"We expected that there would be enough space after the completion of the classrooms with an office, but we don't have any available one (office)," Mr Musa said as he wiped away the relentless stream of sweat on his face.
The premises of Mumasari Primary and Junior Secondary School, Mairi Kuwait, Jere Local Government Area (LGA), Borno State, was a beehive on a certain school day in January 2023.
As pupils ran around during break time, teachers were spotted couching on dirty mats under a tree, trying to cool off under the scorching sun's effect. The break will soon be over, and they will have to continue with the business of teaching.
As he settled on a mat, the school's mathematics teacher, Shaun Musa, was boiling from within as he stared at the newly constructed storey building housing eight classrooms.
"We expected that there would be enough space after the completion of the classrooms with an office, but we don't have any available one (office)," Mr Musa said as he wiped away the relentless stream of sweat on his face.
Since he started teaching at the school, Mr Musa said the teachers have always spent their time in the classrooms or under the tree. There has never been a staff room.
A flash of hope
In 2019, the teachers heaved a sigh of relief, hoping the end of their predicaments was near.
The authorities had planned to start a secondary school within the premises. More classrooms would be added to the existing ones to realise this aim. The teachers were particularly happy that more staff rooms would be built to accommodate them
The expansion was the construction of more classrooms in the school as contained in the 2019 Zonal Intervention Project (ZIP) facilitated by the then-lawmaker representing Jere Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, Mohammed Monguno.
The project was, however, implemented by his successor, Ahmad Satomi, who became a lawmaker in the House of Representatives in 2019.
Mr Monguno currently represents Monguno/Marte/Nganzai in the same house, while Mr Satomi replaced him as the lawmaker representing Jere federal constituency.
In the 2019 Zonal Intervention Projects (ZIP) that excited the teachers, N50 million was budgeted to construct three blocks of four classrooms each, But their hopes were soon dashed with the eventual outcome.
Teachers unhappy
In the Bill of Quantities obtained by UDEME, the Ministry of Works and Housing awarded the project to Slope Tec Engineering Services Limited at N50 million.
The cost was broken down into the construction of 7 classrooms, offices, toilets and furnishing for N42,731,005; Value Added Tax, N3,750,000 and Preliminaries, N3,418,944.
The first tranche of the funds for the projects was released in 2020; the contractor told UDEME
The project was completed a year later, in 2021, both the contractor and the school principal, Bukar Muhammad, confirmed.
What was constructed was a storey building housing eight rooms: seven classrooms and one office. UDEME also found that two toilets were constructed, and the classrooms had tables, chairs and fans.
The teachers were disappointed that only one office room was provided for them in the new structure. The new office was also too small to accommodate all the 18 teachers.
"Normally, if we are to look at it from the standard, we are supposed to have four offices in the school," the principal said. "One office for me, one for my two assistants, and one office for the teachers and the other will be used for guidance and counselling."
Binta Muhammad, 35, who teaches primary three wondered how the principal, his deputies and teachers could share a single office space.
Mrs Muhammad, who has continued with the ritual of sitting on a mat in front of her class away from the men under the tree, lamented bitterly about their working conditions.
"If a class teacher can sit on a mat after teaching the students, is that not bad? Only one office was built for the teachers, and the principal; vice principal shared one office," she said
When UDEME visited the school, it was observed that the pupils were not overcrowded in their classrooms. But the same cannot be said for the teachers cramped into only one office.
UDEME also observed that barely two years after construction, some classroom windows were missing, and some walls were already cracking.
Why we constructed eight classrooms- Lawmaker, contractor speak
The lawmaker and contractor defended their decision to construct only eight rooms against the 12 indicated in the budget.
A site supervisor at Slope Tec Engineering Services Limited, Ismail Buba, said the company executed the project as specified in its contract with the Ministry of Works and Housing.
Also, the Head of the Architecture Department at the Borno State office of the Ministry of Works and Housing, Adamu Yakub, said the project was executed in line with the contract document's specifications.
"You see, the issue of 12 classrooms is out of it," he said, explaining that the contract awarded was for constructing seven classrooms and an office. "Based on the document from Abuja on the project, you are talking about seven classrooms and one office, making a total of eight rooms with toilets and furnishing. As you can see but the bill of quantity and architectural design are with the same description of the project.
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"We can't do things out of the project documents to execute a project because a report will be written before the contractor can be given his money. I want you to note that the work is done," he added.
Meanwhile, the lawmaker said he decided to settle for eight classrooms just before the project was awarded because of the limited land space on the school premises.
He claimed to have used his funds of about N23 million "to buy some pieces of land close to the school for the expansion to accommodate the eight classrooms settled for."
"I will build more buildings if the people around the school are willing to sell their houses or land," he said during a phone call.
As the teachers continue working under uncomfortable conditions, they hope the government will construct more staff rooms.
"We want the government to build another office for us, to enhance a conducive environment for both the teachers and the students," Yeskare Dauda, a primary six teacher in the school, said.
