The pan Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, has described the death of Master Sylvester Oromoni of Dowen College, Lagos, and students killed by a truck in the Ojodu area of the state on Tuesday as unfortunate.
The group, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Mr Jare Ajayi, expressed heart-felt condolences to the Oromonis and parents of students who were crushed to death in the recent accident.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that two students of Babs Fafunwa Millennium School, in Ojodu, were killed while 12 others sustained varying degrees of injuries when a DAF truck rammed into them on Tuesday.
Also, 12-year old Sylvester Oromoni, a student of Dowen College, Lekki, Lagos, allegedly died from a beating he received from fellow students in November.
According to him, the manner in which adolescents die, the increasing banditry among children in schools are clear indications that something must be done fast to protect the future of the nation.
Recounting these incidents and other rising unruly behaviour of school children, Ajayi said that both the federal and state governments needed to give more attention to sanitising education.
The Afenifere spokesman expressed concern at the recent rampage by students of Idogbo Secondary School in Ikpoba-Okha Local Government Area of Edo state, because they did not want to sit for the first-term examination.
He decried the students’ attack on the policemen who were called in by the school authority as well as beating up of teachers and setting the school properties on fire.
According to him, also on Dec. 4, a Senior Secondary School student, identified, was reported to have beaten his teacher to death in Abraka, Delta State, for flogging his younger sister.
“Cases of such unruly behaviour are now very rampart in the country. The collapse of discipline and orderliness in our schools is reflective of the collapse of these virtues in the larger society”
“Until very recently, every adult in the society is respected by the young ones while teachers are revered very highly”
“No student would think of ambushing a teacher, not to talk of having the temerity to attack teachers in the school as happened in Edo and Delta States cases.”
He said that students no do these things with impunity, having observed that adults behave unruly in the open.
According to him, the nation’s moral values have collapsed and, making youngsters and students to get involved in drugs, cultism and banditry.
He urged the federal and state government agencies to redouble their efforts at preventing students from having access to drugs.
“Gone are the days when those in positions of leadership are epitomes of good conduct and commitment to established procedures.” Ajayi added
Ajayi said that the incidents leading to the loss of lives of students and unruliness in schools should be an opportunity for more commitment by government and other stakeholders to sanitise our education system.
He said that the governments should bring back school inspectors and allow more democratic practices in terms of greater involvement of communities in the running of schools.
According to him, governments and stakeholders should show personal discipline by following laid-down procedures and obeying the rule of law.
He expressed dissatisfaction over the state governments’ alleged emasculation of the tier of governance in flagrant violation of the constitution and democratic ethos.
“State governments should remove their stranglehold on local governments so that the third tier can, along with the communities they serve, pay more attention to the educational institutions in their respective areas”
“Parents and guardians too should be more alive to their responsibilities as their failure at home is reflecting on undisciplined behavior of their children,” Ajayi added.
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