Adigun: WAEC results and limits of propaganda

FOR about three years since 2011, one has watched with increased trepidation the non-challance of the Oyo State Government in handling issues relating to the Education sector especially at the primary and secondary school levels. It is not that pieces of advice were not offered but Government always unleashed its media advisers to pour scorn on the credibility of the people giving the advice. Government was informed that through its shilly-shally approach, it was busy removing the bricks that held in place the educational sector at the secondary school level. Part of the pieces of advice given then include releasing running grants to schools since collection of school fees had been banned, prompt payment of teachers’ salaries as and when due, provision of furniture for staff and students, continuous renovation of schools and the adherence to the 30 students in a class policy started by a previous administration. Sadly, Government turned deaf ears to these noble ideals.

To date, Government only released grants for a total period covering only two terms out of the nine terms since 2011; teachers are in short supply and those in employment hardly received their salaries inside the month. Schools continue to wear dilapidated looks. There are hardly 10 benches in classrooms meant for 30 students which now house between 70 and 90 students. My on-the-spot verification at Loyola College Ibadan on July 31, 2014 during the schools Diamond Jubilee Programme confirmed this last assertion. Principals are known to run schools from their meagre salaries.

With the graduation of the first set of senior secondary school students the administration started with in 2011, the chicken has finally come home to roost. From the summary of 2014 WAEC results of students who had five credits and above released through newspaper reports, it was revealed that Oyo State placed at 24th position with a woeful 19 per cent came behind all seventeen (17) states in Southern Nigeria and also behind five states including Abuja from the middle belt. Kano and Kaduna from the far North also posted better results than Oyo State! There lies the crux of the matter. Let me also add that if the result of private school students are removed from the summary, Oyo State would still go down the line as it is obvious that the state has more private schools than the far Northern states that came behind it. It is now obvious that the gains recorded beginning from the missionary schools/Obafemi Awolowo era have been finally eroded, and it will take a yeoman’s effort to reverse the unfortunate situation. Kudos must, however, be given to Lagos, Ekiti, Ondo and Ogun states that somehow tried to maintain the legacy albeit on a shaky note.

I waited with bated breath for the Oyo Government’s media machinery to deny the reports as contained in The Guardian and Tribune newspapers of recent but alas, this was not to be as facts and figures don’t lie. It is now left for Government to see if it can embark on a rescue mission even though the curtains are about being drawn on its stewardship of four years.

One of the attributes of an unresponsive Government is the ability of its media aides not to view issues from the prism of the populace but from its self-serving point. Reports from Apete area a couple of weeks ago confirmed that some people were swept away by the overflowing river where Government is yet to reconstruct the bridge that was washed away in August 2011. Instead of rising to the occasion and offering succour to the bereaved families, Government media aides recklessly denounced the report to the chagrin of the populace. To date, the period of hardship of the over 500,000 people living beyond Apete bridge continues ad-infinitum. It is also pertinent to state that the killing fields of Soka area have not been addressed as government media aides have been stringent in denouncing all considered views and opinion.

Recently, the Special Adviser on Media to Oyo State Governor, has meddled unnecessarily in the case of a young student of Eruwa Polytechnic whose ‘battery’ was illegally charged thrice (rape) by an irresponsible soldier attached to the Operation Burst Squad, put in place to prevent crimes and to disturb the populace especially those living between Idi-Ape and Akobo Areas with the constant wailing of siren in their vehicles even if it only had the driver on board and bullying of road users on the ill maintained road. Pray when did it come under the jurisdiction of a media aide to the governor to pontificate over criminal issues?

While the randy soldier’s colleagues were busy looking for the missing Chibok girls in Sambisa forest, he was busy descending on a hapless lady in the serene environment of Eruwa. The inadequacies in the health sector were also brought to the fore as the doctor who examined the lady at Eruwa General Hospital had to perform with mobile phone light and without hand gloves in these days of Ebola. Instead of Oyo State Government to come out solidly to defend the rights of this unfortunate young lady in her period of despondency, it has taken sides with the person who violated her dignity. This indeed is a sad commentary on the quality of our leadership. The accused and his defenders should not be allowed to roam freely in any civilised society. Would the media aide have been that vociferous if the victim had been his daughter, sister or niece?

Oyo State Government should realise that it is not in its best interest to attempt to cover up all lapses without any sense of morality. People in Oyo State are far more sophisticated to tolerate such acts.

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