As opposed to the assertion of a Professor of Law in the University of Lagos who could not find fault in the controversial article but resorted to some erroneous linguistic correction, the words ‘ignoramuses’ and ‘ignorami’ could be used interchangeably. They are both the plural forms of ‘ignoramus’. Professor! The only difference between the two words that gave the user 4 semesters rustication is that one is standard, while the other is non-standard, just like Forum-Forums/Fora, Memorandum-Memorandums/Memoranda and Stadium- Stadiums/Stadia. The Ekiti Professor, who should compensate me for not mentioning his name, never knew I intentionally used the words to cause “erudition crisis” amongst the scholars as it would interest you to know that another Professor disagreed with this fellow at the level of the Panel I faced on the ‘existence’ of these words. If only Mrs Durojaiye, the secretary of the Disciplinary committee could be bold enough not to avoid me and hand over the transcript of the voice recording of what went on at the Panel for me to upload, the world would laugh hysterically at the gullibility that plays out at the tallest building in the University of Lagos. I need to make this bothering question of mine public- If by tomorrow, all Professors were wiped out in Nigeria, is there going to be any economic implication? How many inventions would suffer discontinuity? How many national researches would stop?. Good readers! I await your replies.
When I mention the word ‘research’, I'm not taking about those plagiarized journals they put up and publish later when the owner is unsuspecting. Was it not in this University a doctor found out that his work was plagiarized by a Professor? He reported to the Senate but did not receive a reply on the case. It was at that point, the pained doctor arm-twisted and finagled the Senate through blackmail to make him a Professor when he realized that the culprit Professor belongs to the group of the ‘untouchables’. He became a Professor before one could pronounce Ade…ye…ye. This would have received a very severe punishment in saner climes where scholars are civilized and intellectual property means a lot to the real INTELLECTUALS. Nigerian students would agree with me that these same people would come to class to tell stories of how they have travelled ‘far and wide’ even when we know the scholar who after getting $25,000 Federal Government grant was deported from Canada after completing his studies. This Professor in UNILAG did not want to return to his Fatherland to be useful after such huge investment on him. As of today, this old man teaches young people ethics and values. In fact, he is in charge of STUDENTS’ AFFAIRS. Who is deceiving who?
I have been labeled a rude and disrespectful boy by many and forever I would remain rude. I would always be rude to any person or a group of person(s) that mismanage the scarce resources. I would be rude to those who got money to get 4 generators yet bought 2. I would be rude to the group of people who pardoned a woman whom everyone discovered mismanaged 39 million naira as a Sports Centre Director yet was given a ‘go and sin no more’ pat on her back. I must be rude to a management that extorts through all available means. This is a management that organize seminars for food handlers on campus to only give a laminated paper as “certificate of participation” after they have paid #15,000 each from them. This is a university where the children of Professors are offered accommodation first before the children of ‘puruntu’. THE UNIVERSITY OF LAGOS SHOULD NOT BE RUN LIKE A FAMILY BUSINESS CENTRE. I will continue to be rude to a Senate that would go any mile to strangulate active and vibrant students’ unionism; a management that gives obnoxious policies and electoral guidelines to students. These are Students’ Associations for crying out loud not an association for the Management. I will be rude to a Senate that disenfranchised direct entry students because their research has proven to them that those who challenge their impunity and thievery are those who have attended other schools before coming to UNILAG. They can vote but they cannot be voted for, yet they are compelled to pay dues. Does anyone in the Senate understand the concept of Democracy and Sectarianism at all? I tell you now that the students are already coming together to have their own DIRECT ENTRY STUDENTS’ ASSOCIATION and you cannot contest that. When you infringe on the rights of students to associate independently especially in a vibrant union, you give room for all forms of heinous acts and cultism. Every student would want to talk and when there are many voices saying different things, there is a problem (Barbarianism). Why these scholars don’t understand this still remains a thing of concern to me.
The fictitious indemnity forms have so much caged the hearts of Akokites to the extent that even if reported that a lecturer slept with a male student’s girlfriend, he would not challenge it. He would resign to fate and allow God Almighty to take up the case. He cannot challenge his lecturer who claimed his script is missing. He would never call for his scripts without the fear of victimization. I know a student who ‘failed’ and had 2 extra years as ‘punishment’ for correcting the spelling error of a Professor in class. Students were asked to kneel and close their eyes by a lecturer. Lecturers slap their students at will as if their hands were made to do so. Mental Slavery at its peak!. The questioning ability which Education gives to the educated has been taken from these students so every injustice goes unquestioned. What a lawless society.
Let me tell you about a student of the University of Ibadan, Philip Olatinwo who has just been expelled for advising the Vice Chancellor. He was accused of an act in which he was even a victim and he asked that evidence should be brought before him by the Panel to prove that he was guilty. For asking for evidence, the almighty VC prescribed that a 4- semester rustication penalty be meted to him. The Vice Chancellor at this point, ordered that he should be escorted by the security officers to his hall of residence to pack his belongings and evacuate the hall. Hearing this, he answered the demigod that he does not stay in any hall of residence so he does not need to be escorted. The irunmole got infuriated that Philip whom he expected at that moment to be crying could talk and he ordered that he should be expelled immediately. Is this how to train the next generation of leaders; that when they see injustice, oppression and impunity, they MUST not protest? They must keep mute. There should be no second-guessing that when they report, they are reporting to a spy. It pains the heart that the University of Lagos student has allowed his mind to be so bamboozled by this miseducation as if he was living in the Stone Age. Those of us who are conscious are hereby regarded as rebels. I am happy to be one. If Education really meant Enlightenment, then the Rahman-led administration of the UNILAG is a direct antithesis of it.
There should be no doubt in the hearts of the Senate members of the University that a pain in their necks is around and he has got a lot of disciples who are around to check her excesses and report unequivocally until Sanity returns to the system. I am so sure that the 40 PhD students who were invited for an INTERRACTION by the Student Welfare and DISCLIPINARY committee would be victimized. Most of them may be on the programme for 10 years! We would not relent until the aim of Education is reached. You do not need an Ifa Oracle to tell you that
Adeyeye Olorunfemi wrote this from a Civil Spaces FORUM in Abuja. You can reach him at [email protected].
