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.
Source: Punch
