The state government has reopened no fewer than twenty-three schools that were closed ten years ago in the Oyo State local government areas of Atiba, Afijio, Oyo East, and Oyo West.
This was revealed in a statement released on Thursday by Dotun Oyelade, the state commissioner for information and orientation.
According to Oyelade, the schools reopened when the communities’ disagreement over their shared border was resolved.
He claimed that the long-running disagreement was settled at a stakeholders’ meeting that was chaired by the state’s boundary dispute committee chairman, deputy governor Bayo Lawal, at the Western Hall in Ibadan.
Lawal reportedly urged everyone involved in the impacted villages to practice peace while issuing a warning that any action that would jeopardize the towns’ tranquility would not be tolerated by the government.
In order to find a long-term resolution to the conflict, he also urged the legislators representing the impacted communities to collaborate with traditional leaders and other important parties.
Quoting the Deputy Governor, he said, “I implore you, our elders, and the chairmen of the local governments that are impacted to think about these kids’ futures. This meeting is primarily being convened to discuss the expeditious reopening of the schools that were shuttered for ten years. That’s what the governor himself has to say.”
In the best interests of those kids, he continued, “we have engaged all the stakeholders, community leaders, honorable members, and the chairmen of the various local governments, and we have agreed that schools must reopen.”
The following schools are among those impacted: St. Luke Anglican Bada Idiyalode, Oyo; L.A. Basic School Ago Oyo; Community Basic School Igbo Olose, Oyo in Oyo West LG; Pinnock Memorial Bapt School Aba Epo Oluwatedo, Oyo; Bapt Basic School Oluwatedo, Oyo.
Additional educational institutions in Oyo East LG included Community Basic School Adebimpe, Community Basic School Obasere, Methodist Primary School Ajagba, St. Thomas Anglican School Alabi Olorunda, St. Michael RCM Apaara Village, Bapt Central School Oniyanrin, Oyo, Bapt Primary School Aguo, Oyo, and ADS Primary School Baba Elesin, Oyo.
The following schools were also impacted: ADS Primary School Aba Olori, Oyo; ADS Primary Abujakan, Oyo; L.A. Basic School Alagbon, Oyo; and L.A. Basic School Imeleke, Oyo, all located in Oyo East LG.
In 2023, the state government announced the launch of a program aimed at reunifying 1.5 million absentee students with their school records, following the successful return of those students to classes under the BESDA between 2017 and 2022.