Gurbi: A Katsina community in need of basic aminities

Gurbi community in Kankara Local government area of Katsina is fast losing hope of functioning and effective basic social aminities needed for development, Kano Chronicle, reports. Our reporter, who visited the village, observed that basic aminities such as schools, hospital and water boreholes in the community are in sorry state. The only primary school in […]

Gurbi community in Kankara Local government area of Katsina is fast losing hope of functioning and effective basic social aminities needed for development, Kano Chronicle, reports.

Our reporter, who visited the village, observed that basic aminities such as schools, hospital and water boreholes in the community are in sorry state.

The only primary school in the village, which was built over 40 years ago, has never witness any renovation and is overstretched, thus not conducive for learning. 

Further observation indicated that pupils of the Early Childhood Care Education (ECCE) are sitting on mats at the veranda of the classrooms for lessons.

At moment, the school has about 845 pupils and three teachers but both the students and the teachers share 12 desks available in the school. 

The dilapidation of the classrooms was horrible that one could see through within the cracks on its walls.

The school also lacks floor in the classrooms and windows. The headmaster and teachers had to convert half of a classroom by partitioning it to serve as their offices and there are only two sets of desk and chairs in the makeshift offices.

A teacher in the school, who craved for anonymity, told Kano Chronicle that the school had no toilet facilities, thereby forcing both teachers and pupils to ease themselves in the bush. 

The teacher also confirmed that the only three desks in the school were put in class six to be  used by the senior students who share them on first-come-first serve basis, while other students brought mats to the school from their houses everyday.

Our reporter also observed that the solar borehole that provides portable water to the community was faulty thereby subjecting people in the community to return to streams and wells for their daily water needs.

Additionally, seven years after laying foundation of a hospital at the community, the facility was abandoned and is currently rotting away.

“The facility, which become a den of reptiles, has been taken over by farmers who farm on its surrounding to at least make it useful. Its borehole has been vandalised with most items stolen,” a resident of the village, Aminu Sabo, said.

Sabo explained that the community with about 1000 households, had been relying on a one-bed dispensary built over 4 decades ago, noting that even at that, the facility was in a terrible condition.

A medical personnel met attending to a patient said that was the best they could make use of the facility, saying “Apart from its deplorable condition, no consumable drugs available.”

The community has long lost hope of a better health service and resort to traditional medicine. Critically ill persons and pregnant women are at the mercies of traditional birth attendants and herbalists who provide succor to them.

“A few privileged ones are being ferried on carts or motorcycles to the headquarters of the local government, which is about 20km away, for attention in the dry season. But when it is rainy season, people had to go round through a long route of about 45km to get health services due to a stream that hinders movements,” he said.

At the abandoned health facility, our reporter observed that although the structure has reached advanced stage before it was neglected, there was no any signed post of the contractors’ identity or that of the project.

The solar panels and water pump of the boreholes constructed at the facility were stolen. The remaining standing iron post for the over head tank was at the mercy of vandals. The facility is being managed by volunteers in the community.

The 15km link road also under renovation in the village, from Marabar Gurbi-Gurbi-Unguwar Zomo-Danmurabu-YarDorawa-Tsamiyar, has been abandoned by the constructing firm. The road, now been destroyed by erosion, is of great importance to the socio economic well-being of people of the area who are predominantly farmers.

Village head of the area, who spoke through the Galadiman Gurbi, Abdullahi Sani, said the community was suffering from the dearth of social aminities. .

“We have cried out severally to no avail, our people want to be educated, you can see the turn out of the pupils but the school is not habitable. We are risking the lives of our dear ones in search for knowledge in this facility. The authority concern should come to our aid to renovate the school and complete the hospital to enable us access better education and healthcare services,” Sani said.