By David-Chyddy Eleke
The pictures attached to this post were taken on Tuesday at Anaku Community in Ayamelum LGA of Anambra State. They are of student of Ogbe High School, Anaku, who were mobilized to a political rally to welcome a governorship candidate in the state on the said day.
The pictures were taken at about 7pm at the rally ground, after they had made a presentation and also participated in singing the national anthem to Kickstart the political rally.
We had joined the governorship candidate first to Omor and later, Anaku. We travelled in a separate vehicle and had left the politician and his team at Omor and moved ahead of them to arrive Anaku at about 5pm.
As we arrived, we noticed the students in all white uniforms standing by the road side in an uncoordinated manner, or course they had waited and grown tired of waiting. We quickly chatted with some of them who disclosed they had been mobilized from their school to the rally ground to welcome the candidate. They had been there since 10am.
We couldn’t help but pity them. Being mobilized out of school where they should be learning just to come welcome a candidate, and standing under the scorching sun from 10am, and witnessing the sun recede, while you still stand and wait must have a different kind of pain.
They are young and may not have felt any pain, contrary to our thinking. Some were even happy to be at the rally, but does that make it a good thing to do? Hell no. From our interactions with the students, most of them didn’t know the candidate, his name or his party until they got to the rally ground and saw banners bearing the candidate’s picture, name and party.
We wouldn’t know if a proper excuse was sought and obtained from the parents of those kids to be able to keep them away from school, instead of getting education – the main thing for which they were sent to school.
When the candidate eventually arrived, they was a scramble among them as they fell back in line and led the candidate’s convoy into the arena.
We can understand about school children being mobilized to welcome a president or governor on a state visit, but using entire children from a school for campaign purposes is a no no.
We want to believe that it was not the idea of the candidate for school to be shut and children shepherded out of classroom because he was visiting, that is why we think that whoever the principal or teacher that led the children out of classroom to a campaign rally deserves to be punished adequately.
INEC has lifted bans on campaigns for the Anambra governorship election, we want to appeal that politicians keep school children out of politicking as they go about their campaigns. We can not stagnate the progress of an entire generation because of pursuit for power. In school curriculum, everyday counts. If the students have nothing to do, they can stay in school and engage in extracurricular activities. Students shouldn’t be part of our politicking, moreso when they are even below voting age.
