Dabimoseda: charlatans who failed to be trained by their parents and failed to train their own children
By Adebayo Adedeji
The video currently making the rounds on social media, showing school children in Osun State singing and dancing to Orin-ote—patently lousy political songs— to mock the previous government of All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state, is not just disappointing, it is painful to watch. Rather than entertaining or amusing, it reminds us about how low our politics has sunk and how recklessly our children are being dragged into murky water of indecorous politics.
Seeing pupils, who should be focused on learning, coached to ridicule a political party over claims of neglecting teachers’ welfare speaks volumes about the desperation of a state government clearly obsessed with holding on to power. When a government has little or nothing to show in terms of real achievements, it often turns to cheap propaganda, as we have it in the video. Sadly, in this case, children have become the willing, unhelpful and destructive tools.
Even more worrying is the role of the school authorities who allowed this to happen. We were informed that this show of shame took place at the prestigious Osogbo Grammar Schools—a school hitherto known for academic excellence and high moral standing. Unfortunately, those who hated, despised and ran away from school in their formative years are now bent on destroying good legacy of our forebears. Schools are meant to be safe spaces—places where character is built, values are taught, and young minds are prepared for the future. Turning classrooms into political theatres is a clear abuse of responsibility and a betrayal of parents who entrust their children to the education system with hope and confidence.
It is also important to correct the false narrative being pushed by this video: that the APC, while in government, failed to care for teachers. This claim is simply not true. Under the administration of former Governor Adegboyega Oyetola, for instance, teachers in Osun State enjoyed tangible welfare support. Many received car gifts to motivate and reward their service, while others benefited from car loan schemes initiated by the government. Salaries and pensions were paid promptly and in full, restoring dignity to the teaching profession. These are facts that cannot be erased by poorly chorused songs forced into the mouths of unsuspecting children.
Of course, people who still struggle to write WAEC or NECO examinations at the age of 70 or at the twilight of their life may not see anything wrong in destroying the foundation of children’s education. Those who refused to be trained by their parents, dropped out of schools and have also failed to train their own children, would not see anything wrong in polluting the minds of young children in school. When education has little value to such individuals, it becomes easy to recruit self-serving teachers to poison the minds of innocent pupils for political gain. Once learning is no longer respected, the curriculum becomes irrelevant.
Those who never truly benefited from quality education may not understand the long-term damage of pulling children away from learning and turning them into political performers and pawns. To them, pupils are not the future of society: they are props to cover up failure. They see nothing wrong in using young minds to defend incompetence.
However, let it be clearly stated: this video will not change anything politically. Nigerians have seen this script before. Similar videos were circulated in the state ahead of the 2023 presidential election, demonising Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu with chants like “Tinubu Ole ” and other disgusting rhymes. Those campaigns failed woefully. The same fate awaits this one. Come August 2026, Asiwaju Munirudeen Bola Oyebamiji (AMBO) will beat hands down a governor who, after 36 months in office, has not found it necessary to employ a single new teacher, yet has resources for projects like the construction of a Sango shrine in his hometown.
Ironically, many Osun students would have dropped out of school entirely due to unbearable school fees imposed on them by the current administration, if not for the student loan scheme (NELFUND) introduced by the APC-led Federal Government under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Fees have tripled in primary and secondary school since the current administration came to be while some school students in the state-owned universities in Ilesa and Osogbo pay as much as N1.5 million per session. The NELFUND intervention has kept thousands of dreams alive—an effort the state government prefers to ignore while engaging in childish and vacuous propaganda.
The next governor, Asiwaju Munirudeen Bola Oyebamiji (AMBO), will inherit a system in urgent need of reorientation, reform and rescue. Education in Osun must be restored to its rightful place—away from clumsy propaganda and political manipulation. Our children deserve classrooms, teachers, and textbook—not campaign stages.
