For Fear of Cultists, Corps Members Avoid Osogbo High School
At the entrance of Osogbo High School, located along Iwo/Ibadan road in the capital of Osun State, a signpost donated by a member of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) welcomes students and teachers, as well as visitors to the school.
Established in 1950, the institution is among the first generation of secondary schools in Osogbo. It has produced eminent Nigerians who have become successful in different walks of life. The school was very popular for academic excellence and reputable for winning various inter-school competitions, particularly in sporting activities.
But the narrative has changed within the last one decade as the school suddenly became very notorious for hooliganism. It became an abode for gangsters in school uniform and notorious for cultism.
Overtime, incessant clashes between students of Osogbo High School and those of the Government Technical College have been a serious source of concern for residents of the community. Dangerous weapons and assorted charms were often used by students whenever they clashed, to the extent that armed security operatives dreaded them. Sometime ago, the police even deployed an Armoured Personnel Carrier vehicle against the students.
Apparently, corps members deployed to Osogbo High School for primary assignment in fulfillment of their one year national service to their fatherland were not oblivious of the dangers inherent in serving in such a troubled secondary school. But because of the training they received during the three-week orientation programme at the permanent orientation camp in Ede, some brave corps members did not reject their posting to the school. They were, therefore, prepared to combat any form of hooliganism.
In the signpost, donated by a corps member to the school, inscriptions such as “Shun Violence, Say No To Bad Peer Group,” among others, were conspiously displayed.
To make the students turn a new leaf, the corps members included some core values such as good attitude, behaviour, conduct, discipline and exemplary lifestyle in the messages on the signpost. Such core values were expected to resonate in the minds of the students. Unfortunately, it is said that a dog that would go astray would not listen to the whistle of the hunter; hence, rather than abate, the trouble in Osogbo High School became aggravated. Last year, corps members were also not spared. Because of the tensed situation in the school, officials of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) became apprehensive about the safety of corps members. As a result of the situation, the corps members eventually disappeared from the school.
Students of the school who spoke with Daily Trust on Sunday said it was not a surprise that they no longer have corps members. “We used to have members of the NYSC, but they are no more here. It must be because of the fights between our school and the Technical College,’’ one of the students explained.
Another student who also spoke with our correspondent said the absence of corps members in the school had affected them adversely. He noted that regular teachers were not doing some of the things the corps members used to do for students. One of the students who spoke in Pidgin English said, “You see, the corps members would play and relate with us like friends. We learnt swagger from them.’’
Speaking with Daily Trust on Sunday, the coordinator of the NYSC in the state, Mr. Emmanuel Attah, said he was aware that corps members were no more posted to the school for safety reasons. He maintained that he could not risk the lives of members of the NYSC in the troubled school. Attah said that corps members were not deployed to the school, particularly during the last session, because of frequent violence among students. He, however, noted that the Osun State command of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) and the Department of State Service (DSS) had assured him of the safety of corps members. He added that as soon as they give him full clearance that the school is no more a danger zone, corps members would be deployed to the school.
The commissioner for education in the state, Mr Kolawole Omotunde-Young, alleged that some hoodlums in the neighbourhood were perpetrating the act of hooliganism in the school because there’s no fence to separate the school from residential buildings in the area.
“It’s not our students that perpetrate the act of hooliganism experienced in Osogbo High School. And students of the school have never attacked any corps member,’’ he said.
The commissioner said the Osun State Government had succeeded in eliminating cultism in public schools. Omotunde-Young insisted that he was not aware of any official complaint by any corps member or letter of withdrawal from any school by the NYSC.
He further alleged that sometime in 2017, the school was besieged by hoodlums who found accommodation in some abandoned buildings around the premises. He added that the state government quickly reported the presence of the hoodlums to the DSS and Police. He, however, said the security agencies were able to restore order when they arrested and prosecuted the perpetrators.