By: Olu ‘Remilekun
You have to understand. Most people are not ready to be unplugged. And many of them are so inured and so hopelessly dependent on the system that they will fight to protect it. – Morpheus (The Matrix)
Dealing with systems is complex. Defeating them is impossible without the keen understanding of the workings within it. Beyond moral judgements, kudos to the minds that created and sustained the systems that define and order our existence today. The school, being one of these systems, have become the most ingenious ones created by a mind and harnessed by institutions for social engineering for the state and in few cases, the good of the people. Such systems are found in the different parts of Africa. The Igbo apprenticeship system is a popular one among others. After the industrial revolution, the school and its establishments have become the most popular institution because of what it can be used to achieve by the state and by those who manage it. Schools are always managed by ideologies, even when unpronounced or seems obscure. Ideologies prevail in the choices of the managers.
While the separation of the state and the church was achieved in Europe and in some other parts of the world, the relationship between religion and education remains intact, waiting to be reaffirmed when threatened or unconsciously checked. The introduction of western education through the missionaries to some parts of Africa still determines and shapes the leadership and the dynamics of its management in the continent as it remains in its homeland. They were created to acculturate young people into European world views and systems. The architecture and human resources systems in our Universities remind us of the slave and master classifications in the system. While some of us assume that these systems are new and progressive because of its modern outlook, John Lennox, in his 2019 teaching, “The Inspiration of Daniel in a Time of Relativism” reminds us of the Babylon School that the four Hebrew boys were introduced to in order to be trained in the letters and sciences of the Babylonians. While the Hebrews were in exile, these four boys were given a seeming privilege to eat what Nebuchadnezzar eats and in doing so, learn the ways and culture of Babylon so that they may serve the system, indirectly against the freedom of their own people. They were carefully selected to learn a new language, given new names that suits the identity of the new culture. How similar is this system to schools and universities around the world? The Premier University of Ìbàdàn remains the mother of tertiary education in Nigeria. Being the popular first and arguably the best, UI attracts the best across states and much more critical in its selection for her postgraduate degree programmes. The admission process has been transparent and the result is an open book.
However, what purpose does the learning and management of the university serve? By expectation, the University is supposed to provide answers to national problems by training capable thinkers and workers for the country. To judge by outcome, Nigeria has over the years sustained her reputation as one of the poverty capitals of the world. So, the question before the University and her students is “The first and best of what? A poverty capital? While this is not cast in iron, the task before students, lecturers and management is how to transform the state of the country from the poverty capital to a prosperity capital. Does this mean that the University does not raise students who can solve problems at all? Yes! Students in the University win awards and prizes in competitions around the world but these students are strategically attracted to serve the economic kingdoms that govern institutions and sponsor researches and activities in the third world countries that Nigeria belongs to. The reward of hardworking and diligent labour among students is to relocate the Global North where prosperity abounds.
The destiny of Nigeria is deeply connected to the destiny of the University of Ìbàdàn. Until recently when the National Anthem was changed, former National Anthem is deeply connected and can be observed to be an inspiration deduced from the second stanza of the UI Font. “O God of creation, direct our noble cause… Unibadan First and Best, raise true minds for a noble cause” A closer look at the lines will surprise you. The shared dreams of the two institutions also translate to shared misery. The University is a microcosm of the Nigerian state. This university is the mind of the nation. Sometimes, a look at the undemocratic management and policies of the University makes people conclude that Nigeria cannot be redeemed because the kleptomaniacs are always the winners. Still, people continue to see the university as the hope of the country. If hope dies here, it becomes nonexistent for the nation.
The attempt to fix the system have been met with great resistance. The students and some members of staff have continued to nurse hope in the system by fighting vigorously and standing in places they can, to keep sanity alive. They do not go unpunished and without scars but they have stayed, within and outside the system. While it is important for students to resist neo-liberal policies of the management or the government through the management, it is of great importance that the students understand the system that perpetrates the draconian policies that is set to make education only for a very few. It is safer for the system to maintain order in dealing with a thousand labourers who are not intellectuals than to deal with two intellectuals wo are labourers. In some quarters, the blame goes to the religious groups, AUCSF, MSSN, Chapel of Resurrection and others while in other quarters, the blame goes to the persons who manage the University system starting from the Vice Chancellor and his deputies, principal officers, Deans, HODs, ASUU, SSANU, NASU, NAAT among others. The Student Union leadership is also believed to be responsible for the misery of student on and off campus while members of the security unit, popularly known as “Abẹfẹfẹ́lẹ́” are also believed to be perpetrators of the evil as well. Without mincing words, these individuals and groups are responsible for their actions and inactions but the bigger responsibility is the system that they all serve.
If the system is not redesigned to serve the people, another Vice Chancellor will not be different from the present one. All these individuals can and will be replaced to ensure that the interest of the system is duly served. Sometimes, people wonder, how a good comrade suddenly becomes a supporter of anti-movement and neoliberal policies immediately he or she assumes office in the system? However, this does not exonerate the ill-trained ones who use the system as an excuse for their selfish interests. Every man is responsible for his actions and inactions. Babylon has its way to ensure it is served and not otherwise but the will and choice is for each person to accept the offer or do otherwise. Don’t forget the extent that Nebuchadnezzar can go to defend his hegemony. The three Hebrews and the fiery furnace experience shows what Nebuchadnezzar can do to defend his ego. Does this await the UI THREE? Suspending activities on a campus that is not only inhabited by undergraduate students but also by other residents and businesses just to suppress the protest of students against hike in fees is another feature of the Nebuchadnezzar character. The new world is aged. Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr puts it well, “the more things change, the more they stay the same”.
