By Oludare Mayowa
My eyes are filled with mist as I write this today, not because I was a relative of the parent of a young boy who died few days ago as a result of inhuman treatment melted to him while he was in boarding house.
I was near tears because our nation is gradually losing its core value; we are turning to a nation without empathy and have now begun to see evil as a new normal.
First the story was told of how the young boy, a 12 years old Sylvester Oromoni Jnr was compelled by his school mates to drink some substance in a bid to initiate him into their cult group.
He was said to have been bullied and beaten black and blue because of his resistance to join their demonic group, which eventually resulted in his death.
What do we have from the school management; a denial of culpability in the whole scenario. The school simply washed its hands off the entire issue and blame their negligence on the mourning parents who the school accused of being late in coming to pick their ward for medical attention.
When I read the statement of the school on what led to the death of the young lad, I felt terribly insulted by its bare face attempt to cover up.
How would a school that accepted students into it custody write such hogwash rebuttal on the cause of death of the young lad without any empathy? Nowhere in the school statement was the name of the boy mentioned, his case was treated like one of those incidents that happen among students.
The school claim that the lad was injured while playing football with his mates sound puerile, especially their explanation that he was attended to by a competent doctor a day after and even when it was discovered that the boy would need further medical attention, the school management delayed further for her mother to come to pick him up.
I am glad that the Lagos State Government has responded appropriately by ordering the closure of the school indefinitely pending investigation into the issue leading to the death of the school boy.
I believed the state government has taken the right step which could in the interim pacify the family and many Nigerians who have shown concerns over the handling of the case by the school management.
While we cannot truly jump into any conclusion as to the real cause of this young lad’s death until an autopsy is done, the fact remains that the school seems to have a lot of explanation on why the boy was not transfer to a medical facility as soon as it was discovered that he needed further medical care.
Why should a child put in the custody of the school be allowed to go through such a traumatic experience before his parent could come to pick him up for medical attention?
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My first daughter was in a faith based secondary school where the authority do not believed in medication, but still allow all students to be registered under health insurance scheme.
As soon as a child falls ill and the school sickbay cannot handle the case, such child is transfer to the nearest hospital even before the parent is informed.
Why should Dowen College management, seemingly a high brow institution waited for 24 hours after it was discovered that this young boy needed further medical attention still baffles me.
The hasty claim that the boy got injured on football pitch to me was inchoate and full of loopholes.
The revelation by the father of the boy that the case of bullying against the boy was reported to the school authority in the course of last term put a lie to the claim by the school that the management was stringent about bullying.
Why did the school failed to take the necessary measure to address the previous complain by the parent of late Sylvester against those who had subjected him to inhuman treatment in the time past?
An independent panel should be set up by the state educational authority to unravel the true position of thing.
I am inclining to believe that the school was derelict in its responsibility of care to the young boy at the time he needed it most.
I believe that the school is more concerned about the school fees than taking care of students in it custody, otherwise it should have moved the boy into a medical facility immediately it was discovered that he would need further attention and care.
I also sympathise with the parents of this boy who were the unfortunate victim of negligence of the school authority who failed to accept their responsibility toward the student.
The government should begin to rethink educational policy in the country; the government should pay more attention to the so called private schools that are more of commercial centre than providing all round education for our young children.
Cultism in secondary school is growing daily and those who are concern are taking it with levity perhaps simply because the children of the high and mighty are involved.
A stitch in time saves nine, the time has come for the government to take firm measures to curb the system of such social malaise and ensure that parents could be assured of the safety of their wards in boarding house and school generally.
