By Tony Eluemunor

Talk about the terrible thing that resulted from Chrisland schools’ unfortunate excursion (as in jaunt or tour) to Dubai and many Nigerians would chuckle and pronounce one inanity resembling the shame of child sex, the failure of schools or parents and such like. Yet, the tragedy which befell the nation is decidedly worse than that.

What do I mean? I mean that the evil from this scandal is multi-dimensional but the effect comes to this: it is the first time a pornographic video has gone national in Nigeria.

It was and is everywhere. It went mainstream. I would be surprised if it didn’t trend in the Parents-Teachers Association, Christian Mothers and Fathers Associations, and other religious parents’ WhatsApp group platforms. And children and students watched it freely. It would take years before Nigeria will ever be able to evaluate the effect on the country.

For all I know, this may have brought pornography mainstream in Nigeria!

And that makes peoples’ reactions to the scandal important. Of all the opinions I read on the Chrisland school, the World School Sports and the Dubai juvenal sex scandal, I will say that Mr. Azu Ishiekwene attempted the most to put things in some intriguing perspective. He called the sorry act of the Dubai Five an orgy—and that was exactly what it was. He also blamed the parents of those involved and all the other parents at large—and he would be right for Nigeria has degenerated morally—it may even be worse than hell now.

Yet, like other Nigerian journalists, including those who covered the useless celebrative activities the schools who sent their children to Dubai showcased, to fete their student champions, even he left some very important questions unattended to, especially pertaining to the school. For instance, what really does the World School Games title stand for? Is it really a competition or a feel-good event, an expensive but inconsequential gathering of children that holds no meaning apart from the bragging rights the trips could confer? In one of such gatherings organised by one of the schools involved in the Dubai trip, I saw some men and women who were honoured as sponsors of that hardly useful and non-competition, and wondered if they knew the exact nature of the jamboree they sponsored?

And I thought seriously about Nigeria? Why do we fall for inanities? The Dubai event was no Mathematics Olympiad for school children. It was so Science Olympaid. It was no Age0-grade Spelling Bee. Even as sports competitions go, it was no sports competition in the sense that in real sports competitions, you would to emerge a champion from other competitions before you would need to represent your country at the world stage.

A fool and his money, they say, are soon parted—let that be with Nigeria. What kind of a competition is the so called Word School Games? How global is it? How many athletes did Nigeria send to the last Olympics for just one school, Chrisland, to have sent some 75 students to that Dubai jamboree which turned awry? Please, google World School Games and you would hardly see the history of the competition and the faces behind it, but every step of the way,you will be asked to sign in for the next competition as though all that matters is the money you pay.

Perhaps, that is all that matters to those behind the scheme. And in Nigeria, they have a nation of unquestioning clients, if not a nation of fools.

Get on their website and one of the things you will see is the testimony of some five persons who had attended the games. Out of the five persons showcased there, two are Nigerians. And check the list of the best achieving schools in this year’s competition, two Nigerian schools are listed as first and second. And yet, check for, say the time the winner in the one hundred or two hundred posted at the games, and you won’t find it. Perhaps, it would be best to change the name of the games to a more fitting one; excursion.

The Basketball even held in Abu Dhabi. Football held in Barcelona, Netball in Loughborough University, in the United Kingdom, Swim (that is exactly what I saw on their website) and not swimming, will hold in London from 20 – 22 May. So, it is likely that even the Chrisland School may be preparing for another excursion to the city of London, after that of Dubia.

What makes any of such competitions special? Nobody has explained it,except that the parents of the children who are in some schools such as Chrisland, could afford to pay for the trip. What qualified the students to even represent themselves let alone representing their schools or states or Nigeria?

Sometimes, this nonsense would begin to sound like 419. One of the competitions is World Schools Football Cup. Nigerians remember that Christ the King’s College (CKC) Onitsha emerged the World Secondary School’s Football champions in 1977. To qualify to fly Nigeria’s flag in that competition, it first emerged East Central State champion and represented that state in a competition organised nationally and emerged champion of Nigeria before it went on to represent Nigeria.

Yet, Nigerian other schools apart from Chrisland were there; Children’s International School, CIS, Lekki. A stupid report on the school’s celebration after the competition contained this: “A parent of the school for eight years who also doubles as the Parent Teachers Association Chairperson, Winifred Mena-Ajakpovi expressed her gratitude to the school management for the success of the sporting

event.”

“Parent of the school”? Well, a terrible event deserves terrible reporting.