MY TAKE ON STUDENTS CONFRONTATIONAL ATTITUDE WITH UNIVERSITY AUTHORITY. Based on my little experience as a student in the premier University, I had this understanding that every student in UI is/was a victim of circumstance depending on the situation you found yourself as a student, every students have passed through one case of victimisation or the other, experienced the power and authority game in the hands of lecturers, senior officials and even non academic staff, to say the least, portars and cleaners. Personally, I was victimised too in UI as a student but how did I escaped unscathed? The first impression I established in my mind most time during those period was that, this is a learning process. I have to see this as a challenge. I need to act such that these people would see that they have trained me properly even though some utter statements like: look at him!! Hes so proud! Hes so heady! Hes arrogant! He even undermined my office by writing to the VC. Hes a naughty boy. You will regret coming to UI. You havent seen anything. This is UI! You will be rusticated and so many other threats but I saw everything as a process of learning. I had issues in my faculty, department, hostel, students affairs and even with the authority as a whole yet I graduated. I learnt a great deal in UI that if you want issues resolved amicably you dont externalise internal issues or affairs though this may sound stupid but I understand that you dont take a shot without the target and you dont ask questions when its glaring you wont get the expected answer. In all our learning as student, I believe all the intellectual arsenals we have gathered in the University be use to shape the society and not to be used in confronting the University in war of words or in some cases, outright confrontations. Many comrades passed through the University with the wrong mentality of wrestling the University authority with the qualities they have bestowed on you. Most time I see this as a misplaced priority. Some battles were fought for ten years with the University but in the long run many of such people later come begging the authority for forgiveness. As a student leader in UI during my time, I saw juvenile delinquency at its peak with the various letters I received on my desk and so many issues that would have been settled amicably among students being forwarded to the authority. The most daunting pain I experienced most time came from students who never saw me as a student but management boy or stooge. These set of students never for once accepted that i had same time of 24hours to use as a student. They never accepted that you had your life to use aside the assignment you willingly got yourself involved in. Above all, most time these set of students never for once admitted you as a colleague. I discovered everything was due to complex that was not necessary. But above every grievance I experienced from my colleague, I saw everyone of us as one body. One body that must be found worthy in character and learning. A group of people who by virtue of common ground must go to the society and prove our Alma mater right such that the people at the helms of affairs there could beat their chest to probable things we could do as leader in the society. Writing this piece doesnt make me a saint neither as it proven me to be different from any student who had once confronted the authority and came back wounded. Im doing this to prove or say to many of us here that its not sound enough for one to always assume that the authority want ones career destroyed. No! They have their children too. Whatever they do right or wrong, posterity will judge them and everyone of us too but we must not forget that we are human and so we are not perfect. At the wee our of my graduation in October 2010, I discover the beauty of the kind of channel of operation through which the University takes its decision pertaining to students offences not minding whos involved and I was so happy knowing that if you drag issues within the four walls of University of Ibadan and you stand on your right with humility and honour you stand several chances of being proven not guilty. It happened to me and Im saying it that though there are officials who were hell bent on embracing falsehood but they are few in number to the majority who uphold the truth as the only avenue through justice is not deny in any case. Many problem faced by most student is bored from fear. In this abnormality only you can free yourself or train yourself on how to deal with fear. Never keep silent on any issue. Open up and seek for adverse by not counting only on your knowledge because no one person is an island of knowledge. Many students have been brainwashed to always see the University authority as an enemy of the student but this is not true. Every institution always want to be proud of its product. Albeit the nature of the people that decide the fate of the University we can win any issue with discretion in the University without fear or a feeling of intimation. Without allowing our emotions to reason for us. Without allowing our field of study to create a wrong impression in our thought. No matter the power we have built over time we must realised that its not needed to fight the institution that make us as a student. Doing this is tantamount to bitting the fingers that feeds one. I believe we must be patient as student and in any of our grievances, we must pass the through necessary channels without breaching protocols and believe in delayed gratifications. These are my thoughts and opinion that I have used successfully but subject to any other meaningful thoughts and contribution. God bless the University of Ibadan! God bless the federal republic of Nigeria. Akande Akin Sanyaolu/ Alumnus.
Posted on: Sun, 09 Nov 2014 11:51:57 +0000
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