You.I. CRISIS MANAGEMENT: BAMIRO’S EXAMPLE
                                  Sunday Saanu
Recently, the relative peace that has been pervading the University of Ibadan (You.I) was almost shattered as the angry students abandoned their classrooms and blocked the main entrance to the Premier University, thereby disrupting the normal academic and economic activities on campus.  Why?  They were protesting against power outage on campus.  For three consecutive days, they had no electricity to cook, to pump water, to type their assignments and to listen to news and music.  That was not all. They were also said to be protesting against the “dead student unionism in You.I.”.
According to them, the last time they had something called student unionism was about six years ago.  The students therefore felt they had enough justifications to come out and agitate.  Trust students, before you could say Jack Robinson, they had mobilized themselves, placards were carried, proverbial songs composed, road blocked and every other activity was abruptly halted. Crisis, of course, conflict.
Conflict occurs when there are two incompatible demands or goals. Conflict scholars including Kreitner and Coser have defined conflict as a struggle over values or claims to status, power and scare resources, in which the aims of the conflicting parties are not only to gain the desired values but also to neutralize, injure or eliminate their rivals. Such conflicts may take place between individuals, groups or organization. 
The point is conflict or crisis is natural in as much as we have insatiable demands. Conflict is inescapable from the human race.  Since, crisis and conflict are natural phenomena, the next ideal preoccupation will be how do we resolve, or dissolve or solve crisis?
This is where the example of the Vice-Chancellor of the University, Prof. Olufemi Bamiro is not only relevant but quite salutary and commendable.  Observers had thought the V.C would, in the vortex of the students’ demonstration, hurriedly lock his door and find an exist to run away! No, Prof. Bamiro said you would not solve a problem by running away from it.  Rather, the Professor of Technology came out of his cozy office to address the rampaging students.
He did not hid away and send representative to the students. He came out, and immediately, the students saw their Vice-Chancellor, tension was a little abated Prof. Bamiro asked for the students’ problems and after listening to them. He addressed the issues raised.
According to him “the power outage was not the making of the University but that of the Power Holding Corporation of Nigeria (PHCN) which had not supplied the campus with energy in the last five days. The University has since been run by generator at the exorbitant cost”.
On the students unionism, the V.C. explained that the Unionism would be resuscitated as soon as the case in court which was initiated by the past leaders is trashed out.  No sooner the V.C. concluded his address than the students returned to their hostels and classrooms, thereby ending the crisis that could have paralyzed the University.
However, there are many lessons in this You.I. issue for Nigerians.  As demonstrated by the students, Nigerians should develop and sustain the culture of peaceful agitation whenever there is discomfort. We have been so complacent in this country.  This on-going national crisis in energy sector is enough to provoke a national agitation for improved energy supply.
Again, our leaders should be courageous to come out to address our national problems. This is where I want President Umaru Yar’Adua to come out of the Aso Rock cocoon.  The President has not been visible enough.  He should talk to Nigerians, if possible, replicate the presidential media chart.
Prof. Bamiro has shown a good example of how a crisis should be addressed. Since his appointment as the Vice-chancellor of the University, the last students’ demonstration would be one occasion that provided him an opportunity to show his administrative competence publicly. And, he did quite well.  His approach has been fantastic in You.I. He has adopted suitable target for maximum impact as his strategy. Prof. Bamiro has not disappointed anyone as his achievements so far testify to his intellectual prowess.  Roads within the campus have been rehabilitated and reconstructed. His new vision of internationalization of the institution is indeed yielding positive result as both the students and the staff members now refer to him as “Mr. Transformation”.  Only a few people using tinted glass will not see the gigantic turn-around project that the Vice-Chancellor is executing. He is really expanding the frontiers of knowledge through the provision of excellent conditions for learning and research.

Sunday Saanu
Dept. of Communication and Language Arts                       
University of Ibadan
e-mail: sundaysaanu@yahoo.com