₦airaland Forum

I stumbled over this and I was compelled to comment. The governmental malfeasance that began under Babagida not only flourished but took a dangerous dimension as PDP took over in 1999. One of the maladies this precipitated was the destruction of students unionism in our universities so that no one challenges their obscene corruption. SUGs and NANS are today peopled by jollof-rice students dealers who cooperate 100% with the oppressive authorities. In our time, no porter would imagine doing such to a student. If they did, our response would be decisive and caustic. They feared us with all their hearts. Not only them; even the professors cherry-picked their actions.

There's no sane woman who would choose to have her bath in an open space if she hadn't been forced to do so by the ramshackle dungeons they provided as hostels. They had to choose between the toilet ailments they could catch and the shame of exposing their unclothedness. Safety first! We passed through the system. Our toilets and bathrooms those days passed for what the damned could expect in the most inclement Nigerian prison.

By the grace of God, a sweeping change beckons under the emerging Buhari government. I've elected to press the government to address the plight of our students nationwide. We need to train courageous men and women who could shape the course of our progress and not irresponsible, lily-livered, reactionary conformists who are always willing to bow to the same destiny that oppresses them.

~Razaq Obe (Obe Razaq)