Before Chrisland is Sent to the Golgotha

Jide Alabi

since Thursday, February 9th, 2023, when a young innocent Junior Secondary School student of Chrisland School, Lagos, Whitney Adeniran died in a controversial circumstance during the Annual Inter House-sport event of the school at Agege Stadium, I have resisted the urge to make contribution to the debate that trails the development for many reasons. Even on social media, I try as much as I can not to comment on the issue because of the emotional trauma I suffered like every other parent, who was personally thrown off balance because of the ugly happenstance.

For days, I was imagining how the parents of the promising young girl, who lost her life at prime, would feel. Of course, I also imagined the damage the death would do to the image and public perception of the Chrisland brand. Two months after, the accusations, counter-accusations, varied public views and government’s action on the matter have confirmed my worries. Mr. and Mrs Adeniran had lost their lovely daughter, Chrisland had lost its precious student and almost having its treasured brand smeared equity, teaching and non-teaching staffers of the school are temporarily jobless. Above all, students in their hundreds have since the government wielded its big stick, remain at home.

Expectedly, the situation at hand has attracted interventions from various stakeholders. Personally, I reneged on my earlier resolve not to utter a word over the issue because of the plea that is being made by individuals to the government to temper justice with mercy for the sake of other innocent students and their future. Yes, I’m still emotionally down over the issue but reality appears to have dawn on me on the need for the government and parents of our dear late daughter to pause and consider the havoc the continued lockdown of the school could cause the society.

Among other interventions, I stumbled on two contributions recently which spurred my curiosity and the need to call on other Nigerians to rise up and appeal to Lagos State government and the Adenirans who lost their daughter. First, a nongovernmental organization, Human Right Monitoring Agenda (HURMA) was compelled to write to the Lagos State government based on a series of petitions parents of other students at Chrisland and ordinary members of the public it has received in recent time. Another intervention I found interesting was a published article by one Mallam Adams, a Sociology Lecturer at Federal Polytechnic, Damaturu, Yobe State, who gave not only a sociological interpretation to the development but went a bit further to touch on the nitty-gritty of the entire scenario. His contribution moved me because it was coming from someone from the far north, who perhaps had no relationship or interest in the school.

I will speak to the issue raised by HURMA first. Like some of us who do not see the need for any right-thinking person to turn the matter to social media sensation, the organization lamented how some unscrupulous Nigerians, for God knows why, decided to be dancing on the grave of the young girl while her parents and management of Chrisland were still mourning.

“Unfortunately, as Chrisland School and Whitney parents were mourning the loss of their beloved student and daughter, some unscrupulous elements took advantage of the situation to feed people on the social media with various distorted versions of the inaccurate accounts of the incident that resulted in the death of Whitney Adeniran. This, to a large extent, actually added to the grief of Chrisland School, the parents, the deceased colleagues in school and Lagos State Government and also caused unwarranted outrage by the public, who only had access to the distorted social media news by self – serving fifth columnists,” the organization had stated.

To me, the furore generated by the circumstances that surrounded the death of the young girl would have been properly managed amongst the major parties concerned; Whitney’s parents, the school and the government, but for those that saw it as an opportunity to break the social media roof and become ‘celebrated influencers’. I keep asking myself if our people have suddenly relegated the place of humanity in the society.

I Think it would have made a lot of sense if Nigerians empathized well with the parents of the innocent girl instead of turning the sad occurrence to a hot social media matter. By all this sensationalism, the wound caused by the death has refused to heal and the image of the revered Chrisland College is daily being battered. By implication, the destinies of many other students are being toyed with, because their school has remained under lock and key. The truth remains that no school, like Chrisland or any school at all, will ever want any of its students to die.

In line with the position of the NGO, irrespective of what the government feels Chrisland brand, the future of the other students is also my concern for letting in my voice. At this point, I think it will be laxity on my part if I fail to single out the state government for commendation. It would be recalled that the Lagos State Government recently showed its magnanimity towards students in terminal classes i.e. the J.S.S 3 and S.S.S 3 to resume back to school to allow them prepare for their upcoming examinations. Like those who have appealed to the government, I am also hereby humbly pleading that the whole school be opened and other students be allowed to resume back to school. The long stay at home by the students will amount to discrimination where their colleagues are in school learning while they are at home and being deprived of having access to basic education in breach of their fundamental right.

