Osun State Governor, Mr. Rauf Aregbesola, has said that his
administration has not foreclosed the possibility of returning some of
the public schools to the missionaries.
The governor said this in a broadcast on Monday night.
Aregbesola said that those seeking for the return of the schools to
them would, however, wait until the government concluded the
reclassification process.
There has been crisis between the Christian Association of Nigeria in
the state and the state government over the reclassification of schools
since the governor introduced the policy.
There were protests and CAN accused the governor of planning to
obliterate the legacies early missionaries bequeathed to Christians
through the reclassification of schools. Christian denominations
subsequently demanded that their schools, which were taken over by the
government in 1975, be returned to them.
But the governor stated that only a foolish person would seek to
rubbish the legacies of the missionaries in the education sector in the
state. He said that he attended missionary primary and secondary
schools.
The governor assured the people of the state that he would never
embark on any policy that would advance the cause of one religion over
another.
He said, “I am also aware of the agitation of some missions to have
their schools returned to them. Although, as I have said before, the
schools have been had been take over by governments since 1975, our
administration is not foreclosing the prospect of returning some of the
schools upon the completion of our new schools.
“I wish to emphasise that this process can only begin upon completion
of the schools we are currently and aggressively building all over the
state. The process of return of schools must be well planned and
executed because of the various implications, especially the fact that
their ownership had changed almost four decades ago.”
The Christian Education Minister, Osun Baptist Conference, Rev. Bisi
Oluwadamilare, when contacted expressed happiness about the willingness
of the governor to return schools to their owners.
Oluwadamilare said, “That is a good news to us. This is what we have
been agitating for. It is a welcome development, it is good . We are
waiting for this to be implemented.”
Earlier, the governor had explained that to ensure a peaceful
coexistence of all the people in the state and quick resolution of
conflicts, the administration had set up a conflict resolution
commission.
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