Kazeem Olalekan Israel writes on the silence of the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) management in the face of difficult situations facing students on the campus.
“I am not a liberator. There are no liberators. The people liberate themselves” – Ernesto Che Guevara
The situation of things on campus at present can best be imagined than felt. There is no gainsaying in the fact that academically and infrastructure-wise, Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) is lagging behind and is not worth being referred to as an institution of higher learning. Considering the reality on ground, it can better be said that OAU is sitting on a keg of gunpowder, and the explosion can be very devastating.
It is so unfortunate and embarrassing that the University community shifted briefly from partial blackout to total blackout and now to partial blackout again all because of unknown reasons thereby subjecting the students populace to unwarranted hardship coupled with lack of water.
It is a height of betrayal of trust from the University management for the students to be subjected to this kind of hardship. In as much as the school authority in its ineptitude had devised a means of playing safe in the blame game while pointing the fault to the school’s external source of power supply, it should be noted that at a point in time when students have a limited time-frame to round off lectures with assignments, practicals and tests and still double in preparing for exams, all parameters ought to be put in place to ensure ample delivery of facilities to ease living and learning.
While hostels, as of the moment may have been temporarily or permanently back to light due to a recent restoration of power supply, the academic areas of campus are still in a dismal blackout state. This is no doubt a threat to security, performance and health of the students.
Students who have little time to prepare for their exams may be forced to employ all means within reach to ensure that reading is not halted, by this, many may subscribe to dim sources of light to read thus increasing the workload on the brain as the straining of eyes tells on the brain. This, coupled with the ease of the underworld to act in the guise of the existing darkness contributes to the traumatic pressure of preparing for our tests and exams.
It is not out of place if the school having realized the possibilities of unforeseen contingencies had put in place standby generator(s) while readjusting the academic calendar so as to avoid unnecessary casualties. It is thus imperative that the school authority act fast in ensuring a livable and learnable environment for us as this may in no time tell on the general health of students within the campus.
Kazeem Olalekan Israel (GANI) is a student in the Political Science department at OAU
