He was only 12 years old. His very colourful future was right ahead of him. His bright smile was as highly infectious as anyone can imagine. Crying of pain with blood-stained teeth, he gave up together with his dreams and aspirations unfulfilled. He was already a Champion at his age, winning Trophies and Laurels. He wanted to be a pilot just for delinquents and evil orchestrators to chop short his shining light.
It was indeed a tragic weekend as Nigerians took to social media to mourn the ugly departure of Sylvester Oromoni, a young student of Dowen College Lagos, who died from internal injuries sustained by torture from students for allegedly failing to hitch a cult.
If Nigeria were a sane, morally-ethical country, nobody would be as worried and agitated as most Nigerians are at the instant .This is often because there would be no suspicion that justice might not be served. The fear that the matter could also be swept under the carpet the ‘Nigerian way’ is already brewing. This explains why Nigerians are making their voices heard in no small measure.
Read Also: Sylvester: We’re Open For Investigation — Dowen College
The first prime culprit has got to be the management of Dowen College Lagos who from every indication has seemed to be tilting towards obstruction of justice. The reality is that the varsity seems to be an adjunct trying to hide up for the elders of the suspects and or even the name of the varsity itself. Credible sources have confirmed that the Senior 5 students are from influential families and therefore the school is trying to bury the case. Fortunately, this will never be allowed to happen!
Despite the overwhelming evidence which was already viral on social media, the varsity authorities, without proper duty of care, took the agony of the late Sylvester at face value and claimed he had a fall playing soccer. The secondary school which is supposedly managed by people with working brains never cared to ask themselves how a boy, who is judged as quiet and almost timid, would hide his story to the purpose of near-death, only to talk out at the eleventh hour and tell lies. It never occurred to them because their school name and selfish interests were of more value to them than getting justice for the young boy. Consistent with Sylvester’s father, the principal had to call him asking why he was sending out the photographs of the frail Sylvester everywhere on social media just before his death. That is the length to which the varsity went just to stay their empire intact at the expense of Sylvester’s life.
Then again, the doctor in Dowen college saw the kid at the purpose where he was just fresh out of the torture dungeon of a dormitory. This doctor obviously saw an emergency! How on earth did the varsity find it convenient to disregard it? If the doctor covered up bullying then his license should be gone under normal circumstances. If the boy was retrieved there in a terrible state and his precious life was eventually terminated without decent medical aid then many other persons were contributorily negligent.
According to the daddy of Sylvester, the late student just before he died claimed that he was terribly beaten and tortured during a bid to coerce him into cultism. Yes, cultism during secondary school! Cult groups want to be secret societies originally found in a few Nigerian universities. Many of them are known to be violent, with specialties in harassing students, lecturers, or anyone just to possess their way. They have also been accused of being behind several killings of all sorts. Quite sadly, times have changed and lots of so-called cult groups now operate off-campus. They are now spreading to the streets and even Nigeria’s primary and secondary schools. This is often where a deteriorating value system has led Nigeria to.
It is true that the majority boarding schools are crammed with bullies and with the introduction of cultism in Schools, it’s made the matter even worse. On the other hand again, the varsity cannot escape the blame because this wasn’t the primary time this incident of bullying was reported thereto and has always turned the opposite way. One would even ask, what measure did the varsity take to prevent further incidents? What exactly did they do? The reality is that the majority of private schools are only after money which is making them unable to enforce discipline, especially when the oldsters are wealthy and influential and need to dictate standards for their children.
This sad occurrence may be a big challenge for ‘busy parents’. Parents who are too busy for parenting should as a matter of urgent importance take an interruption and start to rethink their commitment to parenting. They are going to be raising dysfunctional children who will give them and by extension the society no rest within the future. They have to know that their first responsibility is to boost our youngsters well which should of course transcend giving them money for upkeep. There’s a requirement to stay an in depth watch with school authorities to spot, isolate and eliminate (where necessary) toxic and potential violent children.
Sylvester is not any more but he must get justice. It’s encouraging that a lot of petitions have already been raised to send a transparent message to the authorities. This case must not be swept under the carpet! The boys liable for this heinous crime must be made to face the complete wrath of the law as a deterrent to others. Sylvester is dead but his death is often the source of hope to thousands of scholars who are suffering abuse in boarding and day schools but have had fear imbibed in them that creates them too scared to talk up. Oftentimes, these students are warned that; ‘A cry out for assistance is a death sentence’. If Sylvester gets justice, many of them would be encouraged to talk up.
The federal of Nigeria and Lagos government could as a matter of urgent national importance work towards the establishment of a body under the supervision of the Federal Ministry of Education, Nigeria to watch, supervise and evaluate activities of all private schools (boarding & day ) in Nigeria. This body would be best to see the excesses of properties that prioritise money over human lives.
Finally, all the authorities concerned that might be handling this matter must do their investigations properly. The autopsy has got to be properly done and scrutinised. In Sylvester’s dying statement, a variety of boys were mentioned, none of them should be allowed to flee justice if found culpable. The varsity should be prosecuted for her selfish and shameful roles in trying to hide crime. This is often of utter importance not just to Sylvester’s parents but to the overwhelming majority of Nigerians. The Torturers Of Sylvester Oromoni Must Not Go Unpunished! Posterity and invariably, the whole world would be watching with keen interest.
AFRICA TODAY NEWS, NEW YORK