Nigeria is a threatre of absurdity or a compendium of events that sometimes worry sensibility. We were recovering from the BSC in–law’s drama between a shepherd, Paul Enenche, his sheep and victim, Vera Anyim, who’s now looking for luxury accommodation and security that fits her self–acclaimed celebrity status as a result of restitution made by the church, and the beautiful performance of a chess player, Tunde Onokoya, who made the country extremely proud before another sad and thought–provoking event occurred.
The social media was abashed with receipts of advance tuition fees for Yahaya Bello’s kids paid in dollars by the former governor from Kogi State coffers. According to the EFCC chairman, Yahaya Bello took $720,000 from Kogi state accounts to pay in advance the tuition fees of his kids before leaving office as a two-time governor. When I surfed the internet to read comments under the pages of news platforms, I read the anger and anguish of netizens in writing. They nearly lost words to describe the actions of the former governor. From greed to extreme greed to wickedness to outright evil, there’s no bad word they did not use in condemning the action.
A civil servant from Kogi, while condemning the act, disclosed that he had to defer the admission of his child because he could not clear some bills like school fees, accommodation, and upkeep due to unpaid backlog of salary in the state. As sad as his narration might be, it pushed me to conclude that it would likely be a threat to a new generation. There’s a likely possibility that the civil servant’s son sees his father as an irresponsible man who denied him the opportunity to resume school with his friends after he had passed the necessary examination because his father could not steal or launder money, while Yahaya Bello’s children, whose father allegedly stole from the coffers of Kogi State to pay their tuition fees in advance, would be seen as the responsible one.
Some Nigerians also abused the Abuja American School for collecting advance payments from Yahaya Bello. I think I agree that when problems are too many, you might not know which of them to tackle first. A school that collects advance tuition fees, if at all there should be a problem, is not greater than a public officer who looted the treasury of a state he governs to pay the tuition fees of his children in advance. Aside from receiving school fees in dollars in a Naira–dominated nation, American School in Abuja has not committed any offense known to law, logic, or morality. The American School in Abuja is not the center point of this entire case, but Yahaya Bello.
I was struggling to understand life and its complexities, especially the wide gap between social status and the abuse of privileges by public officers, when I came across a news publication that some Kogi-born lawyers protested at the EFCC headquarters, accusing the anti-graft agency of molesting and trampling on the rights of Yahaya Bello. That’s the danger of Nigeria’s politics. When I watched the clip and saw adults who are probably older than Yahaya Bello, either lawyers or impersonating the drivers of the legal profession, I could not agree less with Nigerian comedian and actor, Bovi Ugboama, who defined the problems of Nigerians with a ‘culture of shame’. If you embezzle or steal public funds, just ensure that you stole enough to pay lawyers in court and the clowns onthe streets. the streets.
While we were still trying to understand what could have compelled Yahaya Bello, a two-time governor to allegedly embezzle N80bn from Kogi coffers, a video emanated from Lead British International School belonging to a fifth-time federal lawmaker representing Ijesa North Federal Constituency, Oluwole Busayo Oke. In this video, a female student named Namtira Bwala was slapped repeatedly by another female student named Maryam. Those who counted the slaps received by the victim said it reached 18. Namtira Bwala received 18 slaps from Maryam in the presence of fellow students. This is bullying, I agree with many Nigerians who have condemned the act and I also agree that such incidents must be curtailed and not allowed anywhere in the country.
However, we are still lacking the necessary details about the incident. We must not only show desperation in punishing the ‘bullies’ but also be desperate in knowing the true cause of the incident. As a trained criminologist, I am more interested in ‘how and why’ it happened rather than who did it or providing evidence of guilt. I have listened to Namtira and Maryam, but none have explained in clear terms the primary cause of the bullying. What could have made two teenagers, Maryam and Aliya, beat up Namtira Bwala after a teacher had first resolved the issue?
The bullying act that happened at Lead British International School is just a representation of what has become a menace in our society. There’s no boarding school in Nigeria where such acts do not occur. For Nigerians, bullying is a way of life. Every boarding school, either private or public, is a training camp for bullies. Both teachers and senior students bully. Like Namtira Bwala, eight out of ten students living in the boarding school have been bullied, either by fellow students or teachers. If we only punished Maryam and Aliya for bullying Namtira Bwala, it would not stop others from being bullied. Until we uproot the primary causes of bullying and introduce interventional measures that would reduce it, those who are riding the buses of vengeance do it in vanity.
