WHEN OSUN STATE GOVERNMENT RESORTS TO LIES AND CHEAP DECEIT!

It is common knowledge and of general expectation that the government of a State or country is supposed to serve to the best interest of the citizens of that state and/or country. The duty of government is widely believed to serve, protect and enforce the human rights and privileges of her citizens, with a view to building a peaceful and united society. The government in this regard will be expected to be an agent of truth, a fair umpire and of course a transparent mediator in moments of upheavals that may threaten the peaceful existence of the societal entity.
The year 2013 will definitely go down in history as the year Osun State made the headlines of most newspapers on a very frequent basis. One would be happy with this development under the right circumstances, but given the circumstance under which the State made headlines, it was most unfortunate that Osun became, in the eye of rational analysts, a State with a retrogressive Government. My State made headlines for its controversial education policy of school merger.
While the Federal Government and UNESCO are advocating increased establishment of schools especially in rural areas, to achieve the 2015 Millennium Development Goals target of ensuring mass literacy, the Osun State Government under the leadership of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola began pursuing a policy of schools merger under the guise of achieving effective management of schools. As would be expected, there were ripple effects of the short-sighted policy and the effects were grave.
In Ejigbo, Muslim female students whose schools were merged with Ejigbo Baptist High School began clamouring for the school authority’s permission for them to continue to use the hijjab in the school. Who could blame them? The regulations of the school from which they were brought allowed for the use of hijjab while that of EBHS disallowed it since it is a Christian mission school. The refusal of the Principal to allow these students have their way nearly led to one of the most catastrophic educational/religious crisis ever witnessed in the South West region of Nigeria. The principal was harassed, the teachers had to scamper to safety and even the Ogiyan of Ejigbo land was insulted. It was a crazy day in Ejigbo!
This incident and some others in Iwo and Osogbo prompted the Osun State chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria to take decisive action in fore-stalling future occurrences that may result in the breakdown of law and order in the State. The State CAN immediately challenged the State Government and demanded an immediate review of the policy or the State Government returns the Christian mission schools to the original owners. I think that was when the lies began!
Instead of bending to the public will and review the policy, the State Government resorted to a divide and rule approach through lies, deceits and cheap blackmails. The first move was the accusation that CAN was being used by the main opposition party in the State to cause mayhem and that accusation, fell flat on its face. They tried again, this time through the President of the Traditional Religious Worshippers Association of Osun State, Chief Idowu Awopetu. In his one-page communiqué in the Punch newspaper of Thursday, December 12 2013, he claimed that, “we have consulted our oracles as a firm believer in traditional religion and we were told that some persons in Osun CAN leadership are nothing cannon fodders for desperate politicians to engender crisis and cause mayhem of unimaginable proportions in the State. We are using this medium to call on security guards to be on alert, should there be any crisis in this state, they should know who should be held responsible”.
What I presume Chief Idowu Awopetu has forgotten is the fact that the crisis that erupted in EBHS was started by Muslim brothers and there was no retaliation of any sort from the Christian community. Again, he has forgotten that the crisis that erupted in BHS Iwo was not the making of CAN but that of those people who would stop at nothing to portray Islam as a religion of terror. I wonder however, that with all these facts staring Chief Idowu Awopetu in the face, it is definitely impossible that a supposed elder statesman would grossly ignore the facts and make malicious comments towards the leadership of CAN. He couldn’t have ignored the facts as a factor of himself, he was most probably urged to ignore the facts and go ahead with his vituperations. This government is trying to set the traditional worshippers and Muslims against the Christian community and that is a direct invitation to religious crisis.
As a contingency plan in case Awopetu’s publication fails, the State Government again silently sponsored a news item in The Punch newspaper of the same December 12, 2013. The news item claimed the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria has distanced itself from the statements credited to CAN that the re-classification of schools in Osun State can lead to terrorism. The news item claimed that this position of PFN was made clear at a gathering with Government officials at Ibokun through one Pastor Joel Balogun.
However, the State Chapter of PFN promptly rubbished the news on Friday December 13, 2013. The State Chairman of PFN, Revd. Olasumbo Ige warned Governor Rauf Aregbesola against seeking to divide the Christian Association of Nigeria in his bid to force on the people of the State the merger of schools embarked upon by his administration. In their statement released to press men, the PFN claimed, “We want to state categorically that Osun State Chapter of PFN under the leadership of Rev. Olasumbo Ige never met with any government official on any issue. Again, we need to explain that PFN in Osun State has never at any time disagreed with our umbrella body, the CAN, either at the State or National levels”.
Now that the attempt through Pa. Awopetu and The Punch has failed and has even made it clear to the public the kind of dishonest government that Aregbesola heads, one can only wonder the kind of lie that will be told next. Instead of taking pro-active measures to stem the tide of violence in the Education sector of the State which resulted from the schools merger, Ogbeni and his merry band has resorted to lies and deceit. Only God knows when all the lies will stop, I pray 2014.
Let us all say a prayer for Osun State, that God will arise and smite all persons whose actions and inactions are geared towards unleashing a reign of terror and autocracy in our dear State. So help us God.