surgical Operation” To understand ABUAD, you must understand why Chief Afe Babalola, SAN, OFR, built it. Between 2000 and 2008, Aare Afe Babalola served as Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of Council, University of Lagos. He met a university bleeding from within. Allegations were rife: selling of degrees by top UNILAG professors, examination misconduct, and gross financial mismanagement. In the UNILAG Senior Staff Club was an apartment called the "slaughter house," where female students were alleged...
Read more