No Religion Is Against Schools Re-Classification In Osun; Committee On Baptist High School Unrest Reveals

Staff March 19, 2014

Contrary to insinuations that the re-classification exercise of schools in Osun was the cause of unrests in schools, the Committee set up by the State government to look into the disquiet in Baptist High School Iwo on Monday night revealed that no religion in the state is against the policy.
The Committee led by a former Commissioner for Justice and Attorney General in the state, Barrister Gbadegesin Adedeji, while submitting it’s report, noted that no single religion in the state was against the re-classification policy except for ego.
He stressed that the committee was able to find out that it was the old rivalry between the two prominent religions that was responsible for the animosity witnessed in the school in Iwo.
Adedeji commended Governor Rauf Aregbesola for being proactive in tackling the opportunistic differences that some people are trying to play on with the re-classification of schools in the state.
Towards achieving a completely restructured education system for improved result utilizing its meagre resources, the government had embarked on a reclassification that saw to the emergence of bigger schools where instructional facilities are concentrated for effective learning.
According to Gbadegesin, “The crisis in Baptist High school in Iwo was an issue that should not be treated with kids’ gloves. I want to use this opportunity to applaud the state government for setting up this committee.
“If the case of Iwo Baptist High school had been allowed to fester, it could have spread over the state. During our assignment, people came out in their hundreds and we had frank exchange of what could be the problem.
“On the basis of what they told us, we were able to get to a conclusion that no single religion is against the re-classification policy, all we noticed was that it was the ego among the three dominant religions in the state that has been played up,” the chairman of the committee pointed out.
He thanked the governor for the opportunity given to the committee to serve Iwo community and the state at large.
 
The governor while receiving the report held that Yoruba race had lived for several millennia with strong distinction on how to approach the divine without any problem.
Aregbesola stressed that the policy was designed to bring out the best from pupils and students, hence the decision of government to nip in the bud the sectarian unrest at the Baptist High school, Iwo.
He thanked God for not allowing the state to be engulfed in crises with what happened in the school, saying the basis for animosity as noted by the committee was about ego.
He said with the similarities that exist between the two recent faiths, the rancor being witnessed in Nigeria was unnecessary.
In his words, “No matter what we profess, Yoruba will never fight on religion because it is strange to them because they have lived together on different beliefs.
“If love is critical and crucial to all faiths, where do we find the hatred and animosity that now characterise our relationships as men of faith? Salvation is an individual thing with God.
“It’s good to hear that the committee was able to discover that it was not the re-classification of schools in the state that fuelled the attitude of some misguided students in the school in Iwo, but the rivalry between the two faiths was the cause of what happened in the school”. The governor noted.
Aregbesola assured that government is going to look into the report of the committee carefully and come out with a white paper that will show how to manage such occurrence.
Government had set up a committee 4 weeks ago at the wake of the unrest to investigate and recommend solutions to the disturbances at