It is an age-old truism that mankind has three basic needs, that is food, clothing and shelter. However, with the industrial revolution and globalisation, the fact has become irrefutable that without electricity, neither of these things can be in place to its optimum. Or can we imagine fast foods without the gentle touch of the electric cooker? Can we have designer shirts without sophisticated and electricity-driven machineries? Neither would a place be fit for habitation if there is no power to facilitate ventilation, relaxation and intellectualisation. It cannot be gainsaid that this reality is in fact most apt in a 21st century environment of learning – an environment where students desperately depend on power to pore over learning materials; an environment where studying is not deemed complete without access to the internet’s endless resources; and an environment where vital implements such as pressing irons, photocopying machines, mobile phones, personal computers, projectors, reading lamps etc. are rendered absolutely useless without electricity.
Thus anyone who plays down the place of power in the scheme of things in the Ivory Tower, or even attempts to equate it to the outside world in terms of the significance of electricity(or lack of it), is either merely being mischievous or is ignorant of some salient facts. The nature of the university alongside other citadels of learning is just not comparable to that of the general society because it is fundamentally configured to depend on power. While at home, an individual may not be unnerved to find that there is no light to aid such activities as reading and cooking; that same individual would be frustrated to find the same scenario in the school. The reason for this is not farfetched. One, he/she can easily find alternatives at home. And then, these activities are not sine qua non to his immediate success in life.
It is from the foregoing that the Union of Campus Journalists, University of Ibadan feels greatly concerned about the sudden and sharp drop in the supply of power in Nigeria's premier university. It is not news that before the termination of the previous session, students in the university enjoyed up to (if not more than) 12 hours of power supply. Sadly however, not long after many students dispersed to their respective homes, the situation took a nosedive. At the time, many assumed that this was an ephemeral turn of events since the regular programme of the school had reached a hiatus and most students were not around to benefit from it. It was believed that the power situation when students were away was a ploy by the University management to cut the cost of power maintenance as power supply was not only inadequate but also erratic. Then, the university has sunk more than two weeks into a new session, yet no positive change has been proportionally recorded.
Students now have to grapple with an unbearable shortage of supply, and sometimes no supply at all. Consequently, the supply of water has equally been insufficient especially in female halls of residence. Also, students (and other stakeholders alike) have to put up with high rates of printing and photocopying services as the service providers readily give the excuse of power outage. Additionally, the process of course registration has also suffered setbacks as the bulk of it ultimately requires access to the internet and primarily the availability of powered internet-compliant tools. Furthermore, we cannot overlook the increase in frivolities and the presence of reasonable apprehension of harm all over campus. This is as a result of the darkness which permeates the nooks and crannies of the campus, and which those with evil intents have readily exploited. Gone are the days when our only fear was the absence of streetlights in some parts of the school. Now, even those which are present and functional are no different from those which are faulty and unavailable as they have no power to work.
Moreover, because of the lack of stable power supply, there has been an increase in the fortitude of mosquitoes on campus especially in the halls of residence. The resultant effect is the increase in the cases of malaria. We should not wait to have recorded cases of death from malaria before we arrest the situation.
OUR DEMANDS
1. The terrible and unbefitting state pictured above is not bothering the Union of Campus Journalists, University of Ibadan as much as the silence of the university management on the issue. It makes us wonder the place where the students occupy in the management's scale of preference - the roundtable of focal relevancy or the backseat of negligible redundancy. Does the situation of things not justify the claims in some quarters that the University management places higher priority on staff than students who makes the University a citadel of learning and not a research institute? In the light of this, our primary demand is for the management to publicly address the matter in issue detailing the steps already taken to surmount the challenge and the plans on ground to ensure a lasting solution. It can be done possibly through the school bulletin or a town hall meeting. This would help to rightfully establish that the student body is relevant in the institution. Aside this, it would also help to douse unnecessary tension in the event that convincing arguments are furnished to the students who are on the receiving end of the hardship.

2. Based on unpalatable experiences and narrations from the past, we also feel compelled to recommend an intensive overhaul of the Works and Maintenance Department. It is more than evident that the performance of that department has been persistently unsatisfactory. Both students and staff have an endless list of complaints about them. For instance, we have had sundry instances wherein complaints of irregularities are always met with untenable and elusive excuses such as the unavailability of vehicles to convey workers and implements.

3. As we understand that nationally, there is less money in circulation and consequently the university is underfunded, we wish to advise the management to devise innovative ways of funding her needs. At this juncture, it is pertinent that we add that these ‘ways’ are not projected to include the extortion of students. We are however confident that the student body would be willing to voluntarily assist if given the opportunity by providing contacts of and reaching out to philanthropists and other well-meaning individuals who are capable of lessening the monetary burden on the management.
These are our demands as a union and we anticipate prompt responsive reaction from the management.

Signed
Union of Campus Journalists, University of Ibadan

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It is an eye sore my brother. Nigeria is falling under gravity and our president is flying