The Vicar, Diocese of Ibadan South St. Paul’s Anglican Church, Odo-Ona, Ibadan, Ven. I.A Jesulola, has faulted the Nigerian governments for taking child education with levity for too long, and also consciously play down on the importance of moral and spiritual knowledge of Nigerian children.
The Vicar spoke on Monday during the World Press conference organised by the Saint Paul’s Anglican Church, Odo Ona, Ibadan, as part of lineup activities toĀ mark its 110th Patronal Celebration.
Speaking on the theme of the presser –Ā ‘Education and scriptural trainings; An inseparable panacea to moral decadence in our society,’ Ven. Jesulola said that the ChurchĀ will not stop advocating for the return of schools to the original founders.
According to him, “today, there is need to restore morality in the society. We have pushed away moral training in schools. Christian religious studies had been watered down in the educational curriculum. The knowledge about fear of God had been de-emphasised. Crimes are recorded in the society everyday. However, to solve the problem of crime in our society, the concept of fear of God must be introduced”.
“The children that are not catered for are the ones troubling the society. Parents and government have neglected their roles and obligation on child development. Our Vision 2030 at Saint Paul’s Anglican Church, Odo Ona, Ibadan encompasses all spheres of our lives, including our social, educational and economic lives. At our level, we may not be able to solve the problem of the entire country but we can bring forward a practicable model. We are no longer going to wait for government.”
On hope of returning schools to the original owners, he said, “It is not impossible for government to return the schools to the original owners. When schools are returned to the church, they would be better managed than they are being presently managed. There is the daunting challenges of moral decadence like raping, corruption, killings and so on that the church is trying to solve. Anywhere government can help we would appreciate it. A good amount of money that should be domiciled in church are in brothels, drinking joints, clubs and all over places. People now concentrate more ephemeral things.
Ven. Jesulola noted that the Church’s Vision 2030 is aimed at getting involved in education with scriptural and sound moral training to better our society. Any child that is not trained on the fear of God will be morally corrupt, will be a kidnapper, will seek how to milk the nation when he gets political power rather than investing in the society” he said.
While speaking further, the Vicar warned both the government and the citizens against actions that are capable of leading the country into crisis saying that the cost of inflammatory acts may be damning and disastrous.
Jesulola, who noted that the problem of insecurity in the land is more than what many people see, however lamented that those in positions of authority had not resolved to address salient issues about the nation’s existence.
Rather than tell the truth to power, he said most religious leaders sought personal gains at the expense of the generality of the public.
He said, “St. Paul’s Anglican ChurchĀ is not afraid to speak the truth but government is more convenient with those who would go cap in arm to beg for favour and then tell them lies. Orthodox churches are not in that category. When it is time for truth, we always say it as it is. The problem of insecurities is more than we see it. Fundamental issues such as true federalism must be we looked into, the problem with our Constitution is also fundamental.
“Lives are being lost everyday; our women are being kidnapped and are being raped everyday. Ransom are being taken and farmlands are being destroyed. We should not take that lightly. No government takes that lightly. What we are seeing in governance is a dropout of a bucket of fundamental problems that we are facing as a people.
“Should we say that people should not leave i other parts of the country again? Our Constitution dies not allow that. But if we allow others to live in a place do we then grant them the leeway and audacity to kill and maim the other people, kidnap for money or kill at will. Government and those agitating should thread carefully” the Vicar submitted.
