Some VCs definitely profit from student crisis.
If not, how can a peaceful protest by students against astronomical hike in their school fees lead to suspension from school in this global age of democratic rights of expression? Laughable indeed.
When the culture of peaceful protest against wrongs takes flight, the university system becomes a garrison, a commandist structure of no rights. A graveyard of intellectualism and freedom of expression where culture of disagreement and resolution is banned.
Won’t the VC, a professor, and his colleagues be afraid and ashamed of themselves if after increasing the school fees there was not a single protest by any student, that they are training automated robots to be automated, “tuale, all correct sir” graduates of the school?
The UI VC should please spend a night at Sango Cemetery where there’s graveyard silence and morbid peace to experience the type of university they are trying to run. Why I’m even suggesting Sango cemetery sef, when there’s a beautiful and more convenient big fully AC mortuary in UCH that the VC can spend a night there to enjoy the morbid peace he wants in UI? Other professors in support of the ridiculous suspension of these three student activists should also take their turn as research trip. Research comes in different practical ways beyond classroom lectures.
I think this should be a compulsory retreat for VCs and other university administrators who always mismanage simple protest because they want to impose absolute peace of the graveyard on their campuses. . Not all retreats should be held at 5 – star hotels . A night of retreat in the mortuary or graveyard won’t be a bad idea to know the difference between managing active human beings and passive deadi bodies.
It’s funny to know that UI has a well established Conflict Resolution Centre? where graduates and “over graduate” students and corporate staff of companies are trained. So, what are they teaching them about conflict resolution mechanism with this their one way outdated iron hand suspension & expulsion of dissenting students and staff always as conflict mechanism?
Petulant VCs and university administrators profit from conflict escalation because university fund will be wasted on renting their lawyers, (SAN) in most cases. Waste money on bribing some 2 for kobo media practitioners not to report the unreasonable illegal expulsion in order not to embarrass them or escalate the crisis. Give them 100 press releases they won’t use until when “alarm blows” finally, then they start publishing it as headline .
The university CSOs become fatter like overfed American pigs during student crisis, eating regular hot Amala, Abula with goathead and orishirishi because more money must be budgetted to their pockets for security, surveillance and strategy. They will also start assembling cult boys for protest breaking and attacks on principled student activists. Of course, DSS and police will be writing daily alarming fake security reports to extort the university for money. (pls read “Cry for Justice” – a publication of Great Ife students union under Legacy, Lanre Adeleke presidency, aftermath of the cult attack in the campus that led to the bloody killing of 5 students including Afrika)
I’m also talking from bad experience having been expelled and re-expelled three times illegally by 3 VCs who adopted the same old jackboot method of crisis escalation. Over 90% of peppersoup and cold beer induced security reports written about me were fake and very stupid to believe. Snails & beer joint at Enu Owa and Diganga hotel, Ife used to be their centres to enjoy the university free money. Thanks to radical left organizations especially DSM, CLO, the old radical CDHR,, the entire Great Ife succesive generations of students, great ASUU comrades, the old radical NANS. My, tireless team of radical lawyers including Alao Aka- Bashorun, Femi Falana, Gani Fawehinmi, Olumide Fusika and Segun Sango for bringing me back to school on each occasion to finally graduate..
An injury to One is an injury to ALL. UI students should rise up to defend their suspended colleagues because they spoke for you and they are still speaking for you. Your old generation of UI students had done it before and you too can and must do it now because any fund reduction and better welfare benefits of the protest is for all without exception. If not, you are all in danger of losing your freedom and right to education.
*I watched and rewatched the minimal close circuit peaceful protest against hike in school fees by a handful of courageous students who have the right to so do. Nothing provocative and nothing strange about the protest to warrant this garrison tactic by UI authorities. Like a High Court Judge once asked OAU lawyer, “If students didn’t protest peacefully to show their anger against what they considered bad, so you want them to start beating up their lecturers and vice chancellor ?….i have jurisdiction on this case which the university could have resolved peacefully.without the aggrieved students coming to court .”.
As the court pleases!
I hope the university system won’t get to that point of Alapansanpa masquerade tactic of conflict resolution due to the unending mismanagement of simple protest by students and workers
I join all discerning Nigerians of good conscience to demand for unconditional reinstatement of these three student activists. Solidarity for Ever!
Adeola Soetan
08037207856
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