But for the recent independent findings and reports, many members of public wouldn’t have known that poor Chrisland equally put necessary facilities in place, including two nurses on standby, Red Cross Society members and a vehicle to be used in case of any issue to aid hitch free event of the day at the Agege Stadium where the ugly incident happened. Therefore, the death of Whitney was devoid of any human contribution or carelessness to warrant the prevention of other students from attending school because such a step will be tantamount to throwing away the baby with the bath water. 

The effect on the society and future of the estranged students is worse than can be imagined.

Instructively, the NGO and the Yobe lecturer have passionately addressed a few issues which the school has diplomatically avoided or played down for humanity reasons. One, they have further laid credence to the fact that the incident took place at a government facility, Agege Stadium and not within the school. Also, the two writers admitted that the Government and the people took advantage of the social media howling without giving the school any benefit of the doubt. Another thing that aroused my curiosity is the belief that Lagos State Government seems to have made up its mind to scapegoat the school.

The argument of the writer was that it’s highly undesirable to charge the school to court when the coroner inquest was yet to complete because coroner inquest is to know the cause of death. Personally, I think this is a procedural flaw that tends to detract from the sanctity of the trial of the school. Sadly, one of the staff charged was the one who picked the girl up while falling. Meanwhile, going by the press release issued by the nongovernmental oraganisation which interfered in the matter, there was no evidence of any wire or candy on the field. By the NGO stand too, the girl was wearing a sports canvass and there is picture and electronic evidence to these, so how can someone in a canvas get electrocuted?

For future purposes, it may be necessary for the government and members of the public to verify and consider the findings and report of HURMA before we cripple Chrisland and other such institutions. Even though out of sincere humanity and honour for the dead student, Chrisland School deliberately restrained from joining issues with the fifth columnists who feigned to be crying more than the bereaved, however, the organization insisted that it was imperative and essential to present to the public the Chrisland School’s side of the story based on the account of some eye witnesses who were present during the whole incident.

According to HURMA, “There is available evidence that shows the contrary position of the public uproars, sentiments and misinformation subsequent to the sad incident. There are pictures and video cameras recorded by both the staff of Chrisland School and the Stadium worker. There are telephone chat messages between the deceased student and her friends which indicated that she was ill to the extent that she fainted at home and was revived later a few days before the unfortunate incident.

In fact, the Principal of Chrisland School, Mrs. Belinda Amao, equally sent a message to the deceased’s mother when it was observed that she was absent from school few days before the incident, asking about her wellbeing and the mother confirmed to the School Principal that she was sick but will be in school the next day. Whitney was supposed to participate in the school Inter house sport march past but she informed the House Master that due to her health condition she should be exempted and the school obliged and excused her from participating in the march past. The school management also contacted an independent investigator who came up with a comprehensive report of the event that resultantly led to the death of Whitney Adeniran.

All these can be made available if need be or on request. There is also pictorial evidence that showed clearly that Whitney put on a sports canvass and there was no water or any wire there making the suggestion of electrocution by any means not only doubtful but also impossible. Despite all these, as a mark of respect to the deceased and moral restraint, we think, the school decided to keep quiet but as an agency, we owe the public the duty at this juncture, to put things in the correct perspectives to avoid the School being unnecessarily condemned and hanged by the public for no just cause.  More so, it is our respected view that closing the school is not in the best interest of the school or the government because such closure is seriously detrimental to the future of the students,”

Finally, I also allude to the position of the Child Right Law, which the NGO made reference to, especially as it concerns Section 14 (1) & (2) of the Child Right Law of Lagos State, which states thus: (1) Every child has the right to free, compulsory and universal basic education and it is the duty of the Lagos State Government l to provide such comprehensive education. (2) Every parent or guardian must ensure that his or her child or wards attends and completes basic school education. Therefore, it is the duty of Lagos State Government to direct her policy in a way that will encourage and promote the right of every child in the State to education.

To this end, the continued closure of the school by Lagos State Government amounts to an infraction or breach of its own law. Not only that, Section 1 of the Child Rights Law of Lagos State further provides that: “Every action concerning a child, undertaking by any individual public or private body, institution, court of law, administrative or legislative authority, the best interest of the child must be the best interest primary consideration.” 

Alabi, a school proprietor writes from Ondo, Ondo State