Building Unusual.

(From The News (Nigeria) - AAGM)

Byline: Olusola Olaosebikan

Ondo State Government, Using a New Technology, Builds an Ultra-Modern Block of Classrooms in Two Weeks

When Dr. Olusegun Agagu, the executive governor of Ondo State, told the authorities of Salvation Army Primary School, Odo-Ikoyi, Akure, that he would pull down their dilapidated building and restore it in two weeks, critics viewed his promise as sheer political bunkum .

Two weeks later, they could not believe their eyes. A state-of-the-art block of six classrooms had truly sprung up, and was being commissioned. Their imagination was instantly excited. "This is a miracle!" exclaimed Julius Olaribigbe, chairman of the Parents/Teachers Association, PTA, of the school.

Olaribigbe could not hide his joy. "When we were told that salvation has indeed come to our school, as government has chosen it as the very first to benefit from this ultra-modern building out of the first phase of 90 of such structures to be built in primary schools all over the state this year, we were happy," he enthused.

The "miracle" had been made possible by a new building technology. For two weeks, staff and pupils of the school had watched with doubt as engineers put in place long slabs of styrofoam, held in place by galvanized wiremesh, on the foundation of a block of six classrooms, being erected on the debris of the demolished dilapidated building that housed their classrooms. The spectators were amazed by the new technology. In their thinking, styrofoam is used mainly in the packaging of electronics and other fragile materials. But in a new, hi-tech world where waste can be re-used or re-cycled, their thinking was refreshed by the state government. The new building contains six classrooms with fans, a staff room, headteacher's office and eight toilets for staff and pupils.