The increasing numbers of social ills in the society, reported and unreported, in this latest instance, the death of master Sylvester Oromoni Jnr, a 12-year-old JSS 2 student, has added to the woes and failings of the society, to say the least. According to news making the rounds, the death of the student was caused by some identified fellow students of the same college who tried to lure him into their gang.
While the public awaits detailed reports surrounding this kind of avoidable death, it is public knowledge that there are several reported cases of bullying in our private and public schools in the society as reported by various groups of Human Rights Crusaders and other groups that advocate public good. Surely, this trend may continue if the authorities fail to rise to the occasion in protecting our children, who have been entrusted into their care.
T he issue of education in Nigeria came under serious threat when the public schools collapsed. We now have pure merchants, business school owners and managers that are less concerned about the characters of their students, but instead prefer the school fees parents are paying. No more, no less! Globally, education institutions and everyone therein are treated with every sense of seriousness they deserve because there lies the future of the country.
That is not what it is here, simply because, those that are in charge, in one way or the other, may have compromised, leading unfortunately to the situation we have today in the system, whereby the children now entrusted into the hands of the teachers are exposed to severe harm. Conversely, teachers can no longer discipline their students for fear of being sacked by the school authority. It is one story after the other and the blame game continues all over the place.
But, sincerely speaking, the death of this young lad calls for serious investigation and quickly too, to unravel what led to this, and to also prevent other children, not only in that school but across the states from further harm of this nature. Currently, the country is beset by numerous problems, one of which is insecurity even in the school places.
Therefore, the death of a Lagos based schoolboy under mysterious circumstances should be a matter of serious concern and worry for every parents now whose wards/children are in that same school. We are mindful how issues, most recently especially when it concerns to human lives, are handled in our society.
But here, we are talking about a lad who was sent to school by parents, to be nurtured by his teachers for the good of the society eventually. And because it is a human angle story that evokes feelings and touches the heart, we want everyone concerned in this matter to come clean even though the life lost cannot be recovered. Already insinuations are rife that the school involved is not releasing information as it should about the names that were mentioned.
Enough of this cover up which our society is known for today! We cannot continue this way as a people! Although, we understand that police preliminary investigation is ready; but beyond that, we also want to hear that those implicated, one way or the other, over this issue are reprimanded. There should be no sacred cow in this matter, through which sanity would be restored in that school and by extension in the larger society.
The temporary closure of the school by the Lagos State government shows how sensitive the matter is and therefore, the state must ensure that those implicated are brought to account. Again, today’s parents should come to the realization that many stupid things are happening amongst our children, whether in the school or at home. We want to call on the teachers to wake up once again to their responsibilities.
Keeping quiet and not doing the needful for want of material gains and accolades from school owners would only bring a repeat of Dowen College, where students and teachers alike are now struggling to prove their innocence over the death of a student. In this particular case of untimely death, justice must be served!
