By Afolabi Orekoya
Our attention has been drawn to the memo circulating within the Ogun State public school system, issued by the leaders of the various bodies associated with Teachers of Public Schools in Ogun State with reference to the instruction by the Chairman of the Ogun State Teaching Service Commission (TESCOM) and State Chairman of Association of Primary School Head Teachers of Nigeria (AOPSHON), Alhaji Comrade Adeosun Tajudeen Adekunle, under the purported directive of the Executive Chairman of the Ogun State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB).
The memos mandate all Headteachers and Teachers of Public Schools, (both Primary and Secondary schools) in Ogun State to attend a meeting with the Candidate of the ruling party, Senator Solomon Olamilekan Adeola (Yayi), at the Alake Pavilion on the 3rd of August, 2026, under the guise of "statutory and administrative duties."
We unequivocally condemn this blatant abuse of power and the weaponisation of the State's civil service for partisan political mobilisation.
Let us call a spade a spade: there is absolutely no statutory or administrative justification for the state's Teaching Service Commission and the State Universal Basic Education Board to compel public school teachers and headteachers to abandon their primary duties for a mandatory meeting with a partisan political figure, a political party’s candidate for that matter. The instruction for each branch to appear in "unique attire for easy identification" further exposes this gathering for what it truly is—a political jamboree and a forced solidarity parade, forcefully utilizing our respected educators as political pawns.
The Ogun State civil service, particularly our education sector, must remain fiercely insulated from partisan politics. Our teachers are nation-builders entrusted with the future of our children, not political foot soldiers to be marshalled at the whims of the ruling party. Coercing civil servants into attending political gatherings under the threat of administrative duty is illegal, unethical, and highly oppressive.
This new act being introduced to Ogun State politics is strange, draconian, and condemnable.
The TESCOM and SUBEB should focus on addressing the decay being suffered in our public schools that affect both quality education delivery and infrastructural deficiencies, improving the welfare of our teachers, and elevating the standard of basic education in Ogun State, rather than acting as a mobilisation wing for a political agenda.
To our hardworking headteachers, teachers, and civil servants in general: we urge you to remain steadfast and professional. Do not be intimidated. Your loyalty is to the State and the laws of the land, not to any individual's political ambition.
The good people of Ogun State are watching, and we will continue to resist every attempt to drag our sacred public institutions into the mud of partisan desperation.
Afolabi Orekoya is the Media Aide to Ogun PDP Governorship Candidate