The system is not invincible. Babylon was prevailed upon. The “How?” has been provided but it’s demanding. Daniel and his four friends provided a part of the answer. While we study and get acculturated into the culture that the University is designed to serve, we have to trust our upbringing and not assume it has nothing to offer in the University system. Some lecturers are fond of opening new semester lectures by telling students to drop or close the chapter of all that they have been taught outside the University. This Babylon method is designed to ensure that students only trust what lecturers and management tell them to. There are numerous arguments about why students cannot be allowed to be part of the University Senate but a Yorùbá trained child or youth will respond with “Ọmọdé nísẹ́, àgbà nísẹ́ la fi dá òtu Ifẹ̀” (both the adult and children have responsibilities in the creation of òtu Ifẹ̀) and “Orò tí a bá ṣe tí a kò bá fi han ọmọ, yóò parun ni” (Any ritual done without the inclusion of the young will perish). These, among a few, are responses to thoughts who rule undemocratically.
We also have to learn how to say “no!” to offers from Babylon. This is not expected to just be a catchphrase or attitude but that which is deeply saturated in the altruistic purpose that the University is supposed to serve. The university is funded with taxes by the poor while the rich have mastered the act of tax evasion. We have to stand and defend the interest of Nigerians. When the idea or knowledge of freedom seems vague to our people, parents, siblings, grandparents, neighbours and colleagues, our responsibility as students in the University is to make it tangible and easily understood to them. That is the reason that we have worked and borrowed to ensure that we have education. In this university exile that we find ourselves, we should not lose sight of home. Our task is to find solutions to the challenges that our parents and families face in their different endeavours. This knowledge will make us ask the right questions from those who will lead us. This will make you and I demand an accountable report of how our basic dues in departments and faculties have been expended. It will also remind us that those who we want to elect are those who should and must respect the labour of our parents and not assume resources are available because it has to be. With this consciousness, we will understand that every student, leader or member, represents the family and community he has been raised from.
We do not need our unions and associations to plan parties. Our gathering is not supposed to be for mere youthful exuberances while we expend the sweat and labour of our parents and those that also labour to pay taxes. The unions and associations we have now are not different from what Ládípọ̀ Sólàńkẹ́, Herbert Bánkọ́lé-Bright, Casely Hayford, Julius Ojo-Cole and others had as students when their concerns were the independence of countries on this continent. We will be bastards if we do not work and do politics with this consciousness. We should not be naive about the almost non-existence role or clampdown of the system on Marxist scholars and teachings in the University. While most students are ignorant of the ideological tones of their education, the few who understand the politics and tendencies and have chosen Marxism and socialist ideologies are heavily victimised. The system is always watching. If it is indeed a free world, students are supposed to be presented with all options and properly educated about them. A democratic economic system should be taught and if not, students should learn it independently.
Once again, the system is not invincible. This is not to the hopeless. If you are in the University and have not withdrawn your studentship, if you want a good life for yourself and those you love, you still have hope because that is what this is about. The demand is the need for ideas that can prevail over the odds against the liberation of the mind and that of the economy. We need ideas on how to get to our dream Universities. How many of us even understand what a university should be? We need courageous and wise ideas that can incapacitate these individuals who have been trained and positioned to serve the system. We need ideas and thoughts that can spark light in the dark heart and minds of students who are blindly indoctrinated into this Babylon system. It is a moral responsibility. We have to fight and we have to do it consciously and courageously. Bob Marley, in his song titled “Babylon System” whispers;
“Babylon system is the Vampire, yeah! (vampire)
Suckin’ the children day by day, yeah!
Me say de Babylon system is the vampire, falling empire,
Suckin’ the blood of the sufferers, yeah!
Building church and university, wooh, yeah!
Deceiving the people continually, yeah!
Me say them graduatin’ thieves and murderers
Look out now they suckin’ the blood of the sufferers (sufferers)”
Dear friends, be wise! Like Babylon, there are other narratives that have itemized the tendencies and intentions of this system that continues to oppress us as citizens and students. Look closer and see through actions and inactions. Be deliberate not to lose sight of why you have been sent into the University and at the same time, do not take the bait of the establishment. The rewards and lifestyle are enticing. It glitters, it is not gold. The good looking faces and smiles of those who serve the system does not translate to peace of mind and joy that happiness seems to replace. All appearances of goodness are not goodness. Salvation and freedom will not fall on our laps because we are modest. It is to be worked diligently for. Great ideas are not walked into unconsciously and to have ideas does not mean they will prevail. We have to work, walk and talk with clarity and purpose. The great and intellectual student union will not fall on your laps because you pray or wish for it to happen. In fact, the words of Abraham Lincoln on waiting fits this context. He says “Things may come to those who wait, but only the things left by those who hustle”. James admonishes Christians to resist the devil, Bob Marley says “Rebel!”.
AUTHOR
Olu ‘Remilekun is a student of the University of Ibadan. He is social justice advocate and a stern believer that Nigeria can be fixed.
