I recently granted
an interview to The Guardian Newspapers to express my views on some aspects of
student unionism and activism in the current political dispensation and
socio-political environment. The interview was published on Sunday, 03 August
2014, written by GREGORY AUSTIN NWAKUNOR (http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/sunday-magazine-sp-509870158/173413-adejumo-nigeria-students-should-be-disciplined )
Here is a
full and unedited version of the online interview:
•
What would you say has been the difference between students’ unionism in your
days and now?
Let me first
correct a common mistake people make when trying to make comparisons. In my
days (late 1970’s) at the university (I am a proud alumnus of Nigeria’s Premier
University, the University of Ibadan) not only by virtue of just being a
student, I was a participant in student unionism and knew what was going on
intimately; today, about 40 years later, I am no longer within the student
union system, nor conversant with its workings and politics, so it is very
difficult and perhaps, unfair, to make comparisons.
However, I
will try to make some assessments. In those days in the 70s, student unionism
in Nigeria, unbelievably, was thriving and very effective even under the
military regimes of those days more than now in the democratic dispensation.
The military were ruling with edicts, decrees and with largely strong-arm
tactics (Gowon and Obasanjo), yet it was surprising, when we look at it with
the benefit of hindsight, that the then military governments were relatively
benign and sympathetic towards students, (even despite the avoidable loss of
lives during protests) respected us and our views and were, in most cases, very
concerned when we took to the streets. For example, the Obasanjo regime was
very rattled in 1978’s “Ali Must Go” demonstrations during which several
students were killed by policemen. The government found it very hard to
overcome the negative publicity then and I believe they paid compensations to
the families of the deceased. However, they still had their way.
So in those
days of ours, student unionism was highly respected and visible in the society.
We were a thorn in the flesh of incompetent rulers, and we took our visions and
ideals very seriously. Go and check the history, there were never any
allegations of student unions or their members playing up to the government or
compromised by the governments. The governments were even very wary of buying
us off. How can you buy people like late Banji Adegboro and late Segun Okeowo
off? Never!
Also in those
days, the educational system of Nigeria had not degenerated like it has now.
Students go to university and have a very holistic and serious approach to
student unionism and a devotion to their education. Some student union
executives in some universities and polytechnics, especially presidents, even
take (or try to take) a year off their education to concentrate on student
unionism and activism, thereby losing a
year of study, all in the name of serving the students of Nigeria. Does that
happen today? There is not even any space for that because of the irregular
sessions and constant close-downs of the higher institutions.
Nigerian
students valiantly held successive – mostly military - governments accountable
through penetrating pieces in newspapers; open discussions and when necessary,
street protests, that were carried out in very civilised manner. I was with
great pride a very active participant in the “Ali Must Go” protests led by the indefatigable
Segun Okeowo’s then National Union of Nigerian Students (NUNS) in 1978 in a
struggle against the educational policies of the military regime of Olusegun
Obasanjo. We fought on all fronts and
brought education to the front burner of national discourse. Though we lost to
the government, we won the public and the society’s respect and sympathy.
•
Would you say that the current leadership of NANS have lived up to expectation?
From what I
have elaborated above, one is tempted to conclude that the current leadership
of NANS have not lived up to expectations. I will be frank, I am not even aware
of what they are up to, but that is not to say they are not active. This is
their time, not mine or ours. But then, we have to be careful here. Whose
expectations are we expecting them to live up to? Is it to this generally sick
and depraved society, the corrupt, greedy, selfish and insensitive people in
government and politics and the incompetent and clueless state and local governments?
Or should it be to themselves – the students and other youths in the society?
Expectations have to be defined, before we can assess and judge.
Today, I do
not know what to expect from student unionism, in the shape of NANS, probably because
I am not a student anymore. In fact, I don’t know whether it is fair to expect
anything from them, considering the general degraded confused, impoverished and
oppressive state of the nation. These are students struggling to survive; the
government is barely responding and delivering its responsibilities to the
students; their parents are under extreme pressures to educate them
qualitatively. Such students are prone and very susceptible to the temptations
besieging them left and right by corrupt politicians who are ready to make use
of them; by crooks and criminals who also want to exploit them; and by a
society who does not care about them.
So I am a bit, but just a bit,
sympathetic with the plight of students, and hence students unionism in this
country. They are operating under a very difficult terrain, which is ironic,
because one would expect them to fare much better and best in a democratic
setting rather than a military regime, but it is the other way round. Therefore they succumb to the lure of lucre,
promises of positions and power and wealth and become easily compromised. They
are a product of the same society as the corrupt politicians and civil
servants, aren’t they? Even their parents and family encourage their
corruption, simply because they want the best for their children. So it is a
whole rotten society.
•
Why do former union leaders easily become political office holders?
In a sane and
good society, in a true democracy, there is nothing wrong in former student
union leaders becoming political office holders. First, as citizens of this
country, that guarantees their rights to hold such offices, whether by election
or appointment. Secondly, do they easily become political office holders? No!
Only a few of them are political office holders.
However, I
will admit that many of those who have become political office holders have
always been disappointing and seem to have betrayed their former followers. In
a way, this is a Nigerian syndrome. Many anti-government activists over the
years, whether students or journalists or labour unions, have been accused of
“crossing over” to government side when they are appointed to positions. Some have been deliberately vocal during
their activism or unionism days, but only to get noticed for the future, so
that an appointment will come their way one day. Some not deliberately so, but
find themselves trapped within the corrupt system; unfortunately instead of resigning to keep
their dignity and credibility, decided, rightly or wrongly, that they can still
change the system from within, and before they know it, they are compromised.
