Civic Education

I had no real business in school today other than go to school 'charge', hook up with friends and read, every unilorite will agree with me that joy and smiles would appear on their faces when we get to ride in a free, air conditioned car to school. At first i said 'ekaro sir' bending my head even though I knew the windows were rolled up and there was no way the owner would have heard me greet, so he drove pass me and i played my 'adura by wande coal' and kept walking, few steps away this same car parked and said:

You're a student right?

I said yes sir, so he said come inside I am going to school as well, i muttered thank God and sat inside the car hoping to listen to my song without having any other conversation aside the thank you i said upon entering the car. Oops! I was wrong, "what course are you studying"? I was shocked so I couldn't talk at first and I had to think before saying "political science sir" and that was how we began our long, educating, talk. I will try as mush as possible to be brief and it a pity I can't remember all what he said to me

Why have you students failed to uphold the activism spirit of the Nigerian students? You see during my days in school, the likes of professor wole soyinka, myself and others stood against the likes of Yakubu Gowon, Abacha and the government. Why is the students leadership a failure today? People are suffering, our senate is a home to thieves, they collect crazy allowances, even a man that does not read the newspaper will collect newspaper allowance and yet the government cannot pay a minimum wage of #18,000!

This time Engr. Famileke was hitting his steering and I summoned courage and said:
Sir, are you aware the laws and the institutions have incapacitated the Nigerian students? What your likes enjoyed is no longer in the system today, various student leadership positions have been bought over by the government and there is nothing an ordinary student like me can do about it.

Engr looked at me and said "do you know that in my time whenever we need to call our selves together, we would roll paper on the trays in the cafeteria and when students sees the note there is an awareness, I said again sir, you enjoyed the best part of Nigeria educational system, and he told me that in his days in the federal polytechnic there was a general study of "CIVIC EDUCATION" just as we now have general studies (GNS) and that civic education is a subject that serves as a tool in educating the nigerian youth/student about their civic responsibility and right, the do's and don't's of government, their society and their input. Civic education in my days woke the nigerian students in all institution and we understood what the government was made of, our lecturers taught civic education and it reshaped the students then, why will the nigeria legislators be the highest paid and they offer us nothing, and yet there has never been a peaceful march from the Nigerian students saying enough is enough with these allowances? Why? Where in the world have the so called authorities heard that they kill or attack a peaceful student protest? Your people are not doing anything.

Your education was the best! Pat utomi's education was the best! Professor wole soyinka's education was the best! We don't have anything called "CIVIC EDUCATION" in our institutions sir, will the government today allow the study of what will awaken the youth towards their affairs? No sir!

On a final note he said to me, you have a part to play, rather than criticize the state government (I told him earlier about the bad state of governance in kwara state) look at the top and tell your friends the errors, that is an aspect of civic education, when the head is bad, the body will be bad as well, if the federal is bad the state will be bad too!

We got to the park, I thanked him for the ride and alighted.


Upon hearing the inconclusive election/handing over of the National Association Of Nigerian Students (NANS) were hooliganism and thuggery took it cause once more at the convention ground, a car is useless without the engine, so is the election of NANS executives without the Convention chairman but this time around our convention chairman is a campaign manager for one of the presidential aspirant, please tell me will a mother put a hot roasted yam on the palm of her child so as to burn the child? Mr chairman will favor his candidate, so as to get the blessing of their political godfathers. I shook my head and said alas! None of us is an option, where is our civic education? Please bring back Civic education for the Nigerian youths/students, and in our institutions rather than say you're murray something and you want to make common sense, use that common sense to legislate and make good laws that will cut the allowances and salaries of the national assembly, rather than call paul le guen a foreigner for a national job, call and not recycle a capable Nigerian technical adviser, rather than use the bill to promote and flaunt your anointed sons and daughters under the guise of NotTooYoungToRun promote CIVIC EDUCATION in all federal, state and private institutions

SARUMI LUKMAN OLUWAPELUMI