Betterdays Oluwatoyin
If what is worth doing is worth doing well, thus, one does not know if what is not worth doing well is worth doing in the first place. To think some students are truly in reality (and not just paper certified to be) worthy in character and learning is a sham and a fairy tale to scary to be believed to be true. The saying is let he who is without sin be the first to cast a stone, alas, what is being experienced even in the intellectual environment is a case of the pot calling kettle black.
Right from the cubicle of some Students’ room, they are quick to unleash terror on politicians verbally, but at their own political scene, they fail to do the same to their fellow students who are miscreants politically. Should this practice of ancient bloody politics be allowed to thrive, it won’t only confirm the aforesaid statement that the recent SUG in tertiary institutions is students’ unfortunate government, it will also give credence to the belief that radical unionism is synonymous rascal hooliganism.
At the run-up to the general elections in Nigeria, albeit, electorates won’t vote based on the performance of the candidates but by their cajoling and spending strength, it was reported that some presidential candidates shunned or boycotted the presidential debate for no good reasons and the masses including students of the University of Ibadan (at quadrangles and in the cafeteria) criticized and tongue-lashed such figures.
Back to the Union election, the same feat was recorded which was and is undermining to the Fourth estate that organized it. What then baffles the sane people lies in the fact that only but a few students saw the wrong in such action and condemned it but almost all were quick to give a thumb down to the Nigerian president’s suppression of press freedom and freedom of speech.
Two wrongs they say don’t make a right; it is with the understanding of this that the Union of Campus Journalists in the University mobilized its members for the press night despite the fact that the Union’s effort on the debate was watered down. When a dog bites a man, it is no news, however, when a man bites a dog, it is not just news but NEWS. While it is no news that press night separates the boys/girls from men/women among the candidates, the conduct of some students at the last press night is NEWS worthy.
it is expected that a woman with bald head covers her head with shame, the role played by some candidates whose stakeholders endorsed but which their CGPA failed to follow suit was totally uncalled for. Truly, it is no longer news that our lawmakers do engage themselves in the fist of fury and exchange of abusive words which most times throw the assembly into pandemonium. However, should students right from their university days put up such a big fight and rowdy session at press night, it is a clear sign that all is not well.
If politics is seen as a game, there will be losers and winners; but if seen as an opportunity to serve and contribute one’s quota to the system, then there’s no loser and no vanquisher. Notably, on the Union’s page and on a particular WhatsApp group, supporters of the two presidential aspirants were seen insulting and attacking each other with cursive words to extent of threatening each other with reprisal attacks physically.
In another instance, some supporters were captured doing the unnecessary but for the sake of their personality, their identity will not be revealed. With all these, it is obvious there are other reasons for aspiring which may include the falsification and alteration of information for personal benefits, financial candies, and undeserved opportunities and privileges; all these also explain why students see politics as a game that must be won by all means. This is worrisome.
On a final note, that the majority are majoring in what they ought to minor in is not to say that the remaining minority are minor in sanity. For every dark cloud, there’s a silver lining. That the bunch of electorates is not voting based on integrity and with a conscience does not mean there are no upright political umpires and observers. Following the series of the drama seen so far, those who truly have in-depth knowledge about the pros and cons of such drama have not only dissociated themselves from the show of shame but also have passed their vote of no confidence on the Student’ Union.
OLUWATOYIN Betterdays is a 400 level student of the department of Arts and Social Sciences Education in the Faculty of Education, University of Ibadan. He is a writer and student journalist and can be reached via +2347010124528.
