CRY OUR BELOVED UNIVERSITY By Joe Iniodu Thirty-six hours after the wanton act of arson, heaps of charred documents which had undergone complete chemical change were still smoldering. Billows of smoke continued to meander in spiral form into the atmosphere. The office of the Vice-Chancellor, offices of the two deputy vice-chancellors, the office hosting exams and records, office of the registrar and even the security post of the institution all wore the picture of a war ravaged scene with the toll of arson and maximum destruction. The structures and documents had gone up in smoke perishing irretrievably academic records and sundry documents from when the school was College of Education till date. Items like computers and other valuables may have been carted away as the aftermath of their incineration were hardly found. What started as a peaceful protest that fateful morning of June 12, 2013 had snowballed into colossal damage definable in arson, vandalization, stealing and outright brigandage. The above paints the state of University of Uyo in Akwa Ibom State which is currently under indefinite lock and key. The reason for this turn of events is still foggy with many versions making the rounds. It is learnt that the students had complained about increase in transport fare from the city where the school currently operates from to the permanent site which is said to be about 10 kilometer outside Uyo main city. Students especially those in the department of engineering who were expected to obtain their lectures at the permanent site were confronted with a hike in the transport cost. They rejected the increment and opted for a peaceful protest to compel a review of the cost. The hike in the cost of transportation also paved way for other latent issues that had been agitating the ranks of the students and which the authorities had either glossed over or in ignorance or incompetence did not address. And so when the bubble burst, the falcon could not hear the falconer as a vortex of destruction was unleashed on the beloved institution. The collateral cost of that senseless strike also recorded loss of lives. All of them, innocent victims of actions and inactions of people whose humanity seem to be on suspension. Kingsley Udoetteh, a part Two Zoology student and an only son to a widowed mother who lost the husband, father to the deceased Kingsley some two years ago became a victim of that cycle of violence. He was allegedly killed by a trigger-happy policeman who tactlessly fired live-bullets into the school campus from the overlooking Ikpa Road which traverses the main campus and the annex. Reports received insist that the hapless victim did not participate in the protest. But as it is wont of such crises, the innocents often pay the supreme price while the masterminds and co-travelers go home unhurt. The human toll did not end with only the young Kingsley Udoette. Its fang was extended to, according to reports, four hapless students’ leaders who decided to travel all the way from Lagos to Uyo to mediate in the crisis. They perished in an auto-crash somewhere around Ikot Ekpene-Umuahia road peaking the collateral cost of that avoidable mayhem to a worsening number of five. In other words, five presumable future leaders of this great nation were sacrificed on the sordid altar of dispute of transport fare of about N100. They died because our humanity at the levels of authority and subject has descended steeply into bestiality, turning us into insensate creatures without feeling, compassion and even reasoning. A midst the colossal destruction and death comes the emerging phase which is that of trading blames and finding scapegoats. The University authority claims that the protest which culminated in the violent strike was uncalled for as the students were part and parcel of the negotiation with the selected transport companies. The authority rather believes that a section of the students whose expulsion from the school was imminent owing to irregularities that were uncovered in the processes of their admissions used the protest as an excuse to destroy documents to frustrate the planned expulsion exercise. The number of students that were to be shown the way out is put at 1,200. According to the embattled Vice-Chancellor, Professor Comfort Ekpo, these illegal students had made two previous attempts to raze down the building hosting the school’s records but failed. And so when this last chance came, they courted it faithfully and executed their intention clinically. The analysis of the sad incident by the school authority is in part an indictment as it exposes the gap between the authority of the school and the students’ body. It also points to the fact that even the leadership of the Students’ Union works in alienation and cross-purposes with the students. And so if they were the ones who represented the students in the negotiation, they may not have effected broad consultation or felt the true pulse of the broad masses of the students. Again if the student leaders were in proper social sync with majority of the students, they would have had the benefit of timely information and would have used their popularity and acceptability to dissuade the students from that destructive course of action. But you must have the scenario that played out when the Students’ Union leaders are hand- picked by the school authority and the leaders themselves take to the ways of hubris. In that regard, they do not represent the students, they represent the school authority. There is also the argument that certain inactions bordering on poor social relations on the part of the school authority accentuated the crisis. Many believe that if any member of the school authority had seized the initiative to address the students at the preliminary stage of that peaceful protest, the volcano that eventually erupted would have been prevented. Somebody needed to talk to the students placatingly to assuage their aggression and give them hope that the matter would be looked into. But nobody did that and the protest lingered for about five hours before graduating to that inferno. Rather than do that, the school authority decided to call the police into the fray. Of course the police took the crisis out of context, resulting in the massive damage of property, records and loss of life. Human resource management is a skill and it is strategic in the administration of any organization. It requires tact, patience, understanding, tolerance, proactiveness and incisive insight into the consequence of every action and decision. These are attributes that seemed to have been in flight pre and post the strike in the University of Uyo. It is perhaps why many have accused the vice-chancellor of ineptitude and incompetence. That the vice-chancellor admitted that the records of the university were targeted and she did nothing to prevent it is curious and cast doubt on her attribute of proactiveness and capacity as a human resource manager. The students also stand accused for the act of brigandage that was unleashed in their institution. One critical resource that education cultivates and promotes is knowledge. Knowledge embodies reasoning, deep thinking, foresight, logic, reflection, rationality amongst others. But the students of University of Uyo on that fateful day showed that they are bereft of the afore-stated attributes. They recorded that the attributes of character and learning often enshrine on certificates can not find fulfillment in their enterprise as they have not conditioned themselves for its manifestations. The students portrayed themselves as a consort of infants groping without a purpose. Otherwise how can they willfully have a hand in the destruction of their future? Is it the vice-chancellor that needs academic records or results or transcripts? Is it the police that needs academic records and transcripts? Who is at the receiving end of all of these? How could they cut their nose to spite the face? The students should wail for themselves and their thoughtlessness. The students have canvassed the rather incongruous argument that the peaceful protest was hijacked by hoodlums. I dare to disagree. I am rather in agreement with Mahatma Ghandi’s thesis that no man can ride on another’s back unless it is bent. If the hoodlums usurped the peaceful protest, then it was with their consent. If not, let them name the hoodlums. They could not have come from the moon. They must be part and parcel of the surrounding university community. This is the only way the alibi would enjoy credibility and elicit public sympathy. Otherwise what the students did would be presumed to be arson and which has a constitutional penalty. But besides the penalty is that the students engaged in a self destruct that could delay or mar their future. This is indeed sad! Our Police men need to be re-oriented on the basic rules of engagement and discretion. The indiscretion and impunity of members of the Police Force has become a constant source of worry. If it is not a scandalous act of extortion, it is accidental discharge and other sundry acts of impunity. Many believe that if the police had not been invited to that fray, the scale of destruction would not have been as high. Whether this is true or not is something that should compel our contemplation. Is the Police still a friend of the public? Is it a civil force or a gestapo force? The Police must work at changing public perception positively. Let those in leadership, the led, the security agencies, the students and other social forces join cause to build a society that is anchored on love and compassion and that way eschew or avoid the kind of mayhem that assailed our beloved University of Uyo on June 12. Joe Iniodu is a public affairs analyst
Posted on: Sat, 29 Jun 2013 12:29:08 +0000
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