By Bukola Olamona

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A former Commissioner during the late Governor Adebayo Adefarati’s regime, Chief Femi Aluko has said that not many missionaries have the wherewithal to manage schools if returned to them.
Aluko reacted to the decision of the state government to return missionary schools back to the original owners during an exclusive interview with The Hope in his Akure abode.
He said many of the missionaries do not have money like those days when the schools were in their hands, adding that things have changed.
According to him:” I have not seen the conditions of returning schools back to them, for example who will be paying the salaries of teachers, who will manage the schools and many more, I am not sure many of them can do that alone, except for few”.
Aluko stated that the missionary schools were succeeding then because the society was not as porous and polluted as now, adding that students listen not only to their parents but also teachers.
“The missionaries were running the schools beautifully then, even there were some successful private schools like Owo High School and Akure High School being run by Pa Adekunle Ajasin and Pa Fasoranti, I cannot remember exactly why it was abruptly taken over without compensation, it was a reckless take over,” he said.
Aluko who said schools were far better under the missionary posited that a lot of the things operating now were not then as teachers were monitored and tailored towards societal probity.
“Particularly, there are lots of behaviors exhibited nowadays which cannot operate under the missionaries, both the teachers and students mode of dressings, even parents were monitored by catechist who is also the head teacher in those schools,” said he.
He berated the Military for taking over the schools describing it as reckless and wicked adding that they acted without proper assessment then.
“Missions schools were envied because they had missions, most of the schools now do not have missions, hence the decadence” Aluko added.
He therefore called on the governments to have a tripartite meeting with the missionaries, parents and students to be able to iron out what will happen to the future of education, as both parties can no longer do it alone.
Aluko also charged the Federal government to go back to the drawing board by seeking the advice of veteran teachers in the country on how to move the education sector forward.