Oyo students’ moral decadence and lasting panacea – Need to compensate late ‘Commander’ Bintin
Kehinde AKINKUNMI
Kehinde Akinkunmi sends this piece from Ogbomoso. Views expressed here are his.
Advertisement
Advertisement
In Oyo state secondary schools, the moral sanctity of the students is no more; unscrupulousness has taken over. Students do not treat their teachers with deference or regard any longer, their destiny molders—a tun ori omo ti ko sun won se. They have become a bunch of unserious elements, so to say. Gone are the days when public secondary school students had discipline. Gone are the days when both internal and external examinations were taken seriously by the students. The efficacy of the teaching-learning process has been hindered. Arms must not be folded; the lasting solution must be hastily proffered before it goes haywire. We should all remember that students today may become teachers tomorrow. What lessons will they instill in their students, who may be our younger ones or children?
According to Njoku (2013), moral decadence is conceptualized as the failure to uphold sound morality in society; it means failure, decline, decay, and depravity. This scholarly definition is apt to describe the behaviours of the secondary school students in Oyo state. Many of them have woefully failed to possess good morals and quality characters in society. To forestall serious ones from being negatively influenced by the ‘bad eggs,’ the needful must be done.
Advertisement
Advertisement
It is unfortunate that secondary school students in Oyo state are being found with injurious weapons like poisonous daggers and cutlasses, etc. Some are even suspected to be members of different cult groups; this peradventure emboldens them to unleash inter-school fights audaciously with their school uniforms.
Important to unveil is the significant role played by the late Ogbomoso South Commander of Nigeria Hunters Security Service (NHFSS), Mr. Rotimi Adigun, popularly known as ‘Bintinlaye,’ in restoring discipline by punishing deviant students in Ogbomoso, the land of valiant and the second-largest city in Oyo state, which can never be thrown to the pit of forgetfulness. As a result of his selflessness and passion, coupled with the mysterious death he suffered in the course of the work, self-imposed assignment, I suggest the immortalization of his name and beseech the financially buoyant individuals in Ogbomoso to proffer scholarships for the children he left behind at an unripe age. I pray his ‘comradic’ soul rests peacefully in the Elysium.
Advertisement
Advertisement
“Education nah scam, yahoo-yahoo nah the way” is the unruly slogan in the mouths of those unserious students now. This parochial mindset has propelled the larger percentage of some male ones in secondary schools to engage in fraudulent acts like “yahoo-yahoo.” The female ones have become whores. They stand in front of hotels, bar rooms, half-naked, looking left and right like a bush fowl. Some of them smoke weeds, drink alcohol, twerk to seduce guys, et al.
When will the male students, who are busy bamboozling clients, mostly whites, at times with powerful “do as I say” charms in the night, and female ones parading themselves at hotels, have time to settle down and revise what they’ve been taught in school during the day? How will they get time to do their assignments, let alone prepare squarely for examinations and tests? They say the youths (students) are the future of tomorrow. The question I will ask is: Have they not been trading their future for nonsense or worthless engagements?
It is one Yoruba apothegm that states, “charity begins at home,” which can be construed in Yoruba language as “Ile ni a ti ko eso rode.” It is unfortunate that some homes worship at the altar of immorality. Some parents are encouraging fraud. This lack of home training will doubtlessly affect students or children negatively.
Funny enough, it is rumoured that one organization, named “Yahoo Mothers’ Association,” has been launched. Later, “Olosho Mothers’ Association” will be established too. I am imagining how some parents will bite their fingers in regret in some years to come. However, not all of them can be sternly vilified. Abject poverty pushes some of them to dabble into the aforesaid immoral and illicit acts.
It is not unbeknown that there is a high level of poverty in society, resulting in the inability to provide for family needs. What do we expect from someone who is beaten by hunger? But should they engage in illegality? Is decapitation a cure for headache—se ori bibe ni oogun ori fifo?
To put a halt to the Oyo state secondary school students’ perpetration of unruly or deviant acts, the government needs to do the following:
A seminar should be launched which should be anchored by criminologists among others in that field in each secondary school where parents, guardians, and students will be thoroughly educated on the adverse effects of cybercrime in society, because some of them claim not to know that the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria frowns at it. And in the court of law, claiming ignorance of the law holds no water.
Oyo state government under the leadership of the people’s governor, Engr. Seyi Makinde, should order all schools to prepare an oath form comprising dos and don’ts of the school, to be accordingly signed by the guardians/parents of the applicants and applicants seeking admission into the citadel of learning. Breaching the oath should attract expulsion from the school to forestall pollution of the good ones and such students should suffer deprivation from gaining admission into any secondary school in Oyo state. When one student crosses the line and gets fired, the other students will maintain composure.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Also, Oyo state government should implement policies to alleviate the plight of penury, which is one of the reasons fueling the misbehaviour of many students. He has been performing well as far as the education sector is concerned, but we are still asking for more. The earlier, the better.
I wish all Oyo state primary and secondary school students a happy resumption. I want them to know that hard work begets success. They should buckle down for success in their academic pursuit.
