By Ola Ajayi
Ibadan—Governor  Abiola Ajimobi, of Oyo State has said that parents of students found culpable in the recent burning of some public schools will be responsible for the renovation, failing which, he said, the schools will remain under lock and key.

The governor said that the decision became necessary to send a strong warning to students, including parents across the state, that the government would not condone any act of thuggery and vandalism from any group or individuals.

The governor also hinted of his possible retirement from politics after his second tenure, saying emphatically that he will no longer contest any election in the state.

Ajimobi read the riot act during a town hall meeting organized by the state government at the University of Ibadan to unveil the new education policy of the state, which devolves powers to a proposed Schools Governing Board (SGB) for the management of public schools.

Students of some public schools had gone on the rampage recently, torching and vandalizing some public schools and properties in protest against the decision of the state government to cancel automatic promotion in public schools.

The governor said that the policy shift was informed by what he called the unacceptable mass failure of students in public examinations over the years, a development, he said that was not in tandem with the appellation of the state as a pacesetter.

Stakeholders in the education sector, as well as civil society organisations, traditional rulers, the clergy, academics, artisans, market men and women, road transport workers, across the state had converged on the  international conference centre of the UI to chart a new path for the sector.

Also at the event were the Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Saliu Adetunji; Vice Chancellor of the University of Ibadan, Prof. Olayinka Idowu; his Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso, counterpart, Prof. Adeniyi Gbadegesin; State Secretary of the Nigeria Union of Teachers, Mr. Niyi Akano, among others.

Earlier in a welcome address, Secretary to the State Government, Mr. Olalekan Alli, said similar meetings would hold every three months in different parts of the state to address salient issues affecting the state, where, he said, participants would have the opportunity to proffer solutions.

The Onpetu of Ijeru, Oba Sunday Adediran, commended the efforts of the government in finding solutions to what he called the falling standards of education, describing the governor as a good leader that always proffered “uncommon solutions” for the growth of education and overall progress of the State.

President-General of Nigerian Football Supporters Club, Dr. Rafiu Ladipo, who is also the President of Oke-Ibadan High School Old Students, said he was a 1967 product of the school, who had teamed up with other alumni to revamp the infrastructural facilities in the school.