UI Elections 2023: Breaking the Shackles of Hall Favouritism and Other Primordial Sentiments

The university is widely regarded as a hub of intellectual activity where knowledge is created, shared, and disseminated. It is a place where young minds are shaped, and individuals are groomed for their future roles in society. However, the value of a university extends far beyond the classroom walls. It is a place where diverse perspectives, ideas, and experiences converge, and where individuals can engage in critical thinking and analytical reasoning to solve complex problems. In this sense, the university has a unique role to play in shaping the larger society by offering insights and perspectives that can help address the most pressing issues of our time. It is also trite and chief to highlight how the university should serve as an intellectual place that offers insights to the larger society, and why this role is crucial in today’s Nigeria.

The recently concluded elections in Nigeria have turned out to be the most divisive and polarizing in the history of the country. Polarization along ethnic, tribal and religious lines was the order of the campaign. Many people, though feigning ‘voting for the best’, actually voted for their preferred candidate because of the tribal sentiments. Tribalism and ethnocentric agenda in politics in Nigeria have remained a major force that propelled Nigerians to make jaundiced and myopic choices which deepened the retrogressiveness of the country.

It has been much touted that the University should remain the model from which the larger society can adopt its positive strains and apply them nationwide. One such striking instance is when renowned Nobel Laurate Playwright, Wole Soyinka, due to the many cases of road accidents on the campus of Obafemi Awolowo University then in 1976 started a road safety corps to curtail the menace. The initiative went on to be very effective and in 1988, General Ibrahim Babangida led military regime recognized the initiative and went on to adopt it as a national establishment making Professor Wole Soyinka the first Director of the new Federal Road Safety Corps. This is an ideal instance of how the University is the place where the larger society can acquire insights towards making informed and progressive choices.

Back to the state of political flight state in Nigeria, the approach of students towards campus elections is not different from what is obtainable in the larger society. Campus elections in Nigerian universities have become a battleground for various interest groups, often defined by primordial sentiments such as ethnicity, religion, and tribe. These sentiments have led to the election of student leaders based on factors other than merit, competence, and capability, leading to a decline in the quality of leadership on campuses. As we approach the electioneering period in the University, it is imperative and cognizant to conscientize the student populace on the need to start jettisoning primordial sentiments when voting for campus elections, and instead focus on electing leaders based on their qualities and competence.

Hall of residence favouritism in voting during campus elections remains the top debased sentiment which influenced most students’ votes. It is a concerning issue that can give a platform to those who are incompetent and undeserving, solely because they belong to the large halls of residence. This kind of favouritism has always been the determining factor for voting in the University for a long time, students vote for candidates based on their hall of residence rather than their qualifications, ideas, and capabilities. The detrimental effects of voting incompetent hands at the helm of affairs are so dangerous as it is tantamount to leaving the control of an aircraft to the hand of someone lacking the basics of piloting.

There is an urgent need for a sober reflection on the need to subject our political decision-making as far as campus elections are concerned to intellectualism. Support for candidates must not be borne out of primordial sentiments such as hall of residence favouritism, department or faculty favouritism, religious affiliations, “he told me first”, “he is a fine boy”, and other mundane factors unexpected from an intellectual setting. We must strive to think like the intellectuals that we should be; support for leaders must be borne out of merit, capacity, precedence, and engaging with aspirants to know what their plans are.

Our Union especially, is in a precarious state at this period. With the commercialization of education in Nigeria looming, only competent people who are prepared and understand what the Union is about must be elected into the offices. Therefore, it is important for Nigerian students, Uites especially, to start jettisoning primordial sentiments when voting during campus elections. Instead, students should focus on electing leaders based on their merit, competence, and capability. This will ensure that the best candidates are elected to lead the student body, irrespective of their ethnic, religious, or tribal affiliations.

In conclusion, the election of student leaders based on primordial sentiments has done more harm than good to the development of the Nigerian student body. It is time for students to start focusing on electing leaders based on their qualities, competence, and capability, to foster unity, diversity, and effective leadership on campuses.