The unanimous decision of Southwest governors to open schools for WAEC examinations could have made the federal government change its earlier decision which was to the contrary. Lagos state, a Southwestern state has slated the opening of schools for Mid-September. I hope this should encourage the federal government to open schools now.
A nation that toys with the education of her citizenry is doomed to fail. It is no gainsaying that Nigeria has always threaded the path of flippant treatment of education. Lack of quality education is one of the numerous reasons why we are where we are today in the comity of nations.
Lagos state was the epicentre of the pandemic in Nigeria. The same Lagos is not just witnessing the dwindling spread of the virus but wants school opened by September. What happen to Kogi that has no case at all or whose government had denied the very few cases NDDC claimed?
What happens to other states that have little cases that can be managed while people go about their activities? Young Nigerians who are mostly students constitute the bulk of Nigeria’s population. Presently, Nigeria’s population is estimated to be two hundred million.
Today, our active cases of coronavirus patients are less than twelve thousand and the figures are decreasing daily. The continuous closure of schools, while international flights, which brought in the virus is set to resume, is not just thoughtless but provocative. Open our schools now.
Ahmad Deedat Zakari,
Faculty of Law,
Ahmadu Bello University,
Zaria.
