The recent flogging to death of Master Monday Arijo, a student of Obada Grammar School, Obada, in Imeko Afon Local Government Area of Ogun State by a teacher, has brought to the fore the dangers of administering corporal punishment in schools. According to reports, Arijo was allegedly flogged to death following an altercation with his teacher over the dustbin the teacher brought to the classroom and which he had warned the students not to break.
Arijo’s remarks that the dustbin was bought with money contributed by the students must have annoyed the teacher who reported the incident to the principal, Tamrat Onaolapo, who then ordered that the student be punished. The student apparently died after 162 frog jumps and 24 strokes of the cane from one of his teachers, Azamdjo Elijah. He was taken to the Federal Medical Centre, Idi-Aba, where he later died.
Following the deadly corporal punishment, the teacher involved in the fatal punishment has been arrested by the police, while the principal was queried for allowing corporal punishment to be used on the student against established rules and regulations in the state. Also, the State Ministry of Education had commiserated with the bereaved family over the sudden death of their son and promised to get justice for them.
Meanwhile, the Ogun State government has warned teachers in state-owned primary and secondary schools to desist from administering corporal punishment on pupils and students under their care. The Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Prof Abayomi Arigbabu, who stated this during a condolence visit to the family of the deceased, also disclosed that the state government has set up a committee to look into the root cause and all other circumstances surrounding the death of the student.
“There are regulations against corporal punishment. That does not mean children will not behave well; we can actually discipline children. We can raise them to become whatever they want to be in life without resorting to corporal punishment,” Arigbabu advised.
We decry the unfortunate incident that led to the death of Arijo and enjoin teachers to use other methods of disciplining pupils and students without resorting to corporal punishment, which may be tragic at times. In this particular case, we also condemn the excessive use of corporal punishment which incidentally led to the death of Monday Arijo. We have had similar cases in the past. As character moulders, we urge teachers to use other forms of punishment meant to correct the pupils or students. Any punishment that will lead to bodily harm or death should be totally avoided.
It is good that Ogun State government has waded into the matter and condoled the family of the victim for the irreparable loss. The investigation set up by the state government to unravel the circumstances that led to the unfortunate incident should be thorough and its outcome be made public. The state government’s promise to get justice for the family of the late student must be fulfilled. This matter should not be swept under the carpet. The avoidable death of the late student through corporal punishment is cruel and unacceptable. The teacher in question went to the extreme and must be given condign punishment for his excesses. Doing so will deter others from copying his bad example.
We call on all state governments to review the continuous use of corporal punishment in primary and secondary schools across the country and determine its desirability or otherwise in the 21st Century Nigeria. We believe that the teaching/learning process can succeed without the deployment of corporal punishment in schools. At the same time, we call on proprietors of primary and secondary schools to also stop the use of corporal punishment in their schools. The transmission of knowledge and character training of the pupils and students can still go on in these schools without the use of corporal punishment.
Let this tragic incident serve as a lesson to other teachers who would like to toe this ugly path in future. In all, teachers should be circumspect of the type of punishment they inflict on their pupils or students in this period of mass hunger and hardship. In order to avoid deaths arising from corporal punishment, we urge all teachers in primary and secondary schools across the country to deemphasise it.