Takeover of missionary schools bred immorality in Nigerian students —Akande

A former governor of Osun State, Chief Bisi Akande, on Wednesday, identified the military takeover of missionary schools as the major cause of immorality among students of public schools in Nigeria.

He described missionary schools as institutions for moral virtues and discipline, lamenting that taken over of schools from the missionaries by past military government was equivalent to expunging morality from the lives of the Nigerian children.

Akande, who was the former interim national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) made this observation at the commissioning of a block of 10 classrooms built in his honour by the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), Osun Northeast Diocese, Otan Aiyegbaju, Osun State.

According to Akande, “Whether in Islamic Madaris or in any evangelical learning centres, all missionary schools were known to Nigerians as institutions for moral instructions. Therefore, taken over schools from missionaries is equivalent to an attempt to expunge morality from the lives of the Nigerian children.”

Governor Rauf Aregbesola, at the occasion, said that his government had no regret whatsoever committing the largest chunk of the state’s resources to changing the face of education.

He said his government was preparing the state’s future leaders for the next 25 years in what the government wants them to be in a new world order.

In his remarks, the Primate of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), Most Reverend Nicholas Okoh, said religion remains a veritable tool for the promotion of peaceful cohabitation and tolerance in the society.

Okoh, who frowned at religious crises in some parts of the country, expressed hope that with a Christian faith building a school in honour of a Muslim statesman, Nigeria would soon get out of religious vendetta.

He described Akande as a “true Muslim whose ideology and faith impacted greatly in the lives of fellow beings without discrimination.”