Lagos govt threatens to close Indian school that admits only Indians

The Lagos State Government has commenced a probe into the activities of an Indian Language School in Ilupeju, which reportedly only admits Indian nationals.

The government said the school would be sanctioned if it could be established it was discriminating against Nigerians.

Nigerians during the week called out the school for ‘racially’ depriving Nigerian children from attending the school and asked the Lagos State government to investigate and shut down the school.

This is coming in the wake of the Abuja Chinese supermarket incident which saw the store closed for refusing to allow Nigerians to shop from them.

While speaking at the Ministerial Briefing on the first year anniversary of the second term of Governor Bababjide Sanwo-Olu’s administration, held at Alausa, Ikeja, on Thursday, April 25, the state Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education, Jamiu Alli-Balogun, said the state government might wield the big stick against the Indian school in Ilupeju if its investigation finds them culpable.

“Officials of the state Ministry of Education have visited the school and investigation is being deepened to ascertain the veracity of the report. I can assure you that an appropriate action will be taken against the school if the investigation team found the school wanting. At the end of our investigation, if the school is found culpable, it would be shut down the Commissioner said.

Alli-Balogun maintained that denying any child admission into any school runs contrary to the Child Rights Act which the Lagos State Government has domesticated.

“No school has the right to deny admission to any child, in Lagos,” Alli-Balogun stressed.

The commissioner mentioned that at least 12 private schools in the state have been shut down between the year 2023 till date for various infractions.

“At least 12 schools have been shut in Lagos for various offences in the year under review. In January 2024 alone four schools were shut for safety infractions and Illegal operations. We usually do not seal during school sessions. We only seal while the schools are on recess so as not to disrupt academic work. And this is done after profiling of the school and approval by the commissioner before we move into operation,” he said.