Kunle Adepeju’s 53rd Commemoration: Beyond the Procession
A graveyard visitation, a candlelight procession and gyration activities at the Student’s Union building later in the evening were among the University of Ibadan Student’s Union’s activities for the 53rd commemoration of the unfortunate demise of the first student martyr in Nigeria, Adekunle Ademuyiwa Adepeju. Adepeju died on Monday, February 1, 1971, after being shot by policemen invited by the then Vice-chancellor of the University, Professor Lambo, to forcefully quell the ongoing protests by residents of the Nnamdi Azikwe hall over their grievances with the corny cafeteria manageress of the hall. Beyond the candlelight procession, the chants and activities that succeeded the Team Rebirth-led commemoration, it is important to highlight salient points that warrant sober reflection and introspection. Before highlighting these points, however, a historical perspective must be put forward to understand why these points are significant.
Reports had it that, on January 26, January 1971, there was a prior complaint by the students of Nnamdi Azikiwe Hall, University of Ibadan, about the manageress of the Cafeteria in the hall, a certain Mrs. Grace Apampa. She was accused of corruption, inefficiency, poor productivity and poor public relations. She was later petitioned by the leadership of the hall, seeking her removal by the Vice Chancellor. Unfortunately, the university administration did not only reject the demands of students, but also attempted to make scapegoats of the students who provided leadership to the collective aspiration of the residents of the hall.
The students, infuriated and provoked by the response of the Lambo-led university administration, embarked on a peaceful protest to express their displeasure, following a 48-hour hunger strike. The students in other halls of residence across the university, who had also suffered actions similar to that of the Zik hall’s cafeteria manageress in their respective halls of residence, were spurred by the protest of Zikites and decided to join in the struggle. The struggle took a new twist and escalated on the fifth day, following the invasion of the campus by the military who were invited by the Vice Chancellor to crush the protest which had been peaceful without any record of destruction.
The intervention of the military escalated into a clash between the students and the soldiers, and in the course of the clash, a student was shot in the leg. This subsequently led to the death of Kunle Adepeju, a 200-level student of Agricultural Economics, who fell victim to a stray bullet from trigger-happy soldiers that hit his forehead while he was trying to help another injured student who had been shot in the leg. Record has it that Kunle was making his way into Mellanby Hall, close by where the protest was ongoing when he decided to assist the said student in the crowd of the peaceful protesters.
It was also reported that the police left Adepeju’s lifeless body in front of the Queen Elizabeth Hall for three days before his family got to know of the incident. His death snowballed into a massive uprising, drawing sympathisers from students in other tertiary institutions, the labour union, and the general public. Thousands were also present at his burial, including Prof Wole Soyinka and other notable activists. A four-day protest was also held to seek justice for him in Lagos and Ibadan but it was violently quelled by the government.
In reflecting on Michael B. Jordan’s insightful observation that history tends to repeat itself, particularly in the perpetual dialogue between the oppressed and the oppressor, we find a poignant parallel in the annals of Nnamdi Azikwe Hall’s history. In 1971, residents voiced their concerns through a petition to the university management, only to face a protracted silence that eventually ignited protests. Fast forward to the present, a reminiscent scenario unfolds as the Host-led Student’s Union executives sought to hold a town hall meeting with the Vice Chancellor and the students last semester. This well-publicised event, however, was abruptly cancelled just days before it was scheduled to take place. This cancellation becomes a microcosm of the broader issue at hand— the dire need for open dialogue between students and the university management. As the current student body grapples with unprecedented fee increments across various domains, from utility to accommodation fees, the importance of proactive engagement becomes glaringly evident. The echoes of the past reverberate, stressing the significance of timely conversations to foster understanding, address grievances, and ultimately pave the way for lasting peace within the university community.
Moreover, delving into the historical trajectories of 1971 reveals a significant paradigm wherein the founding fathers of the students’ union strategically harnessed the platform to not only propel but to ardently safeguard the interests of the student populace. However, juxtaposing this laudable historical narrative with the present-day scenario, a conspicuous dearth of substantive actions surfaces, leaving one to question the current Student’s Union’s moral ascendancy in commemorating individuals whose values stand in stark misalignment with their modus operandi thus far. The recent commemorative event to honour this fallen hero of the union, regrettably, seems to have transformed into a mere token gesture, failing to substantively encapsulate the essence of the principles that are being celebrated. A glaring example is the union’s directive to students not to pay laboratory/studio fees, only for faculties to compel payments without any intervention from the union. This disconcerting dissonance between professed principles and tangible actions emphasises an urgent necessity for introspection and recalibration of the union’s commitment to earnestly championing the welfare of the student body. Equally troubling is the ineffectuality of the union’s purported price regulations, leaving students at the capricious mercy of shrewd vendors who dictate disparate prices and charges, thereby engendering a palpable sense of vulnerability among the student populace. This glaring difference between the historical precedents and the contemporary actions requires an exigent call for a comprehensive and critical reassessment of the union’s determination to fulfil its mandate of ardently advocating for the collective interests of the student constituency.
Beyond the procession, and the myriad of Aluta-professing activities organized by the Student’s Union in commemoration of the 53rd year since the passing of Kunle Adepeju, it is imperative that we cast a discerning gaze upon the current state of the students union in the University of Ibadan. The resonance of the commemoration should extend beyond the ceremonial and performative activities and should, instead, prompt an introspective evaluation of the collective consciousness within the union, and stir the considerable number of the UI’SU executives who seem settled in a state of obliviousness regarding the fundamental essence and historical underpinnings of the union.
There is also an urgent and indispensable obligation for the union’s leadership—as it will always be for subsequent ones—to actively undertake the duty of conscientising the student populace. The perpetuation of the union’s legacy demands not only a fervent remembrance of the past but a genuine commitment to instilling a profound understanding of its principles and purposes among the current generations of students. This conscientisation, beyond mere rituals, will become the backbone for sustaining the vigour and relevance of our union in the face of evolving challenges and attacks on the Nigerian public education system.