One cannot but observe with dismay , how some of our private institutions have made a mockery and flagrant breach of our laws with impunity- and yet they want those they admit into their citadel of learning to be obedient to their stringent rules.
It is very sad indeed , that a private University or any other institution for that matter would choose to ignore a federal government recognized and public holiday, simply because the holiday is not in line with her religious beliefs.
We cannot obey the laws in part and claim to be law abiding. To commit a willful violation of the law makes one no better than the criminal behind the bars.
It is a different ball game if a person decides to work on his own volition on a public holiday , but can the same be said of an organization employing workers?
Allow me to quote section 4 of chapter 378 of the public holidays Act thus:
No person shall be compellable to do any act on a day appointed by or under the provisions of this act to be kept as a public holiday which he would not be compellable to do on a Sunday. This implies that nobody can be authorised to perform any official duty ( Which he ordinarily would not do on a Sunday) as a public holiday.
The only people according to section 6(1) of this chapter permitted to waive a public holiday are Director-general Generals of ministries or government parastatals. Private University institutions definitely do not fall within this category.
Why then would the controlling mind of a private University or so-called faith based institution decide to embark on a fragrant violation of the law enforcement the adherence to public holidays by disregarding it’s observance and inadvertently forcing her members to resume their duty post?
At this point , judging by the statutory authorities stated above , we can safely arrive at the just conclusion that disregard of a Federal government declared public Holiday by Private universities is not illegal but a destructive step at tearing our nation apart.
There is no basis for such discrimination and such would only plunge our nation into an endless abyss of woes.
By John Olonade
A 500 Level Student of Ajayi Crowther University, Oyo
