The bullies of Dowen

You wouldn’t expect that such a culture underlies the education system of the twenty-first century, much less in a place where parents pay a hefty sum to put their wards through school. But that seemed the case with the reported circumstance in which a 12-year-old boarding pupil of Dowen College, Lekki in Lagos State, Sylvester Oromoni Jnr, died. Sylvester was alleged to have been brutalised on Friday, 26th November, by some senior students of the school over his refusal to join a cult group. He died 30th November in hospital where his family took him for medical attention, and one of his relations took to social media shortly after to call out five individuals accused of being responsible for the alleged brutalisation that resulted in the youngster’s death.

The news about Sylvester Jnr’s death hit the airwaves on 01st December when his cousin, Perrison Oromoni, opened up on how the junior secondary school two (JSS2) pupil was allegedly battered in the school dormitory by the named senior students whom he accused of maltreating Sylvester and inflicting on him bodily injuries that resulted in his death. Young Sylvester managed to recount his experience on record before his unfortunate death. Perrison said a series of tests and X-rays conducted on him after the experience showed that he sustained internal injuries from the beatings he got from the senior students for his refusal to join a cult group. Dowen College management, in an initial response, rushed to refute Perrison’s narrative, saying Sylvester Jnr only complained of body aches from playing football and was attended to at the school clinic before being taken away by his family for better medicare. Perrison, on his Twitter handle @perrisonoromoni,  subsequently posted pictures and video evidence showing mutilations on young Sylvester’s body including blistered and swollen lips. 

The battle of narratives caught the public’s attention and elicited outrage over suspected maltreatment of the young pupil, upon which the Lagos State Government on 3rd December ordered an indefinite closure of the college pending the outcome of investigation into the boy’s death. The government, among other things, offered the public reassurances of its commitment to child protection. The Lagos State police command as well announced it had moved in to unravel the tragedy, and was according the case such importance that  the homicide section of the State Criminal Investigation Department was being involved. Following the college’s closure, its management issued another statement in which it pledged full cooperation with, and commitment to all investigations and commiserated with the Oromoni family as well as others bereaved or aggrieved by Sylvester’s death. The school assured parents it was taking steps to ensure the safety and security of their children and wards.

But it is curious that Dowen management rushed to refute the narrative of in-residence bullying of Sylvester Jnr when, from indications, it knew too well its dormitories were a nest of bullies. And why it held back from tackling the obnoxious culture is another marvel. Given the elitist status of the school, could it be the bullies were predominantly from parents whose social standing intimidated the management and hamstrung it from moving against them? Until the school comes clean, we can’t be sure. What is sure is that the bullying culture nestled within the Dowen system and the school management couldn’t pretend to not know. One of the senior boys accused of the brutalisation of young Sylvester is Michael Adewale Kashamu, son of the late Senator Buruji Kashamu who represented Ogun East constituency in the eighth National Assembly and Ogun State governorship contender in the 2019 general election. In a statement to defend Michael against the accusation, the Kashamu family acknowledged that he was enlisted in Sylvester Jnr’s first year to be his “school father” – a role typically contrived to protect a junior boarding house student from predatory aggression by senior students. Besides, the family recalled that sometime last session, some boys were accused of beating Sylvester with belts and seizing his foodstuff and Michael, according to them, wasn’t involved in that. “On that occasion, Sylvester’s parents made a report to the school and the affected students were questioned and one of them at least was suspended,” the family added. So, even pertaining to young Sylvester, this recent incident wasn’t his first encounter with bullies that the school knew of.

"‘Dowengate’ illustrates how bullying thrives in schools when school authorities live in denial of the culture…"

And there were other references to a robust culture of bullying incubating within the Dowen system. At a virtual meeting of parents following Sylvester Jnr’s death, a former counsellor who claimed to have worked several years with the school before quitting described its dormitories as veritable nests of physical abuse on which the school management had no close oversight. He argued that what happened to Sylvester Jnr was a tragedy that had long waited to happen. At that same virtual meeting, the counsellor’s presentation was interrupted by an aggrieved mother who angrily interjected that he spoke up rather too late, recalling that her own son who attended the school at some point was also subjected to abuses such as young Sylvester said he was subjected to by senior students before he died. She alluded to a tendency of pampered indulgence of some overly provisioned students condoned by dormitory personnel. “Everything Sylvester Oromoni said is the truth…The principal told me she saw the video of my son being bullied but she did not think it was important to act because they had not posted it online. She saw it and slept on it,” the angry mother raged. And there was the damning account by a dormitory mate of Sylvester Jnr. who insisted that he was brutalised by some senior students. The mate recalled being present in the room with Sylvester when the senior boys stormed in and described how the assault transpired, saying the senior boys thereafter swore eye witnesses to silence and threatened worse victimisation if they snitched. “The dorm master knew there was a beating that occurred, so I don’t understand why they are lying on the internet that he wasn’t aware. Even the following morning sly (i.e. Sylvester) went to the sick bay and it was obvious he was beaten and no football can break bones, and moreover that week we didn’t have or play football or sport activities. I tried to explain to the principal what happened but they keep shutting us up and saying he was playing football,” the dorm mate alleged in WhatsApp messages to another student that were made public.

What was the deal that informed Dowen management’s hasty rebuttal of the allegation about bullies? Until we know otherwise, ‘Dowengate’ illustrates how bullying thrives in schools when school authorities live in denial of the culture – either with the simple aim of protecting the image of their school and holding up a preferred façade, or in deference to ‘powerful’ parents of bullies as a result of which guilty pupils couldn’t be taken on and were rather indulged. But there is always a tipping point as the tragic fate of Sylvester Jnr showed; and it is better for everyone to tackle the menace frontally and gore all oxen as may be warranted to head off that tipping point. As at the weekend, indicted pupils and some dorm masters of Dowen College had been pulled in by the police as part of ongoing investigation of young Sylvester’s death. Whatever gets to be the outcome of that investigation, Dowen authorities have a tough credibility battle ahead to regain the institution’s groove while, unfortunately, the death of young Sylvester can’t ever be undone. All schools where bullying thrives ought to learn from this. 

If the bullying allegation at Dowen gets proved, the school should bear criminal responsibility for Sylvester’s death and whatever that entails. Meanwhile, there may be need to also invoke parental culpability in dealing with the culture at the root because a critical problem, as the saying goes, warrants a critical remedy.