Decades after, Badarawa schools still irked by nickname ‘Day-Bola’

More than 20 years since it was nicknamed Day-bola and LEA-bola; in reference to the piles of refuse that covered the entrance of the schools, parents and staff of Government Secondary School and LEA Primary School Badarawa are still irked by the school’s nickname, Day-bola and LEA-bola.

More than 20 years since it was nicknamed Day-bola and LEA-bola; in reference to the piles of refuse that covered the entrance of the schools, parents and staff of Government Secondary School and LEA Primary School Badarawa are still irked by the school’s nickname, Day-bola and LEA-bola.

Though our correspondent found that the refuse which once characterised the schools have since disappeared and in their place, huge refuse bins now placed; the name Day-bola has come to stay, as the easiest means of getting a direction to the school was to use the nickname.

For most of the students of Government Secondary School Badarawa, the refuse dump had existed before their time. Maryam Usman who is now in JSS2 said she was at the primary school section when part of the refuse was evacuated. “Though I heard that the location of the secondary school used to be covered by refuse, it was before our time and we have never seen the refuse,” she said.

“Some people look down on us and tease us that we are students of Day-bola. They do that to insult us but where is the bola? There is no refuse here and everyone who has eyes can see that we do not have refuse in our school,” she said.

Our correspondent gathered that though the refuse had started from the primary school section and later extended to cover the entire land where the secondary school is now situated, the secondary school is more famous for the nickname. The Parents Teachers’ Association (PTA) Chairman for the two schools, Salmanu Bawa, said this is because the location of the present secondary school had once been covered by refuse before the construction of the school.

“There is a fence that separates the primary and secondary schools and the refuse dump started from the primary school section called Badarawa 1 then and extended to where the secondary school is now located. So, when construction for the secondary school started, because the area was covered by refuse, residents now nicknamed it Day-bola,” he said.

On her part, Zara’u Musa, an SS2 student who resides in Badarawa community, said; “I did not attend the LEA Primary School but came here for my secondary school. Even when I came, I heard people referring to the school as Day-bola and I wondered where the bola was. I only heard stories that the school used to be a refuse dump but I haven’t seen any refuse,” she said.      

According to the PTA chairman, parents, teachers and students have for years tried to shake off the school’s attachment to refuse and a name they view with disdain and describe as derogatory. “We don’t even want to hear that name; Day-bola. The school is GSS Badarawa and we don’t have refuse in our school and don’t understand why the name has remained stuck to the school.”

“Any child who writes Day-bola while seeking admission into the school will automatically be disqualified because there is no such school as Day-bola. We usually ask them; do you see bola written on our signpost?”

He however said since the administration of Governor Nasir El-Rufai started, the remnants of refuse at the LEA section had been evacuated and the school provided with huge refuse containers to ensure that refuse generated in the school is properly disposed of and evacuated.

Salmanu said some big names that have held high level appointments at the state and federal government levels had passed through the school even though he could not recall their names in full.  “We are trying to get the old boys together to start to help the school. I am not a product of the school but because I have been in this community since the 70s, I have given my time and energy to the school,” he said.

“Our only challenge now is that there is delay in evacuating the refuse and the smell often pollutes the air. There is also no security in the two schools. We have new classrooms that have been constructed by the government and some thieves have stolen some items including part of the wiring materials which we are now trying to fix,” he said.