So it is not
a matter of ease or difficulty to become political office holders. Some have
planned for it through their noise-making and sabre-rattling just to get
noticed. Some were just purely lucky to
be appointed. And some, to be fair, were altruistic in their motives to hold
offices, elected or appointed, and go for it, only to be swallowed up by the
corrupt system they are operating in. A rare few, managed to get off unscathed
by the system, in haste.
•
And why have many betrayed the cause of unionism?
What is the
cause of student unionism? What does that mean really? That phrase needs to be
defined because I doubt if any of the current student unionists we have today
can account for the reason why they are student unionists. Is it just to fight
the government on issues ranging from school fees to accommodation to lack of
quality education? Is it about tackling the evils of the society at large or
just campus politics?
Universally,
the purpose of students' union or student government is to represent fellow
students in some fashion. The purpose of student unionism is to represent
students both within the institution and externally, including on local and
national issues. Students' unions are also responsible for providing a variety
of services to students, dedicated to social, organizational activities,
representation and academic support of the membership. Some students' unions
are politicized bodies, and often serve as a training ground for aspiring
politicians.
So the
problem with students’ unionism in Nigeria, especially in the current
dispensation, is the lack of defined goals. Or rather, a departure from defined
goals. In the 60s and 70s, Nigerian student unionism and activism were very
much well defined. We do not take to the streets just for the fun of it. We
make the government reckon with us, even if on the long run the government has
its way, which they always do anyway, but we always make them listen to us and
reckon with us; they have registered our protest and are careful in the way
they bring out their next provoking policy. More importantly, is the fact that
the society, the public always used to support the students, who are of high
moral and educational integrity and calibre, in those days. Not any more, they
don’t, for good reasons too. Our society now, even as depraved and corrupt and
bad as it is now, rightly do not, and cannot place any premium on today’s
students and what they do, because, being co-travellers and cliques of the
downward spiral and moral destruction of Nigeria, know each other’s culpability
and secrets, so have no moral grounds to criticise or offer advice to each
other.
·
My
counsel for today’s students unionists
Today’s crop of students has a choice
a front of them. They can decide to go back to the era of responsible students'
unionism and contribute their quota to national progress and make a break with
this contemporaneous era of incompetence, mediocrity, selfishness, greed,
material acquisitiveness, corruption and moral decay by choosing to stay on the
path of truth, righteousness and probity. Or they can join in the decades-long
destruction of Nigeria, by partaking in the corruption, religious divide and
ethnic mauling and a reverse back into the dark ages of primordial politics and
governance that we are currently being subverted. It is the choice of the
students and youths of this country.
Nigerian students and youths have to
purge themselves of the prevailing level of indiscipline before they can lay
claim to be the architects and constructors of modern-day Nigeria. As the
conscience of a nation, students must be actively involved in development, re-orientation
and education of their local or wider society. Students can form local pressure
groups to monitor the programmes of their elected governments. This local
pressure group can also influence the society through the carrying out of
socially positive programmes such as discussions, street pageants,
environmental sanitation, road safety, health education, food safety and
security and education, such as on the harmful effects of drug use,
prostitution, cultism, corruption in high places, profligacy, etc., and
position themselves to keep their elected politician on their toes and demand
accountability at all times. They must through debates and intellectual
discourses make their dispositions known to the governments and the leaders. They
should never allow unscrupulous politicians to use them as cannon fodders in
their political battles. Nigerian students should become indicators to measure
the performance of every government. They can do this if their unions become trustworthy,
sincere and upright enough for everybody to believe the judgments they give.
But when students hit the streets on the encouragements of power mongers and
political troublemakers and begin to wreak havoc on the society, then they would
have descended to the level of the common hooligan who is ready to do the evil demand
of his paymaster for a mess of pottage.
They must also shun social vices, such
as cultism, prostitution, examination cheating and brigandage, for as Philip
Massinger puts it "He that would govern others first should be the master
of himself”.
Again, the tendency for short cut to
success must be discarded. Students must
face their first objective – their education - and stop all forms of
examination malpractices and cheating.
This is to ensure that we preserve the sanctity of our examination
process, and of course, credentials issued by our institutions. Nigerian
diplomas, degrees and other educational qualifications are fast becoming
dubious and in the wider world
Our students, our youths, remain, the
most vibrant part of our population. They are not called the leaders of
tomorrow for nothing. They are actually
tomorrow's people. However we can have a
foretaste of that tomorrow through the way they conduct themselves today.
For now there is little to cheer.
Akintokunbo
Adejumo, a
social and political commentator on Nigerian issues, shares his life and work
between London, UK and Nigeria. He is a graduate of Agriculture from the
University of Ibadan, Nigeria (1979) where he was Commissioner for Health,
Independence Hall, in 1976/77; and a Master’s degree in Food Science from the University
of Manitoba, Canada (1985) where he was the President, the International
Students Organisation in 1982/83. He writes
on topical issues for several newspapers and internet media.
He is also the Global Coordinator of
CHAMPIONS FOR NIGERIA, www.championsfornigeria.com , an organisation devoted to
celebrating genuine progress, excellence, commitment, selfless and unalloyed
service to Nigeria and the people of Nigeria.
Akintokunbo A Adejumo MSc, Dip Mngt, CIHM, MCMI, FITP
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