Ordinarily, a glance at the title, even the meekest of minds of Lautech students might feel aggrieved and infuriated by the word 'good'. What has been good about the strike? What is so good about being at home for 7 months? idle.
We’ve had our grievances aired on numerous occasions, social-media campaigns, tons of articles and it still doesn’t look as if something is happening somewhere.
We were told to take a break just a week to our first semester exams and 7 months on, exams are still hanging, some would say.
Unsuspecting and wholly obedient we all heeded the message in our personalized school e-mail. Some decided to take a trip home to restock their ‘stomach armaments’ in readiness for the exams. The rest of us stayed in school, trying to engorge our empty cerebrum with books already abandoned, ab initio. Relatively, this semester was going to be timely but we were as wrong as two left shoes.
The good:
Let me start by asking that what are the chances of having a holiday as long as 7 months while in the University? Given, this particular holiday is even threatening to become longer. With the amount of time served on to us on a silver platter, it is enough to learn a great deal. I think we learn more outside classrooms.
We could reshape our future. This is an opportunity to pick up and hone a vocational skill which can become invaluable in the society we’ve all found ourselves. Personally, I believe vocational skill training should be made compulsory across in all Universities across the country.
We should also try as much as possible to get ‘Tech-literate’, thereby, getting familiar with the world of technology or at least show an interest. Regardless of your field of study, you'll find the knowledge of computer/technology edifying. It'll be smart to accept that technology is the present and ultimately the future.
This is also the time to attend those free seminars or workshops we’ve never had time to. There are also others offered for paltry sums which I believe we can more than afford. You’ll be amazed by the amount of knowledge you can get from these events. In fact, they might even be the missing piece(s) of that ‘crazy' business idea you've got.
Furthermore, I think this free time could also be utilized by volunteering or better still, interning at organizations, enterprises, companies or even on farms as the case may be. This way, we can get practical knowledge and experiences and maybe even get paid. It’s been 7 months and whoever has been working would have earned at least 6 months’ worth of salary.
Finally, it’s time to set the ball rolling for that crazy idea you’ve got. Talk to people, get help, and brainstorm with like minds. Take advantage of the concentration and focus afforded by the strike.
The bad:
It is quite shocking and ridiculously implausible that University students have been at home for up to–not 7 days nor 7 weeks but–7 months because of unpaid salaries of their teachers. If I didn’t know better I would say the story was made up and has no atom of truth in it, but here we are, with unbalanced reality gaping at us.
The timing of the strike could not have been worse. A week to exams, after months of preparations; sleepless nights.We can begin to list all the negative effects that could be and has been as a result of the strike action embarked upon.
It is a shame that even after all these months, the University faces an uncertain future. Some have even joked about the school never resuming again. One begins to wonder, how did it get to this point? Even with one of the states boasting a ‘super-accountant’ as it’s number one citizen. A friend once bragged to me about his meteoric rise as a financial administrator.
We’ve had our grievances aired on numerous occasions, social media campaigns, tons of articles and it still doesn’t look as if something is happening somewhere.
I genuinely feel heartbroken for our teachers, fathers, and mothers who are owed various amounts of salaries and are even forced to get half or 30% or even 20% of what they deserve whilst working relentlessly, despite the non-payment of salaries which begs the question ‘is it the same with these governors? Are they owed salaries at all?
This pitiable situation, viz, strike actions is bad in all it's ramifications and should be eradicated in our society completely.
The bizarre:
Parents and guardians go through an awful lot, to make sure their children and wards get the best of education which they can afford, coupled with the fact that they don’t get salaries and even when they do, it is either incomplete or untimely. It would be a shame to watch the lives of the future leaders of tomorrow go to waste like this.
A school of thought on this ‘aberrant holiday’ postulated that: Our parents have served these people diligently and sacrificed their freedom just to earn a living.Therefore, for this trend to continue these people have put in place a system to make sure we also serve their children.
On the 9th of December 2016, Lautech students fed up with the situation of the varsity, decided to take to the streets to protest along the Ogbomoso/Ilorin expressway but to the most astounding turn of events, the students were being shot at by the Nigerian Police. It was rumored that the policemen got a directive from one of the state governors co-owning the school.
Thankfully, there were no casualties, but on another day, things could have been much worse. I wonder why our state government would treat these students like the enemies. This regrettable event is another of the very cowardly way in which our government addresses peaceful demonstrations by violating the freedom of expression.
The time to check this unfair, unfortunate and unbecoming issue which has become a norm is long overdue.
~Salau Taofik Adedolapo
Tel: 08169834666
Facebook: facebook/taofiktion
Twitter: el_aladdin
Instagram: aladdin__x
No comments:
Post a Comment