“Now’s the time to dissociate
the bitter politics of hate in the mainstream Nigerian politics from our ivory
towers”
The election timetable had been drawn by
the office of the Dean of Student’s Affairs with detailed guidelines of the manifestos
and elections into various offices at both the departmental and faculty levels
across the University of Lagos.
Though, there have been traces of
politicking among students as a build up to the democratic process, the lifting
of the ban and the release of the guideline have since, set the ball rolling with contestants spurning
out across faculties to make their ambitions known.
At several juncture in the university, the
sight of posters, flyers and banners are not hard to spot with varying designs
and promises- a semblance of what operates in the wider society where several
promises are made to the electorates but little efforts are made to list and
enunciate how they are to be accomplished.
The unfortunate politics of sectionalism,
religionism, departmentalism and cohortism coupled with the fierce act of godfatherism
which has become an integral part of Nigerian politics has badly found its way
into the psyche of students’ representatives emerging in our ivory towers or
how bad can it be when voters are urged to vote on the basis of same religion
or department rather that the pedigree of the individual.
There have been allegations and counter
allegations of sabotage and rigging among contenders; some have even accused
their counterparts of sending evil spirits on them via nightmares.
It is pertinent to note that every
electorate owe it to his/herself and the student community the right to vote
and be voted for without any fear or favour. While anyone within the confines
of the stipulated requirements can obtain form of contests, the bulk of the
electioneering rests on the shoulders of the electorates.
Incorporating the voting process with
examinations surely places the students at a tight corner, but it was inevitable
due to the time frame as a result of the ASUU strike. It is hoped that every
student would see this opportunity to contribute to the leadership in the
university as a build up to the inevitable reinstatement of the student union
on campus.
Though election holds at the faculty level,
it is as if the politics of selection has come to stay at the departmental
level as no voting whatsoever occurs among aspirants in the almost all of the
departments. I have witnessed one in my department where some group of students
came together under the platform called “concerned science and tech students”;
their job was to persuade, dissuade and nominate representatives on behalf of
the thousands of students in the department.
During one of their meetings, in a bid to
screen out two out of the three aspiring general secretaries, they were asked
to list the contents of a minute of a meeting and to my astonishment; neither
the first nor the second could utter a word, not even the third. I wondered
what they were looking for as not only did they fail to give an answer, their
sponsors boasted that they would learn as soon as they get into office. If an
intending secretary could not even state a date as the most elementary part of
a minute, I wonder if she would be able to tell the position of the address in
a letter.
For different administration, the same story
abounds; it’s like pouring an old wine into a new bottle. The posters and
flyers, although colourful, contain mere rhetoric and plagiarised quotes that
have failed to speak intellectualism to us the electorate. All we see in prints
are “a new dawn”, “The time has come for a change”, “it’s about service and not
servitude”- is this what we are going to export to the nation after our
graduation?
Speaking at the American University, the 35th
president of the United States- John Fitzgerald Kennedy quoted Professor Widrow
Wilson to have said that “everyman sent out from a university should be a man
of his nation, as well as a man of his time”
A university ought to be a space where
ideas flow, talents nourished and leadership qualities instilled among the
students. Our ivory towers should be an almost utopian society where the quest
for truth is paramount. If Nigerian students still find it difficult to play a
free, fair and credible election with sound manifestoes and intellectual debates,
does it not amount to hypocrisy to blame the INEC chairman Professor Attahiru
Jega or Dr Jonathan for the flaws in the country’s politics?
Students’ representation is a serious
business that requires readiness, brilliance and a high sense of patriotism. It
goes beyond collecting annual dues and organising beach parties. A student
leader that is worth our votes should be one with a history of leadership and
comradeship, calmness and selflessness who would represent his or her subject
without fear or favour.
If what is on ground is anything to go by,
it clearly illustrates that quite a handful among our intending student leaders
just as their counterparts across the country are driven neither by their
patriotism nor selflessness, adroitness nor brilliance, charisma nor boldness
not even a sense of belonging or a quest to make the society better but a
thirst for power and influence, greed and embezzlement and a means to build self-ego.
A situation though abysmal, represents to a great extent, the political climate
in the country.
Modiu Olaguro is a member of The Press
Club, UNILAG.
Email: dprophetpride@gmail.com
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