Community weeps with joy as heritage school finds a permanent home, generations honour Rep. Wale Raji for rewriting their story.
kakalistiq.com reports that under a sky of celebration and emotion, a community’s long-standing sorrow turned into collective joy as Rep. Wale Raji commissioned two blocks of six fully furnished classrooms with toilets at Anglican Primary School, Ebute-Afuye, restoring the institution to its original ancestral site after decades of relocation, hardship, and uncertainty.
The event, though structured and official, became deeply personal, for elders who remembered the school’s founding in 1980, for parents who had endured the daily risks, and for children who no longer had to brave the expressway to get to class.
Representing the Olu-Epe of Epe Kingdom, HRM Oba Dr. Shefiu Adewale, High Chief Kadri Odedeogboro, the Balogun of Epe Kingdom, stood in solemn appreciation of the symbolic gesture, linking it to the community’s dreams for its children.
“They enhance the development of talents of our children, most especially the junior ones, because they have been travelling from here to a far place to access education. But now, Hon. Wale Raji has brought this facility to our environment. So, I think he’s done a good job and God will continue to bless him,” he said. This was more than a ribbon-cutting; it was the restoration of dignity.
Mrs. Ogunnaya E.A, the headteacher of the school, recalled the community’s painful history — one marked by demolitions, displacements, and danger.
“This school, Anglican Primary School Ebute Afuye, has been relocated constantly since 1980 when it was founded. Firstly, when it was constructed at Ebute Afuye, it was demolished, and the students were moved to Ansar-Ud-Deen Primary School. Later, they constructed another building and brought them back. But when the Jubilee Chalet was expanded, they were returned back to AUD compound at Alawaye.”
She paused, her voice heavy with emotion, as she relived the moment she was told about a near-fatal accident involving three siblings crossing the highway, a tragedy narrowly averted, but one that might have been avoided altogether had this day come sooner.
“When I got to the school as Head Mistress, I saw the pain in the lives of those children… 4- to 5-year-olds coming from Ebute Afuye to Alawaye through the express. Before my arrival, I was informed of a fatal accident which almost claimed the lives of three pupils from the same mother, but for Rep. Wale Raji’s intervention.”
The community’s gratitude was unmistakable. Chief Edu Lamidi, Baale of Ogunmodede Idoho, Ebute-Afuye, stepped forward with a symbolic gift, beautifully wrapped, not just in fabric, but in generations of appreciation. The gift, presented on behalf of the community, was not only to thank Rep. Raji but to immortalize the memory of his efforts in the heart of every child who will now walk proudly into a school that belongs to them.
“This is not just a school project. It is the return of our children to their ancestral place of learning. For years, they risked their lives commuting to a borrowed compound. Today, we are not just cutting ribbons, we are cutting off years of pain and disconnection from our heritage. And for that, Hon. Wale Raji will be remembered not only as a lawmaker but as a restorer of history,” The Otun-Sarumi of Epe Kingdom, High Chief Moninuola Agoro, asserted while reflecting on the commissioning.
With this project, Rep. Raji has now delivered a total of 154 classrooms across the Epe Federal Constituency, a number that speaks volumes without noise. But for the people of Ebute-Afuye, it’s not about statistics. It’s about belonging, safety, access, and homecoming. And as the new school bell rings on ancestral soil, the people know: history has been corrected, and the future, thanks to one man’s vision, now has a permanent address.
