The Parents’ Forum of Dowen College, Lekki, Lagos recently held a candle-light procession in honour of Master Sylvester Oromoni, said to have been bullied and tortured to death by some suspected student cultists, for declining to be a member of their group in the college. At the event, the Parents’ Forum demanded the immediate replacement of the Management Committee, the security operatives and house masters of the college.

It also demanded that the full weight of the law be applied to the suspected student cultists regardless of the status of their parents and that CCTV cameras be installed in all strategic locations of the institution. New Telegraph appreciates the Parents’ Forum of the school for the honour extended to Master Sylvester Oromoni.

The Parents’ Forum also deserves kudos for using the candle-light procession to help set an agenda regarding how best to handle the matter on hand. The action of the forum may help sustain public interest and surveillance on the investigations and the prosecution of the suspects with a view to securing justice for the late student. Sadly, if the Parents Forum had woken up to its responsibility long before now, it might have succeeded in making the Management Committee, the security operatives and the house masters of the college to live up to their billings to ensure that the institution was never a safe haven for suspected bullies, molesters and cultists.

This would have resulted in the preservation of the life of Master Oromoni. The reported absence of a functional Parents/Teachers’ Association (PTA), in the college spoke and still speaks volumes about the unwillingness of the Management Committee to have the desired interface with the parents of the students of Dowen College.

The implication is that the college before its indefinite closure lacked a critical decision-making body that would have enabled both the teachers and the parents to interrogate the mode of operation of the Management Committee with a view to involving a more result-producing style. Even if the college was to be re-opened, without a PTA, things are likely to go wrong once more due to the absence of checks and balances often provided by such an Association. We also note with displeasure the perceived absence of proper supervision by the Lagos State Ministry of Education and other regulatory agencies.

Such supervision would have helped detect the yawning gaps in the administrative style of the Management Committee of the college. Another issue is how qualified are teachers of the institution? To be eligible to teach in a primary or secondary school, whether private or public, in Nigeria, a person ideally should possess either of the teaching qualifications: National Certificate in Education (NCE) or Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.).Where an individual does not have either NCE or B.Ed. but possesses a Bachelor of Arts (BA) or Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) degree in a non-education discipline, he or she is under obligation to go for a training in education to enable him or her secure a Postgraduate Degree in Education (P.G.D.E) from any recognised university. It was the responsibility of the Lagos State Ministry of Education and other regulatory agencies to have ensured that properly trained professionals were employed to teach at the Dowen College before its indefinite closure.

Such diligence would have gone a long way in preventing the abuse of the fundamental human rights, as illustrated by the reported bullying and torture to death of Master Sylvester Oromoni. While New Telegraph identifies with the demands by the Parents’ Forum at the candlelight procession in honour of the fallen student, they are far from being comprehensive. Given the trauma that the members of the Forum, especially the parents of the victim, Mr and Mrs Oromoni are likely to be going through now, they may not have had the presence of mind to fully articulate all that would have to be put forward for the adequate handling of the Dowen College incident.

It is heart-warming that on the account of the overwhelming public outcry, the Lower Legislative Chamber, the House of Representatives has directed the Inspector–General of Police (IGP) to take personal charge of the alleged bullying and torture to death of Master Oromoni. Even as praiseworthy as the intervention of the House of Representatives has been, there is an inherent error that could still be explored to derail the dispensation of justice. There is the absence of an accompanying time-frame within which the IGP and his team of well-trained investigators and detectives are expected to turn in their findings.

It could be argued that the IGP and his officers and men would require a long time in order to be diligent. But the Dowen College saga is not one of such incidents that a form of delay would be entertained. Man-made delays have turned out to be one of the factors responsible for the slow pace or even outright denial of justice to the needy.

We therefore enjoin the House of Representatives to give the IGP a specific time-frame within which to conclude investigations. It is also imperative for a decision to be taken on how long the college would be shut in order not to jeopardize the academic progression of students of the institution. A behavioural audit should be conducted to determine the level of morals and willingness of each child to learn on return from the compulsory holiday.

But the Lagos State Ministry of Education and other regulatory agencies that have been found wanting may not fully be entrusted to handle this critical assignment alone. Sociologists, psychologists and counselling and guidance experts from the universities should be engaged to handle such an assignment. The teachers should also be made to face a screening panel to be presided over by the officials of the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN). Such a panel would be responsible for ensuring that each teacher, in addition to meeting the academic requirements for teaching, should also have a demonstrable passion for the profession.

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