Udeh Emmanuel, Lagos

Federal government has warned Oyo state of its decision to reopen schools, saying the decision to reopen schools at this time despite the increasing cases of COVID-19 is insensitive

The Oyo state government had announced earlier that primary six students of the state and also Junior secondary school 3 with SSS3 can resume school from June 29,2020

Speaking at the briefing of the presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 on Monday, the Minister of state for education, Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba state his response on the decision of Oyo state allowing schools to resume

According to her, she said,the decision of Oyo state government contradicts with that of the federal government’s

“The ministry of education did not give any guideline to Oyo state to reopen schools. We also think that that is a little bit contradictory,” he said.

“However, Oyo state, like all other sub-nationals, have governors and under our constitution, governors are responsible for their states.

“But you must appreciate that the primary purpose of government is the security of its citizens. Security is not only when people start shooting guns at you; public health is key and primary in that primary security delivery.

“And that’s why we are extremely cautious in making any pronouncement around this because the education sector owns the largest number of infrastructure in the country.

“For you to even begin to decide to unroll and unleash this in the public in the face of a pandemic, is, to be the very least, insensitive.”

He’s against the motion on the position of resumption because ” government cannot even forecast where this pandemic is most positioned at”.

“So the least we can do at the moment is to keep our children, our most prized assets, the future of Nigeria, under lock and key first. When we are sure that it’s safe to release them, gladly we will,” he added.

Meanwhile, he appealed to parents to remain patient consigning the resumption of schools, stating that ” we dont want any of our children arriving at the doctors clinic at all.

Across the country, there are 20,244 confirmed COVID-19 cases, out of which 12,847 are active cases, 6,879 persons have recovered, and 518 deaths have been recorded.