The strong, united Nigeria we knew is clearly disintegrating – USOSA

Abiodun OBA

AGAINST the backdrop of attacks of schools and abduction of pupils and students across the country, former students of unity schools in the country have appealed to the federal government to prioritize protection of learning centres.

Former students operating under the umbrella of Unity Schools Old Students Association, USOSA, have lamented that, “The strong, united Nigeria we knew as children and students of various unity schools across the land is clearly disintegrating before our eyes.

President-General of USOSA, Lawrence Wilbert, speaking at its 38th Plenary and Annual General Meeting, AGM, in Abuja, blamed the leadership of the country for the ugly developments.

Wilbert, in his presentation at the event, tagged: “The Role of USOSA in Uniting Nigeria”, tasked the government to secure environment for the child to excel, as according to him, “education is a fundamental and constitutional right of every child.”

He insisted that Nigeria’s unity was under threat due to inability of leaders to proffer solution to the myriads of challenges bedeviling the country and failure to harness many ideas put forward by citizens on how to reorganize Nigeria.

“The strong, united Nigeria we knew as children and students of various unity schools across the land is clearly disintegrating before our eyes.

“The socio-economic prosperity, ethno-religious co-existence and mutual trust, sound moral quotient, palpable patriotic spirit, people oriented political leadership and other vital features of our national fabric seemingly have taken permanent leave of our shores.

“The consequences are glaring.

“Our law and justice system, education, business and finance, security and agriculture, sports and health, science and technology, politics and governance, and other vestiges of functional society have taken deep plunge into the abyss of a failing nationhood,”he said.

“The association abhors extremism, particularly as it relates to the safety of students and academic establishments,” he  said.

He spoke further:“We have lost too many innocent souls, and education sector is seriously threatened, particularly in the northern part of Nigeria.

“In this quest of nation building, the role of education both basic and secondary cannot be over emphasised.”

According to him,”The inability of the government to tackle security and other challenges facing the society has left schools exposed to attacks and left Nigerians desperately groaning for help.”