By: Ochi, Buchi
It is tempting to believe that the school environment is separate from the rest of the country. The campus has a very isolating effect on the mind and it is easy to forget that it exists within a particular context, which also affects events within its walls. Microcosm is the English word for it. An environment that is a miniature of a larger community. And for the University of Ibadan, the larger community is the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Characteristic of any microcosm are parallels that can be drawn between it and the community it is representative of. Many of such can be drawn between the school and Nigeria. For instance, the unprepared removal of fuel subsidy by the President, Bola Tinubu, brought about a wave of inflation that swept through the nation. No part was left untouched. The price of transportation rose and in accordance, the price of all commodities rose too. From provisions, to improvisations, to raw materials, nothing was spared from the long reaching arms of inflation. Cost of production increased, and as such consumers purchasing power became highly burdened.
The University as an institution was not spared. The rise in the price of transport fares was a strong contention for students last session. The prices of clothes, fees, food, and everything else brought a domino effect, even the education sector. The effect of inflation is always hard felt in the area of food. Inflation pushes the price of food out of the reach of many citizens, when coupled with the fact that income do not increase in conjunction. Almost overnight, the same amount of money buys a far lesser quantity of food, and then hunger becomes rampant as families and individuals begin to ration what food they can get until the next paycheck is credited.
Students in our case have not been spared. Today, it costs more to eat and be filled. Unless one is ready to engage in several days of fasting, it has become important to learn to cut plate and size in accordance to one’s wallet. Those who have to cook, out of no fault of their own, suddenly cannot buy as much foodstuff as they usually would. They resort to rationing meals until the next allowance is credited.
The rapid increase in the price of petroleum products would not only affect a father of four with children in several different school, who is bound to drive them to school and back almost every day, but also the student in Agbowo, Indy, or Queens, who needs to buy kerosene to prepare meals.
It is not only in suffering that these parallels exist. From the ten days of nationwide protests to the July 16th and 17th UI demonstrations, citizens at every level have kept concerting efforts to speak out against the suffering that they go through and can no longer bear. These efforts are not without fickles. The Nigerian Labour Congress recently got an increase in the national minimum wage, like students recently got the management to walk back on the electricity memo.
While seemingly contradictory to the laws of mathematics, these parallel lines intersect and that is the point. It is not hard to see citizens or in this case, students, face irreconcilable policies made by the federal government. These policies, such as the removal of fuel subsidy continue to force more and more people into poverty, whether they intend to or not.
Inactions also shape an environment, whether it is a school or the society at large. Failure to address the issues that are most pressing on citizens has forced many into deplorable situations. The failure to address funding faces many tertiary institutions, especially during these hard times, and has given footing to raise school fees. It has forced many young and bright minds out of institutions due to a lack of the ability to pay these increased fees.
The government at the federal level needs to sit up and begin to take care of public needs. It should ensure that money is spent where it ought to be. State governments cannot be exempted from this charge to focus on the welfare of their citizens. Though they tried to improve the infrastructure, they must also go further than that. The sentiments they expressed during the negotiations for a higher minimum wage do not speak of a government that prioritizes the interest of citizens. On the other hand, citizens should begin to hold leaders more accountable by demanding dividends and responsiveness from the Government.
