The Voices

voicesThe elections have come and gone. The votes have been cast, announcements have been made. There were winners and even many more losers. While it is quite tempting to rush to congratulate the victors, it is unnecessary. I believe they have had enough congratulatory messages by now. It must be made clear to them that they have been given responsibilities and not lifetime achievement award. However, this article is not about them. My focus is on the students’ orientation.

We all know about the tribalism that prevails during elections in Nigeria: northerners voting for a presidential candidate just because he is Hausa or Igbos voting for someone due to the tribal connection he has to them. This is a degenerative mentality that should never be encouraged at all. It is our own equivalent of racism in Nigeria, and Africa at large. It gravely undermines the unity of the nation at great length. One would hope that every form of it would be eradicated in an intellectual institution of learning such as the University of Ibadan. But, alas! That is not so. Instead of tribalism, hall membership was used as the basis for voting. Students were constantly moved to cast their votes for people who came from their halls of residence. Unfortunately, the popular orientation was such that people felt they had a duty to vote for candidates from their halls, even if they knew nothing about the plans of those candidates. A night prior to the Speech Night, in a hall of residence which I will not name, the occupants were told to forget about what the candidates had to offer and just cast their votes “out of loyalty” to their hall. In fact, we had instances of halls endorsing candidates just as the monarchs in the Nigerian system do.

This is a very sad case. We have inherited the mentality that caused such disasters as the Nigerian Civil War. Yes, it is a good thing to be loyal to one’s hall. But when it comes to union affairs, every student should see the candidates first of all as students, and not as Awoites or Idiaites. As evidently confirmed by the results announced at exactly 12:05am on Sunday, most of the candidates pooled overwhelming votes in their respective halls. The students’ union is not supposed to be run this way. It should not be a battleground to see which hall is the mightiest of them all because honestly, that is exactly what breaks a union. A students’ union should primarily be a UNION OF STUDENTS, irrespective of halls. If I am a Zikite and K-Cent happened to impress me with his plans, there is no sin committed if I vote for him. Remember, if we plan to change things at the national level, we must start now!

The excuse given often is that a member of their hall will represent their interests better but this is not true. The SU executive is not the same as the legislative house. If we all embraced unity in the first place and believed that the affairs of the union should be handled with unity in mind, there is no way anyone in power will favour his hall more than other halls. We would not feel the need to place people from our hostels in seat of authority just as a form of security. We do not have to continue this way. I know this is how politics is run around here. But it does not have to be so. Developed countries do not act in this manner. If we want to make Nigeria better, we have to start from somewhere.

It takes changing oneself to change the world. We are the leaders of tomorrow and we have to build our mentality first before we can build a better world.

  • Kanyinsola Olorunnisola

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