The Christian Association of Nigeria in Osun State has given a seven-day ultimatum to Governor Rauf Aregbesola to stop the merger of public schools in the state.
The Chairman of Osun CAN, Rev. Elisha Ogundiya, who stated this in a letter to the governor by the association, said failure to stop the new education policy would be met with “appropriate actions.”
A copy of the letter dated October 9 and signed by Ogundiya was made available to our correspondent in Osogbo on Thursday.
The letter read, “However, we observe that the foundation of Christian faith is being threatened by some of the state government policies, especially in the education sector, which the church is strongly averse to and is not ready to compromise.
“Therefore, CAN on behalf of the entire Christians in the state, unanimously resolved that the state government should stop the merger of schools forthwith; reverse the changing of single sex schools to co-educational schools in order to preserve the religious character of each school; and return all mission schools back to their original founders.
“Hence, CAN on behalf of the entire Christians in the State of Osun, is requesting that the state government takes appropriate steps to revert to the status quo within seven days with effect from the date of receipt of this letter.
“If there is no concrete and sincere step taken before the ultimatum expires, the CAN, Osun State chapter will take further appropriate actions.”
The state government has started schools reclassification and restructuring whereby primary and secondary school level of education are divided into elementary, middle and high schools.
Schools are being merged in the process and this has attracted severe criticisms from some quarters especially from Christians who believe that the policy would erase their Christian heritage.
Specifically, members of the Osun Baptist Conference had resisted the attempt to merge male students with the female students of the Baptist Girls High School, Osobo on October 2.
They also protested the merging of hijab-wearing pupils with the pupils of Baptist High School, Iwo.
But Aregbesola has already allayed fears of Christians and other religious groups about the merger saying “ no single group, organisation individual, religious or social body’s interest would suffer as a result of the ongoing re-classification and reform.”
The governor in a statement by his media aide, Mr. Semiu Okanlawon, urged the people of the state “to discountenance any untrue and baseless insinuation some anti-progress elements may be spreading across the state.”
He explained that the new policy was not aimed at erasing Christian heritage but was one of the efforts being made by the state government to transform the education sector in the state.
