There was excitement in Osun on Monday as Nobel Laureate, Prof Wole Soyinka joined Governor Rauf Aregbesola to unveil a N750 million Wole Soyinka Government High School in Ejigbo.

It was the first of its category in the mega schools series under the education reform programme of the Aregbesola government.

The Nobel Laureate described the school as a emphatic rejection of the what Boko Haram insurgents preach; describing the situation in which the country till date could not account for the missing Chibok girls as shame.

The school is a 3,000-student capacity complex with 72 classrooms of 49 square metres, each capable of sitting 49 students and has six offices for study groups.

It is also equipped with six laboratories, 18 toilets for ladies and 18 others for gentlemen, one science library, one Arts library, facility manager’s office, a bookshop and a sick bay.

Soyinka enjoined leaders in the country to ensure that children are brought up with a feeling that one religion is not superior to the other.

He stated that all hands must be on deck to see to it that children in schools are not differentiated along religious line for a better Nigeria.

Prof. Soyinka commended Governor Aregbesola for doing a great job with the construction of the school, saying he is elated that such honour is bestowed on him, pledging that he will not hesitate to frequent the school to see how it is faring.

He said: “It is a shame that the nation cannot account for over 200 girls in Chibok. I sympathise with the religious policy of governments in schools; children must not be brought up with a feeling that religion inhibits knowledge.

“In schools, we need not distinguish our children; the fatalistic religious holiness and the holier than thou attitude must be reduced among our student‎s.”

The Governor earlier stated that the cost of the school, though huge considering the lean resources of the state, is an investment worth it.

Aregbesola said that within the first quarter of next year his government would also commission for use another set of schools in the same category.

He stressed that no government can overspend on the education of the people, saying ‎education is human development and primary way any family can get a lasting benefit from government.

The Governor noted that one of his first acts in office after inauguration in 2010 was to hold an education summit chaired by Prof Wole Soyinka, adding that the rehabilitation of schools and construction of new ones were derived from the outcome of the summit.

Aregbesola said it is befitting that Osun named the school after Prof Wole Soyinka who he described as an excellent product of public education in Nigeria and a distinguished academic who brought honour to Yorubaland, Nigeria, Africa and the black race with his Nobel Prize in Literature in 1986.

According to him, “We can construct a good road that will last for 50 years and we are doing that, but this can never compare to the enlightenment an educated person receives, in terms of its value to the society and humanity.

“The state of education prior to our coming was appalling and frighteningly so. Zoos were better than the places where the pupils were receiving education. Many of them were dilapidated and falling down.

“These schools were therefore not encouraging any serious learning or character building. The result was that the pupils themselves were behaving like animals. They were forming cult groups, fighting regularly with dangerous weapons and engaged in all immoral acts.

“These are children aged seven and above. My heart bleeds to see the public education system disintegrate and become dysfunctional.”

The Governor added that the commissioning of the school is Osun’s way of making a statement that public schools can be the best and be returned to the pre-eminent position it occupied in the past.

Dignitaries at the commissioning ceremony included Osun Deputy Governor, Mrs. Titilayo Laoye-Tomori, Chief of staff to the governor, Alhaji Gboyega Oyetola, Prof Wole Soyinka, Deputy Speaker, House of Representatives, Hon. Lasun Yusuf, member House of representatives, Hon. Mojeed Alabi, Speaker, Osun House of Assembly, Hon. Najeem Salaam, Osun Chief Judge, Justice Oyebola Adepele Ojo.

Others were the Ogiyan of Ejigbo, Oba Omowonuola Oyesosin, Akirun of Ikirun, Oba Abdul-Rauf Adedeji, Oloyan of Oyan, Oba Adekeye Kelani, Timi of Ede, Oba Munirudeen Lawal, Olobu of Ilobu, Oba Asiru Olaniyan and many other dignitaries.

•Photo shows Prof Wole Soyinka (middle); Governor Rauf Aregbesola (2nd left); his wife, Sherifat (left); Deputy Governor, Mrs. Titi Laoye-Tomori (2nd right), and Speaker of the House of Assembly, Hon. Najeem Salam (right) . . . during the commissioning of Wole Soyinka Government High School, Ejigbo, State of Osun, on Monday.

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