••• Without a Law, Ondo’s Graduation Ban Will Collapse
Social commentator, Fela Castro, has urged Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa to give teeth to the controversial education reforms — including the recent ban on elaborate graduation ceremonies in nursery, primary and JSS3 schools — by presenting them as an executive bill to the Ondo State House of Assembly.
At the August 26, 2025 meeting between the Honourable Commissioner for Education, Professor Igbekele Ajibefun, and private school proprietors, 17 resolutions were reached to sanitize private education.
Among them was the directive stopping lavish graduation parties for non-exit classes, a move that has dominated public debate.
But Castro in a Facebook post on Friday insists that unless these resolutions are codified into law, they will collapse under pressure from defiant schools.
“ Why should the ban on wasteful nursery and JSS3 graduations become another policy that dies in silence? If the Governor truly wants to end exploitation, he must back these reforms with law,” Castro charged.
The commentator noted that the same applies to other resolutions: prohibiting illegal schools, blocking arbitrary levies, stopping compulsory purchases, and outlawing fake documents.
According to him, only a binding Ondo State Private Schools (Regulation and Standardization) Act, 2025 will empower parents to challenge errant proprietors.
Castro stressed that the ban on premature graduations is not an attack on culture, but a step to protect parents from financial exploitation and to restore dignity to education.
“Governor Aiyedatiwa must act now,” Castro warned. “If these resolutions remain mere directives, private schools will laugh them off. But if they become law, parents will have the power to fight back.”
The proposed legislation, he argued, would not only secure the controversial graduation ban but also set minimum standards of safety, curriculum, and accountability for all private schools in Ondo State.
