7 BIG MISTAKES EVERY UNILAG STUDENT MADE.
The
arrest of a student isn't the problem here. We just keep fooling
ourselves. The main problem here is the supposed bright future of
Nigeria that has been carved in a calabash with no opening to allow it
see the light of the day. We are wasted students and it is emphatic
on the UNILORIN motto; Better By Far i.e Better By Far Wasted Students. We can lay claim to the glaring fact that the school has resulted into been despotic and dictatorial in dealing with students in recent times while we hide behind the curtain of our sstupidity Explaining how wasted time will result in another year. But I think we should understand the following things from a better dimension
1. I understand that the school brought in a puppet-like ULSU and made students into power tasty fools who had no plans until they were in power. I understand that ULSU executives are representatives of students elected into offices using the collegiate system, therefore, creating an inherent apathy among students. But the question is if ULSU was elected by WE the students, then who is ULSU?
2. Till today we blame the dissolved and hostel-evicted executives for our problems. I hear people say things like "who ULSU epp?", " who sent them to protest?" etc but another question is if the protest had been sucessful and there was a reduction in price of goods amongst other things, if in the next few years we tell our children stories of our studentship in UNILAG would we tell them of the success of this protest?
3. While we were on the three weeks unneeded holiday, the students of the UI staged protest due to the expulsion of a single student who lead a protest the previous session. Around 2pm that day, the VC announced that all students should leave school before 4pm. The students of UI brought their beds to the gate and got a big iron pot abd they cooked a sumptuous meal for the greatness of unity and solidarity. The next morning the VC of UI announced that all students should return to school and the expelled student, MOTE has been reinstated. On friday that morning, we were woken up by sirens around 6am. The school sent a message around 8am that all students should leave school before10am(the same two hours time frame). While the student union was protesting, students were showing their skills in Scoffieldism by scaling the fence, going through the canal and running to the rescue of the second gate. At that point we already lost.
4. The school was never ready to fulfill our request but they needed something to divert our attention. They devised what could be tagged "divide and rule". The management created a way to shut us up, the indemnity form (obviously a lecturer would have advised that) They went on to make some students scapegoat by first evicting all ULSU executives from the hostels and some students went on to face panel until recently another student was arrested for posting memes on Facebook. The school(we are the school) carried calculated steps to ensure that all students easily succumbed to their desire while they called us back to start our exam when even the indemnity form was out on the school website before the exam timetable. I understand that the fear of losing our studentship made us sign but the greater fear is coming soon from increasing our school fees to arresting more students and putting squatters outside to witness the harsh beating of the rain. If it doesn't affect me, why disturb me?
5.Most of us took to twitter and other social media to show our supposed solidarity. We became social media champions and real life fools. We trended the hashtag #istandwithULSU and #newunilagrules. When the indemnity form came the waves changed within a week to #ISITWITHMANAGEMENT with the funny sentence "I am tired of standing". How quick to let go of our positions due to little inconviniences are we?
6. Why in the world were we expecting NANS to protest for our problems, LASU to raise placard for us and Yabatech to shout "Solidarity forever" in our honour? Have you forgotten that they have more than enough problem to face in their own schools. Why should we ever expect Alumni to fight for you or expect lecturers to talk? Have you forgotten the lecturers are preparing for elections into different post you and don't expect them to lose the trust of the school in them and that every Alumni have his own problems ranging from personal to family to work.
7. It is still funny that even if Nigeria will have a bright future as we have been made to believe, it won't happen with a UNILAG student. Our greatest problem in Nigeria is that we never see a problem affecting some as a problem for all until it becomes ours. Because you are a bonafide, if squatters like they can go and protest and if they protest to your hall gate you lock them outside, because you can afford to buy two packs for each meal Mavise or Salado what does ULSU mean by hike in price. We keep fooling ourselves. The effect of a problem never reduces until it is given a palliative. For example, our school fees may be increased to 30k, we won't talk we can still pay. Then it sky rockets to 50k then it afects our pocket money we start grumbling. It will then hit 70k then our foolishness will hit us so bad that we cant even get hostels anymore because as at that time the hostels will be privatized. It will be glaring when Daddy cannot give us the pocket money that can afford Salado and we can no more be bonafides because there is no money to pay for it. As at that time we, the whole world would have written how story in the print and social media and chronicles of how feeble we are will be told to generations to come. There are more issues to raise but it is better saved until the arrest of another student. There are more stories to tell until another student is expelled. There are more stupidity to exhibit until we can see these things as our cause and we can keep fooling ourselves until it affect us but I must say this- as a Professor of engineering, you can never escape the pain of electrocution.
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