THE ADVERSE EFFECTS OF TERRORISM ON THE FUTURE OF EDUCATION IN NIGERIA

Education is the best legacy according to some school of thought and the foundation on which development and progress rests upon.

The recent invasion of schools in Oyo State and other parts of Nigeria have raised questions on the future of education, as parents are furious and afraid of sending their children to school due to the fear of unknown and memories from the Ogbomosho school attack that led to loss of lives of workers and kidnapping of over 40 pupils alongside academic staffs.

Aftermath of Ogbomosho school attack, Schools in the community have been deserted, some inhabitants of those affected communities are fleeing to cities, while attendance in school have been reportedly dropped to the lowest across neighboring communities.

Teachers and Pupils in public and private primary and secondary schools in Ogbomoso and neighbouring communities like Ikose, Ikoyi, Tewure and Dananu had abandoned classrooms following the incident.

Findings and reports revealed that school attendance had also dropped drastically across communities as many parents had refused to send their children to school over security concerns.

Also, despite assurances from the Oyo State Government, teachers and education workers said fear remained widespread among pupils, parents and school personnel.

A teacher at Ikose Primary School, who spoke on condition of anonymity, disclosed that attendance had dropped drastically.

She said, “All the schools, both private and public, in Ogbomoso have been empty since Monday. Pupils stopped attending school after the Esinele attacks. The matter became worse on Tuesday when some students at Areago Grammar School saw some men in the bush around them hunting squirrels.

“The students, because of the Esinele incident, raised the alarm that there were terrorists on the school premises. That led to pandemonium, and everybody started running helter-skelter. One of the pupils was knocked down by a vehicle around the Owode area of Ogbomoso, and he died instantly. His mother also died from shock after hearing about the death of her son. Ogbomoso was turned upside down on Tuesday.”

She added, “On Wednesday, only private schools had a few pupils, far below normal attendance. But pupils in public schools did not go at all. All the teachers in my school and other areas in Ogbomoso, Esinele, Yamota, Ikose, Ikoyi, Tewure and others had to return home around 12pm.

“The situation became worse on Thursday; the number of teachers and pupils also dropped across the area. We didn’t see any students, while many teachers also did not show up. We left school before 11am.”

The source disclosed that all teachers agreed not to go to school on Friday in honour of a former Assistant Headmaster of L.A. Primary School, Joel Adesiyan, who was killed by the terrorists during the incident.

Suspected terrorists who abducted schoolchildren and teachers from three schools in Esinele, Yamota and Alawusa towns in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State have opened communication channels with the state government.

https://punchng.com/oyo-schools-kidnap-terrorists-open-talks-give-condition/