UNILAG: RISE OF DESPOTISM AND
DECLINE OF INTELLECTUALISM |
Henry jex blog
BY ADERONKE ADEYEMI
Last week, the authorities of the University of
Lagos agreed to reopen the school. The school
had been closed for a while following a student
protest over lack of water and electricity on the
campus. The university authorities stipulated
some conditions for resumption: students have to
undertake and notarise a “Re-absorption Oath”;
parents or guardians have to guarantee the
conduct of their wards and agree to indemnify the
school; the student union body was dissolved;
and the student union constitution suspended.
The only thing missing from the list was the
usual preface to such things: “Fellow Nigerians,
by order of the Supreme Military Council….”
I am sure that, like any political soldier worth his
salt, the university’s Senate had good reasons for
its military coup tactics. Still, as we say, hell is
full of good reasons. The rationale—favoured by
soldiers and university authorities—is, of course,
the preservation of public order. But, order is not
a one-directional obligation. Consider the nature
of a traffic signal in the middle of a busy
intersection: it affects everyone equally. This
equality is the true nature of public order. On the
other hand, the “orderly” clearing the way for a
governor is creating an unequal “order”. This is a
false idea of public order: the type favoured by
soldiers and devious university authorities.
And so, it seems to me that the school
authorities have attempted to conceal their
incompetence by gagging those affected by it.
They want a “public order” that imposes
restrictions on students without any
corresponding obligations on the authorities. This
is merely self-preservation. It is a self-serving,
arrogant hogwash disguised as academic
discipline.
But this style of public administration is nothing
new in itself. The history of modern Africa is a
compilation of unfortunate repressions. Colonial,
military, and autocratic civilian governments have
hacked down ideas of equality and freedom.
These governments have always been intent on
stifling debate and argument regarding their
abilities. But, thankfully, history always favours
the side of freedom.
Today, this autocracy is built into our legislation
and our approach to social problems.
Governments lack either the political will or the
intellectual capacity to creatively address the
socio-economic circumstances that trigger public
disorder. Their only solutions are to “ban it, fine it
or jail it”. It is painful—and treacherous—that the
intellectual community has adopted a similarly
unimaginative approach. It is ironic that these
academics, most of whom were trained in more
liberal environments in Nigeria and abroad, would
resort to the type of fascism they criticise in
governments.
We should not treat University students like
criminal gangs or unruly toddlers. Most of them
are above eighteen years and entitled to the full
rights of citizens. In fairness to them, students
quietly go about their affairs for a large
percentage of their time. Yes, there are some
individual troublemakers and cultists. But,
compared to the belligerence in the national and
state legislatures, students are rather well
behaved. Collectively, university communities are
ordinarily peaceful. It takes a lot of frustration for
a population of over 20,000 students to solidify
into a generally united and organised protest.
Still, it is natural to the process when students
erupt into demonstrations. Intellectuals are
necessarily discontent. There is a covert protest
against existing ideas at the core of every
intellectual pursuit. Intellectual ability is grounded
in an innate dissatisfaction with current
knowledge and systems. It is propelled by a
desire for continuous improvement. Criticism
fuels technological progress; protest promotes
social change. It is disingenuous that we should
punish university students for acting according to
the nature of their minds at that stage. Young
children are hardly worried about social issues;
working adults are often too obligated to act on
their concerns. This is why university halls and
squares have always been the bedrock of social
dissatisfaction.
As I have written elsewhere, the freedom of
thought is fundamental to academic study. The
ultimate expression of thought is action, and
action inspires more thought. It is strange that
we hope to free the minds of students while
curtailing their expression. Protest is a valid form
of expression in an unresponsive and
unsympathetic system. We have to discourage
intellectual bullying in our universities unless,
maybe, we want to breed citizens who mindlessly
tolerate political irresponsibility.
The Nigerian society today is one where political
despotism, social censorship, partisan
propaganda, religious extremism, and military
brutalism are rampant. It is worrisome that we
should also venture into the systematic
degradation of our intellectual communities. It is
disheartening that professors should subscribe to
despotic methods. We are slowly clamping
universities into advanced secondary schools. It
is difficult to see how succeeding generations of
graduates who have been zombified into a routine
of uncritical thought can galvanise national
development. There ought to be much more to
university education than classes and certificates.
The students of the University of Lagos protested
against the absence of electricity and water. That
was their crime. Most of us, workers, have been
so accustomed to these deficiencies that we no
longer count them as problems. This is why we
ought to be grateful to the university students for
keeping a spark of idealism alive. We cannot
afford to have this light stamped out.
Unfortunately, a lot of our university teachers are
too jaded, too obliged or otherwise too immersed
in the political system to be of much value to
social change. These dodgy professors have
become slaves to Aso Rock and its numerous
political appointments. They have become tools
of social control on behalf of Abuja masters.
Now, they want to drag the students down into
the service of the cesspool. These “professors”
are the ones who ought to sign an undertaking to
be of good behaviour in their methods of
administration. Otherwise, the behaviour of the
students has been quite normal.
