Nigerians are not satisfied with the hearings on the case of Dowen college student, Sylvester Oromoni, who died from injuries sustained in the boarding facility of the school.
The parents of the late boy continue to demand justice for their son.
In the midst of all the hullaballoos going on, another family from Umuakwa, Ihiala, in Anambra State, are also demanding justice for their only child. Reports gathered that Bright Chiodalu Onyekwuluje, was an only son.
And the question comes: Are boarding schools a big problem? This has been the question on many tongues.
It is said that the second boy was a boarding student at St.Michael’s Boys College, Ekwusigo Local Council, Anambra State, and died on December 17, 2021.
According to Guardian, a petition addressed to the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Usman Alkali, had the parents of the late boy accusing the school authorities of negligence. They stated that this lack of attention caused their son’s death.
“My son, Bright Chidalu Onyekwuluje, died out of negligence on the part of the school. He was sick, and they refused to tell us. It was my son’s cousin that borrowed a phone to call his mother to tell us to come and pick Bright that he was dying,” the boy’s father said, after which he added that it was the school that told him not to bother about coming to pick his son for treatment, when he expressed worry over the condition of the boy’s health.
Prince Cornelius and Ogochukwu Onyekwuluje, are the deceased’s parents, and they explained all these during the burial of their son. They said he gave up the ghost, nine days after he was taken away from the school.
However, the principal of the school, Rev. Fr. Romanus Ike Muoma, debunked the claim about the management delaying in the boy’s release to his parents. He explained that he was promptly treated for malaria, before he suffered a relapse.
Mrs Zovannah who’s the director of Dority International Schools, is a force to reckon with, in academics. People beg and disturb her to open a boarding school, so they could send their children from various parts of Nigeria, to Aba, Abia State.
She’s an African American woman who runs one of the finest schools in Africa. Her students are well-known for doing well in national competitions.
I know politicians in the Eastern part of Nigeria, who send their kids to the school. But one thing strikes you at PTA meetings when people raise up the idea of boarding school to her.
“I believe parents should be actively involved in the education, and mental well-being of their children. They should also be actively involved in the health status of their wards.”
She said this at a PTA meeting years ago, and you could understand that boarding schools take away a great percentage of that connection parents have with their children.
If Sylvester was coming to school from home, we will probably be alive. He would receive proper care, and the students who bullied him, wouldn’t have enough time to achieve their aims.
If Bright was going to school from home, he will still be alive. His parents wouldn’t be complaining about the school’s nonchalant attitude towards his deteriorating health. He would have had enough medical attention.
I believe a special organization should be set up for the investigation of the worthiness of boarding schools. If this is done, there will probably be little or no existing boarding schools. Yes, it would be established that a great percentage of the school directors, aren’t meant to own such schools.
Yes, boarding schools are problems because they are not properly managed.
Written by: Edward Amah
