No, viral photos don't show the true state of Nigerian school in 2024

"See The State Of Eric Moore Junior High School In Surulere," reads a post on Facebook.

The Eric Moore Junior High School is in Surulere, in Lagos state.

The 27 April 2024 post includes four images of a dilapidated classroom and schoolchildren in uniform.

The infrastructure of public schools in Nigeria varies greatly across different regions and states. While some schools have adequate facilities, others face significant challenges, as illustrated in the photos.

In rural areas, the lack of infrastructure is often more pronounced, with some schools lacking basic facilities such as desks, chairs and blackboards.

Similar posts can be found here and here. (Note: See more instances listed at the end of the report.)

But do the images show the state of the Eric Moore school in 2024, as the posts suggest? We checked.

Misleading photos

Using reverse image search, Africa Check found that three of the photos show the Eric Moore school, but they are from 2017. The other image shows a different school and is from 2019.

The first image was found in a 2019 report on learning conditions at the Ojota Junior Secondary School in Ojota, Lagos state. The article focused on overcrowded classrooms, lack of desks and how the school resembled an "abandoned building".

The second, third and fourth images were published by the Guardian, a media organisation in Nigeria.

The article, dated 17 May 2017, has the headline: "Lagos school where students sit on the floor." It detailed the dire state of the Eric Moore school, saying that pupils were being taught in "makeshift classrooms, with some sitting on the floor".

In 2021, the Lagos state government commissioned the rehabilitation of four classroom blocks and toilet facilities at the Eric Moore school.

Google Maps images from 2024 show a renovated school.

Other posts making a similar claim about the state of the Eric Moore Junior High School can be found here, here, here, here and here.