The extent of bullying in government-owned boarding schools is extremely disturbing. During the week, I visited ‘Oroki Foods’, the official page of a PhD student based in Osogbo who sells paps, and I marveled at the revelations of people, especially those who went to boarding schools. I was not surprised but a bit shocked because I sincerely doubt if administrators of boarding schools have knowledge of the number of people they have ruined psychologically. Yes, I was not surprised. I attended a private-owned boarding school from JSS 1 to JSS 2. I was a victim of bullying. My pointed teeth and being a Muslim in a Christian boarding school made me a target.
Whenever I read any confession on her page, it was easier for me to relate because I had first-hand experience. I have seen senior students having sex during the night. I have seen senior students forcing juniors to drink water used to wash clothes as punishment. I have watched helplessly how senior students would forcefully hijack provisions meant for juniors and still organize premium beatings for any junior that disagreed. I’ve seen senior students setting up any junior that disagrees with them. Physical torture, abuse, same-sex teachers to students sexual encounters, dinning wahala, and many more are events that shaped my memory as a boarder. The greater problem is that there are a lot of victims living with these traumas who are now teachers, parents, and even proprietors.
Of all the experiences I had as a boarder, I still remember a particular incident that happened on a Saturday evening between me and the chaplain of our school. I had issues with one of my classmates (name withheld). I think she abused me, and I seized her book in return. She went ahead to pick up my book lying on the table and tear it. I was upset and threw her book on the floor. I did not know that I had offended the chaplain’s favorite. She left the entire school and went to report me at the chaplain’s dormitory. In response to her report, the chaplain sent three senior students to fetch me. I did not steal or commit examination malpractice, but I was apprehended like one. They took me to the chaplain’s quarters, and I started receiving different kinds of punishment without being questioned.
The chaplain did not investigate the matter. I was severely punished alongside a friend named Folowosele Samuel. According to the female student, Samuel was an accomplice who assisted me in harassing her. I was punished from 6 p.m. until 9 p.m. Samuel was released around 7 p.m. during dinner time. I missed dinner, and I was severely punished. I received all kinds of punishment because I threw this girl’s book to the floor after she tore my own book. The chaplain stood up from a plastic chair he was sitting on and used pipes to beat me after ordering two seniors to carry me. He had already directed senior students to knock my head and give me dirty slaps. I fell and ran away. I was chased by the chaplain and these seniors towards the school gate. I would have escaped through the fence if I was not nabbed by gatemen. I nearly collapsed from beating that very night. He later released me after he was satisfied. I trekked to the hostel with premium tears and washed myself at the water tank. I could not sleep at night due to body pains.
The following day was a Sunday. I arrived late at the chapel inside the school. He asked me to stand up and mocked me openly. He addressed me as a boy with adult teeth. He said I nearly died from his beatings but do not believe in Jesus Christ, who survived the torture of his aggressors till he reached the point of crucifixion. I kept silent and did not utter a word. After Sunday’s service, I walked to the boy’s hostel and sat on my bed. I did not sleep, but I could not remember what I was thinking. I later heard from one of my seniors that I offended the chaplain’s girl. As a boy, I thought she was just a favorite, but I think she was more than that now that I’m older. This is one of my sad experiences as a boarder.
My story is not different. It is similar to the tales of every boarder who went through hell at the hands of bullies and abusers. When I saw the video of Namtira Bwala being bullied by Maryam and Aliya, I had a memory refresh and remembered when the Chaplain directed my seniors to give me knocks and slaps. As a victim of bullying and abuse, I clearly posit that most boarding schools in the country are very low in standard and do not make adequate preparation to tackle issues like bullying and abuse. The government must start a reformative process outside her doors and extend such practices to private owners. We must look beyond punishing Maryam and Aliya or shutting down Leed Bristish International School; we must be deliberate about making reforms that would change the status quo of boarding schools in the country.
Sodiq Lawal Chocomilo is an online editor, criminologist, and columnist.