Osogbo Community, Alumni Association Kicks Against Planned Sale Of School’s Land For Private Uses

Osogbo Community, Alumni Association of Osogbo Grammar School are at logger head with Osun State Government over alleged balkanisation of the school’s land for private uses.

The community as well as alumni association have said the laying out of over 35 hectres of school land for private individuals by the State Ministry of Land and Physical Planning for private individuals is unacceptable to Osogbo Community and the Alumni stating that the exercise runs foul of the law and practice that land given out for education purposes should not be used for any other purpose.

Addressing newsmen at Osogbo Town Hall, Olonkoro, the spokesperson of both the community and alumni association, Pa Joseph Aderemi Akinlade who was also1957 Senior Prefect of the school appealed to Governor Isiaka Gboyega Oyetola to quickly intervene by stopping further balkanisation of the school’s land for private uses.

He said that both the community and alumni association would fight to preserve their heritage should the state government fail to further laying out of the school’s land to sell to private individual uses.

Akinlade said, “we are here to tell the world about the flagrant disregard for the law exhibited by officials of the Ministry of Lands and Physical Planning and their desperation to layout the land of Osogbo Grammar School for sale to private individuals in spite of the fact that they are well informed by suit registration number HOS/94/2018 of July 2018 before the State High Court.

He explained that the suit was filed consequent upon the attempt of the state government to convert a chunk of the school’s land into a market.

Akinlade noted that the community and association are demanding in the suit that the defendants have no right, jurisdiction, power or authority to encroach or and appropriate any part of the parcel of land belonging to Osogbo Grammar School or for other purposes at all other than for the use and benefit of Osogbo Grammar School and its students and in the same name of Osogbo Grammar School.

Unfortunately, Akinlade said on October 8, 2018 officials from the office of Surveyor General came to partition and planting survey pillars on the school’s land. When asked why? They replied they were sent from the Surveyor General’s office to layout the land for private residential area.

He stressed that the team of surveyor general came again on Monday 21st January 2019 but when challenged, the team leader questioned whether the alumni was unaware that the land had been partitioned for private ownership.
He was reminded of the suit in court but the team leader said Alumni had no claim on government land.

The spokesperson lamented that already less than third of the land amounting to 56.32 hectres had been fenced for mega school named Osogbo Government High School stressing that the remaining 35 hectres are now being laid out for private individuals maintaining that the action is unacceptable to the community and the alumni.

He noted that since 1970 when the school administration had been centralised, school development had been witnessing decline, physical development stalled, maintenance of structure was poor, discipline declined and academic performance was fluctuating especially from the time government took over all school in Oyo State.

Akinlade said that the alumni had began to pay back by way of building and maintenance of infra structure, motivation of the students, guidance and counselling, financial assistance to indigent and brilliant students and have not relent ever since.

“In view of the abysmal decadence, we have resolved to develop Osogbo Grammar School into an educational tourism centre on that remaining two-third of the land. We have plans for; a sporting centre which 1978 set of students begun but stalled when the balkanisation by the surveyor general began in October 2018; indoor games centre vocational and technical workshops, state of the arts laboratory, international conference centre, ICT centre, library structured and equipped for research, perimeter fencing, boarding facility, modern classroom and well furnished staff rioms among other.