The pan-Yoruba socio-political organization, Afenifere, yesterday, described the killing of Sylvester Oromoni, the 12-year-old student of Dowen College, Lekki, allegedly beaten to death by some of his mates and the rampage at a secondary school in Edo State as ugly signs of how governments in Nigeria have failed the people.
Afenifere, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Jare Ajayi, said the manner in which adolescents die in Nigeria and the increasing banditry among children in schools are “clear indications that the country’s present has not only been jeopardized, its future has also been imperiled.”
The statement reads: “In this respect, both the federal and the state governments are culpable. We have not mentioned the local governments because the state governments have totally emasculated that tier of governance in flagrant violation of the Constitution and democratic ethos which those running governments at federal and states sworn to protect.
“Cases of such unruly behavior are now very rampart in the country. These are in addition to the banditry, kidnapping, armed robbery and terrorism occurring in different parts on Nigeria. Situations that have made the country one of the riskiest to live in across the globe.
“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 was respected by the young ones while teachers were 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 the Edo and Delta States cases. But they now do such with impunity having observed the adults behaving unruly in the open society.
“These incidents speak of how those governing the country have failed woefully and how our moral values have been debased. Youngsters and students took to cultism and banditry after taking drugs that government agencies failed to prevent them from having access to. These young ones also delve into this immoral acts having observed same in the adults.
“Gone were the days when those, in position of leadership, were epitomes of good conduct and commitment to established procedures. For instance, had LATSMA officers obeyed the rule of engagement which forbids them from chasing a driver that violates the law, the lives of the 15 innocent students would not have been lost as happened when the said driver was running away from LATSMA officers on Ikorodu road last week. The rule of engagement was that if a driver could not be apprehended, the number of plate of his vehicle be noted for apprehension at a later time – and perhaps by other means that are legitimate.
“What the LATSMA officers did was symptomatic of how Nigerian governments ambush the citizens, and still go ahead to punish these citizens who try to disentangle themselves.
“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 sanitize our education system, bring back the inspection officials, allow more democratic practices in terms of greater involvement of communities in the running of schools and above all, show personal discipline by following laid-down procedures and obeying the rule of law faithfully.
“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 responsibility as their failure at home is reflecting on undisciplined behavior of their children.”