Nigeria has closed down schools amidst the coronavirus pendemic since March, but before the closure, government owned university students have been at home for months due to university teachers union's strike.
Other countries of the world also closed down schools as a way of breaking the chain of coronavirus transmission.
Four months after, the virus is still spreading like wild fire having infected about 40,000 Nigerians with about 1000 fatalities, that's the official figure, unofficial figure could be higher.
What the government of Nigeria doesn't want you to know as they continue to keep schools closed is that most of the countries of the world have reopened schools without any major escalations.
The government doesn't want you to know that highly populated countries such INDONESIA and CHINA have safely reopened schools for in-person classes, in one way or the other, while INDIA has announced date for reopening, some states like Maharashtra have partially reopened.
JAPAN, ISRAEL, AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND, SOUTH AFRICA and the whole of EUROPEAN UNION'S 28 COUNTRIES have reopened schools, one may be poised to ask if Nigerian's coronavirus is different from that of these countries that have re-opened schools?
Japan reopened in early June, Israel reopened fully in late June, Australia reopened in April, New Zealand in May and South Africa reopened early this month.
Also, non E.U European continent countries such as SERBIA, ALBANIA, BOSNIA, GEORGIA and ICELAND have all re-opened schools.
In Africa, GHANA, TANZANIA, CAMEROON, SEYCHELLES, NAMIBIA, BOTSWANA, BENIN TOGO, SENEGAL, UGANDA, WESTERN SAHARA, ZAMBIA, ZIMBABWE, ZAMBIA, COTE D' IVORE and 15 other countries have reopened schools, again I ask, is there something the government of Nigeria knows about coronavirus that these other countries doesn't know? Today Ghana is writing the West African Senior secondary school examination (WASSCE) earlier than Nigeria, just as they got independence earlier than Nigeria, must Ghana always be ahead of Nigeria?
In NICARAGUA, CAMBODIA, BELARUS, U.A.E, NORTH KOREA, VIETNAM, TAIWAN COLOMBIA and CHILE, children are all going to school and the case has not skyrocketed more than those of the countries where school have remained shutdown.
SOUTH KOREA, U.K, WESTERN SAMOA, SOLOMON ISLANDS and many other countries have reopened schools each according to their approved best health practises.
More than half of the world countries have reopened schools and two third of those that have not reopened have given a tentative date for reopening. Why is Nigerian's own different?
Schools are part of the economy of a nation, teachers are paid, tailors are paid, carpenters are paid, masons and labourers are paid, gatemen and drivers are paid, shoe sellers are patronized, food vendors are patronized, book sellers are patronized, Knitters, Cardigan Knitters are patronized, school bag sellers are patronized, school bus licenses are paid, taxes are paid to local governments, multiple taxes are paid to state and central government, loans are serviced and families are fed and catered for, continuous closure of schools nationwide is taking a toll on a whole lot of people. To worsen it all, Coronavirus hasn't given a date when it will disappear from the surface of the earth.
Parents, through National parents teachers association (NPTA) wants schools reopened, so that they can conclude the training and sponsoring of their kids on time, no one can train his or her children from the grave, as death has no date. Some female children are getting pregnant at home, others are marrying. Male children are becoming deliquent and many will dropout, time, they say is money and early to bed early to rise, a stitch in time saves nine.
School owners wants schools opened, they say they are fully prepared for reopening, I think the government responsibility is to monitor those private schools and close down any one of them that fails to obey the protocols.
It's only those collecting free money, collecting salaries without working such as national Union of teachers (NUT), academic staff Union of universities (ASUU), academic staff Union of polytechnic (ASUP) and academic staff Union of colleges of educations (ASUCOE) that wants schools to remain shut, because they are still being paid, they wouldn't mind if schools remain shut down for the next 35 years of their service, provided their salaries keep coming. Owe them for just three months and they will start to dance and sing a different tone, infact it's high time Nigeria started implementing no work no pay so as to curtail the excesses of some these union who use slightest flimsy excuse to sit at home while getting paid.
Why are the schools still closed? Has the closure brought the virus under control five months after? Are we more knowledgeable than those countries that have reopened schools? Schools in US are opening at the beginning of the school year, everybody knows that it is the right thing to do, those opposed to it are only seeking to score political goals.
Coronavirus has come to stay, we must all collectively learn to live with it and fight through it instead of running away from it.
Are we fighting Americans war on Nigerian soil? Are we fighting a global pendemic in the classrooms? Or is this a well calculated attempt to cover up failures in government versus ASUU negotiations?
