Reported by: Oahimire Omone Precious | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
A civic monitoring group has raised a fresh alarm over the quality of public infrastructure in Abia State, alleging that three blocks of six classrooms each, built at a cost of N204.2 million, have already begun to deteriorate less than two years after construction. The buildings, located at Eziama Nneato Model Secondary School, Amaise Ahaba Ward, and Ulasi Road Primary School in Aba, were executed through the Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Sustainable Development Goals (OSSAP‑SDGs). The group, which operates under the name Track‑A‑Project, said its follow‑up visit in March 2026 revealed extensive structural defects, including cracked walls, peeling paint, roof leaks, and failing finishes, raising serious concerns about workmanship, material quality, and contract supervision.
According to documents shared by the group, the sum of N204,242,000 was paid in March 2025 to Jay Jay Badmus Investment Limited for the “Construction & Furnishing of 3Nos 6 Classroom Blocks” across the three locations. The group acknowledged that three blocks of classrooms were completed in Ulasi in 2024. However, during a monitoring visit in March 2026, the buildings were observed to be already “worn out, suggesting poor work done.” The organisation has called on OSSAP‑SDGs, the implementing agency, to provide the public with full details of the project and to compel the contractor to return to site to correct the defects.
The classrooms at Ulasi Road Primary School, a public school in the commercial city of Aba, serve hundreds of children from low‑income families. Teachers and parents who spoke informally with the monitoring team expressed frustration that the new buildings, which were inaugurated with great fanfare, now show visible signs of decay. One teacher, who asked not to be identified for fear of reprisal, said the school had reported the issues to the local education authority months ago but had received no response. “We were promised these classrooms would serve the community for decades. Now, we are already worried about the safety of the children,” she said.
The Eziama Nneato Model Secondary School, located in Umunneochi Local Government Area, was originally built by the local government chairman, Hon. Ifeanyi Madu, and has been the beneficiary of several legislative interventions. In 2024, a federal lawmaker also announced a separate six‑classroom block project at the same school, further underscoring the strategic importance of the facility to the community. The deteriorating condition of the newly built OSSAP‑SDGs classrooms has therefore become a source of embarrassment for both federal and state authorities. Community leaders have demanded an independent assessment of the structures and a transparent accounting of how the N204 million was spent.
The contractor, Jay Jay Badmus Investment Limited, has not yet responded to the allegations. Attempts to reach the company through publicly available contact numbers were unsuccessful. The Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on SDGs has also not issued a formal statement on the matter. However, former OSSAP‑SDGs head, Princess Adejoke Orelope‑Adefulire, had previously stated that between 2017 and 2020, the office constructed and furnished 3,613 blocks of classrooms across the country, with a focus on integrating digital‑based teaching and learning. The current controversy raises questions about whether the quality of those projects was properly monitored.
Abia State has seen a surge in education infrastructure investment in recent years, including a partnership with Blue Giraffe Development Limited to build 20 smart schools under a Memorandum of Agreement signed in July 2025. But the alleged collapse of recently built traditional classrooms risks undermining public confidence in the government’s broader education agenda. Parents in Aba are already struggling with high costs of private schooling, and the deterioration of a public primary school that was supposed to offer free, quality education is a painful blow.
Track‑A‑Project has urged the public to join its call for accountability. “We call on @ossap_sdgs, the implementing agency, to provide the public with details of this project and call the contractor back to site to correct these defects,” the group said in its alert. The organisation has not indicated whether it will escalate the matter to anti‑corruption agencies if its demands are not met. For now, the children of Ulasi Road Primary School continue to sit in classrooms that were supposed to be a symbol of hope but have already become a testament to waste.
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