Loading ...KANO, NIGERIA — A wave of public indignation has hit social media following fresh revelations concerning the severe infrastructural decay at the historic Dawakin Tofa Science College in Kano State.
The outcry, ignited by prominent commentators and religious figures including Senior Pastor Okezie James Atañi, has reignited intense debates regarding administrative neglect, poor maintenance culture, and the systemic failure of leadership within Nigeria’s public educational sector.
Expressing deep dissatisfaction with the present state of the institution, Pastor Atañi lamented the sharp contrast between the school’s historic legacy and its current condition.
“Something is fundamentally wrong with our society and leadership,” Atañi stated in a widely shared public post. “Look at the present condition of [the college] and we still have so-called leaders in positions of authority in the educational system in Nigeria. It’s really sad and unfortunate!”
A Legacy Left to Rot
Established in the 1970s as a premier, specialized government institution under Kano State’s landmark Science and Technical Schools Board (STSB), Dawakin Tofa Science College was designed to fast-track the training of indigenous doctors, engineers, and scientists. For decades, it stood as a golden standard of academic excellence, producing highly distinguished global professionals, top-tier academicians, and prominent political leaders.
However, inside sources and alumni reports reveal that the college has been grappling with years of severe infrastructural degradation.
Recent visual accounts and testimonies from the campus paint a pathetic picture of collapsing hostel rooftops, damaged classrooms, broken laboratory fittings, and unhygienic sanitary facilities. Overcrowding, driven by a ballooning student population that has outpaced the available structural capacity, has further worsened the state of the dining halls and living spaces.
Alumni Fill the Gap
The situation would have completely collapsed if not for the aggressive interventions of the Dawakin Tofa Science College Old Students Association (DATSOSA) and the central body, KASSOSA.
Faced with governmental inertia, various graduating class chapters have repeatedly pulled private resources together over the years to rebuild broken down toilets, renovate dilapidated hostel block structures, build solar boreholes, and donate basic laboratory equipment and drugs to keep their alma mater afloat.
“It is a shame that an institution of this caliber, which holds a sacred place in the educational history of Northern Nigeria, has to rely on the charity of its old boys to survive,” a structural engineer and alumnus noted anonymously. “The budget allocations for education should be fixing these classrooms, not private donations.”
Growing Demands for Government Accountability
The public exposure of the school’s condition has put pressure on the Kano State Ministry of Education and the state government to audit the structural state of its premier science colleges.
Public affairs analysts argue that allowing centers of excellence like Dawakin Tofa to rot sends a dangerous signal about Nigeria’s readiness to participate in a technology-driven global economy.
Civil society groups and local community leaders are now urgently calling on the state governor and the administrative leadership of the Science and Technical Schools Board to move beyond bureaucratic promises and deploy emergency funding to comprehensively restore the institution’s facilities.
