September 20, 2025
JTA:
When Salis Abdulsalam brought up the issue of helping to sponsor the aforementioned school, my initial reaction was skepticism.
From the video we saw of the students in the school, it looked like an Islamic School. I have vowed personally and we as JtA have vowed to keep our interactions with organizations none partisan, politically, religiously and ethnically.
This vow is what we summarize in our mantra of “Unity in Diversity”.
I had a long conversation with our Chairman, Suleman Abubakar and he rightly explained that the school is located in Gangare, which is predominantly Muslim but isn’t a Muslim school. Pam Toma, our administrative assistant confirmed this in a report he wrote.
This gave me great comfort in accepting for JtA to donate N300,000 in school items and scholarships as Salis had requested.
When we began to do the math the 300k was insufficient so we decided to bump it to 500k. The idea was for JtA to make this a quarterly intervention in different schools around Jos. That sounded fair enough.
Then we, about 8 members of JtA, made the drive to Gangare to deliver the items.
Gangare is an area I am very familiar with. But to claim that I grew up in Gangare as I often do bothers on disingenuousness. The Gangare I grew up in is only a few kilometers from this school but Worlds apart. My street is one street off of Murtala Way. It was lined with lecturers and professors from the University of Ibadan, Jos Campus which was the fore-bearer of the University of Jos.
That’s my confession.
As we drove on Murtala Mohammed Way to the school, we made a left at the first building of the University of Ibadan, Jos Campus, the area always looks familiar but it is now on steroids of activity and congestion. Through the chaos there was still a sense of civility and peace even though history of violence in Jos lurks under this seeming serenity.
We finally arrived at the undefined entrance of the school.
We were greeted by the proprietor then the principal and then by an incredible guard of honor by the students. We walked in through the guard with the students applauding us enthusiastically. This was unexpected and a new experience for all of us. It was both heartwarming and surreal.
We milled around waiting for the occasion to start formally.
That is when the shock and tragedy of this school unfolded right before our eyes.
I will attach pictures for everyone to see even as the pictures cannot and will not do this place justice. It looks a million times worse than the pictures.
To think that in this day and age a school like this exists in Nigeria is a shame on all of us citizens of this country.
The formal presentation commenced about twelve minutes after we arrived. The introductions were made of JtA members which was met with a clapping routine then a blown kiss by the students. In unison!
The kids looked so happy even as this was a Saturday. They must have been instructed to dress up in their uniforms and welcome us on one of their days off.
My estimation of the proportion of girls to boys is 90 to 10! With the 90 percent being girls. This isn’t unusual around the World these days. This trend is commonplace even in America. Howard University in Washington, DC has a 72 percent female enrollment.
I was personally impressed with the number of female students and equally disappointed with the low number of male students.
The self introduction of the teachers was an incredible experience. All of their teachers had at least a Bachelor’s degree. All of them either had a Masters degree or were pursuing some form of post graduate education.
They were, for all intents and purposes, volunteers!
Volunteers!
This environment made their volunteerism even more amazing. They are doing God’s work. No doubt.
As JtA, we went in there to donate, make as much impact with the donation and move to the next school in the next quarter.
In my opinion, our visit changed all of that.
Destiny brought us to this school. Posterity should keep us there.
We need to remain focused on this school until we bring the school out of this “favela” of apathy and discontent.
These children deserve better. The luck of the draw pulled someone like me, who grew up less that 2 kilometers from this school to two of the best public schools in Jos of the 1970s, Township Primary School and GSS Kuru. Not to mention my one week stint at the University of Jos.
This is our proposed line of action for JTA:
1. ADOPT the SCHOOL: to adopt this school means we shall take ALL FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY away from the students. They have a student population of 535 children. Their yearly school fees is N5,000 (Five Thousand Naira)! 5k! The yearly school fees of all the 535 students is N2,675,000.00. Essentially, N2.7m.
2. PAY TEACHERS a SALARY: The teachers are presently mainly working on a voluntary basis, with a little stipend. This is not sustainable. I will suggest that we pay a reasonable salary in other to stop the inevitable exit of teachers as better opportunities emerge.
3. FIND a SAFER, HEALTHIER LOCATION: The present location of the school is not fit to raise students. I say that with all honesty. Not rhetorical not hyperbolic. This place is a health and safety hazard. The floors are dirt and the walls are zinc. The structure is rough cut wood. The structure could be blown away by strong winds. In case of a fire the casualty will haunt us all forever. This should be our NUMBER ONE PRIORITY.
4. A FORENSIC AUDIT/NEEDS ASSESSMENT: A thorough audit and needs assessment needs to be done IMMEDIATELY so that we can move these kids from this hazardous and dangerous environment.
5. A BUDGET: We need to come up with a sustainable, yearly budget.
6. GOVERNMENT INVOLVEMENT/PLATEAU SUBEB: We should approach the Plateau State Government for assistance. There may be half empty school that could be merged or government buildings in the vicinity that could be renovated and used as a school.
7. INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATIONS: We need to approach international foundations for funding.
8. A DOCUMENTARY: We need to document our intervention for posterity’s sake and to create awareness.
9. AN EVALUATION SYSTEM: We need to build an evaluation system that measures the progress of our investment in these children. Professor Ishaya, Dr. Dike and Ms. Odessa should lead this committee.
Conclusion:
We did not find this school by mistake. We were drawn to it in spite of our initial skepticism.
We are obligated by posterity to change the lives of the 500 plus students and teachers.
We are capable of doing it.
Let’s do it, JTA!
Written by Arc Suleiman Umar
In a separate appreciation message to JTA by the Gangare Youth Counseling Organization the wrote:
We at Gangare Youth Counseling Organization (GYCO) sincerely appreciate your generous support in providing written materials to underprivileged children in our community. We are also grateful for the additional items, such as whiteboards, markers, and more, donated to Famous Academy, Jos — facilitated through Mr. Salis Abdulsalam .
We extend our heartfelt thanks to J-Town Ambassadors for this impactful contribution. Your kindness is deeply valued, and we look forward to future collaborations. We wish you continued success in all your endeavors.
May God bless J-Town Ambassadors, GYCO, Jos, Plateau State, and Nigeria.
Best regards,
Ismail Bello, MNSE, MILT
President, GYCO