DECLINE OF INTELLECTUALISM |
Henry jex blog
BY ADERONKE ADEYEMI
Last week, the authorities of the University of
Lagos agreed to reopen the school. The school
had been closed for a while following a student
protest over lack of water and electricity on the
campus. The university authorities stipulated
some conditions for resumption: students have to
undertake and notarise a “Re-absorption Oath”;
parents or guardians have to guarantee the
conduct of their wards and agree to indemnify the
school; the student union body was dissolved;
and the student union constitution suspended.
The only thing missing from the list was the
usual preface to such things: “Fellow Nigerians,
by order of the Supreme Military Council….”
I am sure that, like any political soldier worth his
salt, the university’s Senate had good reasons for
its military coup tactics. Still, as we say, hell is
full of good reasons. The rationale—favoured by
soldiers and university authorities—is, of course,
the preservation of public order. But, order is not
a one-directional obligation. Consider the nature
of a traffic signal in the middle of a busy
intersection: it affects everyone equally. This
equality is the true nature of public order. On the
other hand, the “orderly” clearing the way for a
governor is creating an unequal “order”. This is a
false idea of public order: the type favoured by
soldiers and devious university authorities.
And so, it seems to me that the school
authorities have attempted to conceal their
incompetence by gagging those affected by it.
They want a “public order” that imposes
restrictions on students without any
corresponding obligations on the authorities. This
is merely self-preservation. It is a self-serving,
arrogant hogwash disguised as academic
discipline.
But this style of public administration is nothing
new in itself. The history of modern Africa is a
compilation of unfortunate repressions. Colonial,
military, and autocratic civilian governments have
hacked down ideas of equality and freedom.
These governments have always been intent on
stifling debate and argument regarding their
abilities. But, thankfully, history always favours
the side of freedom.
Today, this autocracy is built into our legislation
and our approach to social problems.
Governments lack either the political will or the
intellectual capacity to creatively address the
socio-economic circumstances that trigger public
disorder. Their only solutions are to “ban it, fine it
or jail it”. It is painful—and treacherous—that the
intellectual community has adopted a similarly
unimaginative approach. It is ironic that these
academics, most of whom were trained in more
liberal environments in Nigeria and abroad, would
resort to the type of fascism they criticise in
governments.
We should not treat University students like
criminal gangs or unruly toddlers. Most of them
are above eighteen years and entitled to the full
rights of citizens. In fairness to them, students
quietly go about their affairs for a large
percentage of their time. Yes, there are some
individual troublemakers and cultists. But,
compared to the belligerence in the national and
state legislatures, students are rather well
behaved. Collectively, university communities are
ordinarily peaceful. It takes a lot of frustration for
a population of over 20,000 students to solidify
into a generally united and organised protest.
Still, it is natural to the process when students
erupt into demonstrations. Intellectuals are
necessarily discontent. There is a covert protest
against existing ideas at the core of every
intellectual pursuit. Intellectual ability is grounded
in an innate dissatisfaction with current
knowledge and systems. It is propelled by a
desire for continuous improvement. Criticism
fuels technological progress; protest promotes
social change. It is disingenuous that we should
punish university students for acting according to
the nature of their minds at that stage. Young
children are hardly worried about social issues;
working adults are often too obligated to act on
their concerns. This is why university halls and
squares have always been the bedrock of social
dissatisfaction.
As I have written elsewhere, the freedom of
thought is fundamental to academic study. The
ultimate expression of thought is action, and
action inspires more thought. It is strange that
we hope to free the minds of students while
curtailing their expression. Protest is a valid form
of expression in an unresponsive and
unsympathetic system. We have to discourage
intellectual bullying in our universities unless,
maybe, we want to breed citizens who mindlessly
tolerate political irresponsibility.
The Nigerian society today is one where political
despotism, social censorship, partisan
propaganda, religious extremism, and military
brutalism are rampant. It is worrisome that we
should also venture into the systematic
degradation of our intellectual communities. It is
disheartening that professors should subscribe to
despotic methods. We are slowly clamping
universities into advanced secondary schools. It
is difficult to see how succeeding generations of
graduates who have been zombified into a routine
of uncritical thought can galvanise national
development. There ought to be much more to
university education than classes and certificates.
The students of the University of Lagos protested
against the absence of electricity and water. That
was their crime. Most of us, workers, have been
so accustomed to these deficiencies that we no
longer count them as problems. This is why we
ought to be grateful to the university students for
keeping a spark of idealism alive. We cannot
afford to have this light stamped out.
Unfortunately, a lot of our university teachers are
too jaded, too obliged or otherwise too immersed
in the political system to be of much value to
social change. These dodgy professors have
become slaves to Aso Rock and its numerous
political appointments. They have become tools
of social control on behalf of Abuja masters.
Now, they want to drag the students down into
the service of the cesspool. These “professors”
are the ones who ought to sign an undertaking to
be of good behaviour in their methods of
administration. Otherwise, the behaviour of the
students has been quite normal.
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