A boarding school, Government Girls College, Wamba in Nasarawa State, has been without electricity for four years, according to its Principal, Mrs. Rabi Yusuf. Yusuf, in a speech at the National Convention of the school’s old students, held on Tuesday in Lafia, said that the students had remained in the dark “since electricity was cut off four years ago, over unpaid bills”.

She described the situation as “very bad”, and appealed to the old students to assist the students by paying the outstanding electricity bill so that the school could be reconnected. “It is difficult to explain how we have tried to cope without light; you will help a great deal by intervening in this area,” she said.She also appealed to the state government to renovate the hostels, classrooms and laboratories to improve the learning environment.

Yusuf also urged government to post more teachers to teach chemistry and English, and regretted that the school had no teachers to handle the two subjects. She also called for more matrons and security men to attend to the girls and secure the school in view of current security challenges.

In his speech, Mr Titus Alams, the National President of the Wamba Old Students Association (WOSA), promised to settle the outstanding electricity bill. “I was shocked when the principal said that electricity supply to the school has been yanked off; I find this development particularly strange because this is a boarding school. We shall look at all challenges confronting the school as listed by the principal, but the most urgent need now is the restoration of electricity. We do not know the amount or for how long the school has been indebted, but we shall get those details and move on to rectify the problem,” he said.

In his remarks, Dr. Danlami Ali, Chairman, Nasarawa State chapter of the association, urged the old students to make more sacrifices toward returning the school to its old glory. The school, which began as a an all male teachers school in 1975, became  co-educational in 1988, before being turned into a girls’ school in 2004.