Let verification exercise hold in Ogbomoso

This piece is an appeal to the Oyo State Government ably led by Engineer Seyi Makinde, to allow the verification exercise of teachers under the Oyo Teaching Service Commission to hence forth hold in Ogbomoso. Previously, the exercise was held in Ibadan or Oyo. The fact is that beside Ibadan, the Ogbomoso geo-political zone has […]

This piece is an appeal to the Oyo State Government ably led by Engineer Seyi Makinde, to allow the verification exercise of teachers under the Oyo Teaching Service Commission to hence forth hold in Ogbomoso. Previously, the exercise was held in Ibadan or Oyo. The fact is that beside Ibadan, the Ogbomoso geo-political zone has the largest numbers of teachers in the state, So, transporting 2,000 teachers out of the town is dangerous. Why about 2,000 teachers in Ogbomoso zone are asked to go to Ilora or Oyo for verification exercise is beyond human comprehension. As a matter of fact, the reason one can deduce is that the anomaly is an outcrop of Ajimobi era’s abnormality.

Makinde administration’s decision to continue with this policy summersault leaves much to be desired, because it is considered to be more progressive and considerate.

Aside being an aberration, the journey of about 2,000 teachers to Oyo or elsewhere from Ogbomoso proved to be dangerous. For example, in January last year, three school principals and one nonteaching staff lost their lives in a ghastly motor accident along the death trap called Ogbomoso-Oyo road. The most unfortunate thing is that all the three were prospective retirees. Also, few days ago, many teachers going for that exercise were robbed of their valuables along the same road. Ogbomoso zone secondary school teachers knew that they were embarking on a dangerous mission because of the  deplorable condition of the road, which is also prone to armed robbery.

However, having been dehumanised by the incentive given to them by past administrations, the teachers could not protest against the abnormality. They forgot that peaceful protest is part of their fundamental human rights! All said, I will like to appeal to Engineer Makinde or whoever is in charge of the exercise, to consider the plight of the teachers in Ogbomoso zone so that the exercise could be done in one of the local governments in the zone. Me think the zonal headquarters were created to bring government nearer to the grassroots, Oyo should not be an exemption.

Adewuyi Adegbite [email protected]