Sylvester Oromoni Jnr: The Tragedy Of an Ailing Nation

The social media is alive with the story of Oromoni Jnr, and rightly so! People are crying for justice, for an innocent young soul sent to an early grave, and rightly so!

The school has been closed down indefinitely pending the outcome of an ongoing investigation, and rightly so! Nigerians both at home and in the diaspora are angry and are ready to see to the end of the story however far or deep it goes, and rightly so!

They say this is not about a tribe, religion or a state, but an issue for the country, and rightly so!

I would have gone about my normal duties and pretend this is another case of untimely death and one that would have been avoided by both the family and the school, but this is one death too many It has posed many questions like ‘how did we get here?’, ‘what is this country turning into?’ and ‘what is the role of the parents in the upbringing of their child?’

These are pertinent questions that are begging for answers. Sylvester’s crime is that he lived at a time when parents are no longer available for their children, at a time when school owners are concerned about the money they can get from these parents. Sylvester lived at a time when the truth is seen as a sacrilege and nobody wants to hear it! He lived at a time when boarding schools have become a dumping ground for ill-mannered, over-pampered and ‘born-bully’ children.

Sly does not deserve to die, but he died! He died not as result of his carelessness. He died not because he sold his soul to the devil like Dr Faustus. Sly died because he lived at a time and in a country where the teacher who stands for the truth is sent home unceremoniously, and in a country where wealth covers multitude of sins and ungodly behaviours!

This is a shame to all the stakeholders in the educational system: the school owners, the parents and even the government!

In a boarding I taught some years back, I once caught two senior students (a boy and a girl in SS1 class), with the boy gliding his right hand into the girl’s skirt. I reported the matter to the principal who happens to be a pastor (the school is a mission school). I was told to say nothing about it because, according to the principal, it will impact negatively on the school; parents will withdraw their children.

I know one or more of young Sylvester’s teachers must have been told the same thing. It is even a shame that the school did not only turn a blind eye to Sly’s predicament, but also fabricated lies to cover up the real cause of his death!

I weep for Sylvester and many others who have suffered the same fate! I weep for the parents who have become too busy to stay close to their children even during their formative years. I weep for school owners whose interest is not on the child’s physical wellbeing, but the incomes to be generated from these rich parents.

Sylvester is dead and nothing can bring him back, but his death should mark the end of the road for this evil journey we have embarked on; of parental neglect, of excessive love for material wealth, and insensitive nature of school owners!

The parents of these children who contributed to the death of Sylvester will rally round the devil’s incarnates they call children because they would want to show their children they are connected in the society. They will probably fly their children abroad (which I learnt some did). The culprits will end up in government tomorrow, and continue from where they stopped.

Justice for Sylvester will be to sanitize our education system and make everyone accountable for their actions. Sylvester will go down to the grave in peace knowing that what took him out of this earth is no longer tolerated by all!

It could have been our children, our relatives or even our family friends. Parents should know the fact that the boarding schools cannot and should not replace the home–this is a societal flaw!

Let us ALL rise against this monster called bullying that is threatening to take away our very existence. I weep for Sylvester, I weep for the weak family structure and most agonizingly, I weep for my ailing country, a country on its deathbed!

– Othniel wrote from Okpanam road, by Widwifery junction, Asaba, Delta State.

Disclaimer: This article is entirely the opinion of the writer and does not represent the views of The Whistler.