IT IS TIME TO TALK
By: Poe
When I was little, my teacher taught me that when an individual is educated, his tentacles are opened to the world. That is, he is able to function in an unlimited sphere of life. Apart from that, he is given the power to talk, and by talking I am sure she meant, protecting ones rights in an arena that does not adequately respect it. So I wanted so much to be educated. To be able to talk to the world, words that would change it from the downtrodden state of darkness to a brighter light. I wanted so much to be a voice to reckon with. I was introduced to the world of reading and intellectualism and I fell so much in love, not with book, but with the prospect that one day., I will become the next, Martin Luther King, or the next Nelson Mandela; men who actually had a cause for both their existence and their struggle actually made sense. All of such dreams died the day I came into the four walls of the supposed first and the best. I think we are taught to unlearn what we have learnt over time?
It is appalling to think that in a university setting where the students are supposed to be the taught the ethics of standing up for a cause are rather taught the vice of keeping quite in the face of injustice. From the day I resumed the prestigious school of silence, the stale students have been ringing it in our ears, don’t talk oo, talk and SDC will carry your case oo. I have lived in this school for a year now, and I have seen people talk and all they get for saying the truth is suspension slam. What kind of education are you giving students, one that favours silence, and one that only dwells on the broken bones of cemetery monuments? We are made to believe that the suspension of our SUG is for the good of the student. But since when has holding the tongue of an individual, a means to any favorable end?
We are made to pay heavy levies, we are made to walk or wait for a contraption as slow as the developmental pace of our dearly beloved country and because we dont have a voice, we cower to the whims and caprices of the administration. Just last week thursday night, a tragic event took place in the biggest hall in sub Saharan Africa. Robbers attacked the students, with guns and machetes, making away with their phones, laptops, ATM cards and other valuables. In the cause of this robbery, many were beaten to stupor, a girl was stabbed, and all the management could do was to tell the girls not to escalate the issue, even with the come- back note dropped by the unscrupulous fellows of the night. Of cause the next day classes held like nothing happened, lecturers came to class, taught morphology and phonology and the day went on as though some students were not in UCH fighting for their lives. This ought not to be so. The management acts like they do not have human feeling. What if their children were part of those beaten, or stabbed, would the school remain the way it was on Friday?
I think it is time for us to break the chain of fear put over our mouths. Our palates hang heavy with knowledge, but the rain is held back by the fear of rustication. This is a clear cut example of an education of silence. We are meant to nurture minds, train them to be the leaders of tomorrow, or better still to stand up against injustice, how can we do that when the system of education preaches silence? No bikes, silence, hike in hostel fees, silence, technology levy hike, silence. The slogan of this university should be changed from the hypocritical Latin phrase, to…Unibadan, silence and educational keep shut.
