John Adeniji

When a Yoruba elder tells you “b’íkún ló l’oko, bí pàkúté ni…”, (either the land squirrel owns the farm, or the trap we will get to see), one would not be wrong to think of warfare. Not one like WWI nor is it like WWII. Yet, it is a war birthed by the same factor that triggered these global wars. Power! Lord Acton rightly articulated this: “power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” The corruptible effect of power, undoubtedly, has been attested where strife is rife —strife between the haves and have-nots, the bourgeoisies and the proletariats, the weak and the strong. At the wake of hike in school fees at the University of Ibadan, this strife is now by extension a rife between the school management and the student populace who have and are still, in the fight for securing their future, pleading with the school management to either reduce or reverse the fee. Developments following this plea have however indicated the neglect of the students’ plea. After all, everyone has an explanation for their decisions.

The failing economy of the nation has been the major justification for the demands of both parties, that is the school management and the students. Truthfully, at least for the relativity of truth, either side has, to some extent, well articulated their resolve. On the one hand, the school management argues that the cost of running the school is costly. This argument came in the wake of the federal government’s exclusion of the education sector from many of its funding scheme. Alternatively, the federal government has instituted a Nigerian Education Loan Fund for students to access. Regarding this however, the thought of being indebted at the formative year of one’s struggle in the labour market is enough reason to dissuade students from applying for the loan. The school management has however implored students to seize the opportunity as it is not ready to reduce the fee. On the other hand, students have expressed their struggles agitating that the same economic repression that motivated the school authority to propose hike in fee has equally pushed them to seek for its reversal or reduction. After all, these students are themselves affected by the repressing economy, and the majority can hardly make ends meet. To the plea of the students, however, no attention seems to have been paid.

“ALL ANIMALS ARE EQUAL BUT SOME ANIMALS ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS” (Orwell). In the events that have been unveiled in past weeks, the school authority has apparently wielded higher equality that daunts the collective power of student unionism. Proverbially, the different releases by the authorities have affirmed the ownership of the farmland to the school authority in such ways that evinces that Land-Squirrels Students can do nothing. In response, students have teemed in their numbers to refresh memories of the power they wield for good, peacefully protesting the hike in school fees. Inferably, the students’ demonstration resonates with a call to the school authority to, alongside the students, tackle a common enemy, the national economy, in a way that exemplifies service to humanity. However, evolving events have only continued to earmark the students as the victims who must bear the brunt of a receding economy. As it stands, especially with the directive that students vacate their respective halls of residence, the likelihood of student protest escalating lingers and leaves everyone with the question of the way forward.

If students condescend to paying the exorbitant fee, it would be glaring what the sacrifices of the student are. However, on the part of the school authority, the same cannot be said. Invariably, such would undermine the notion of collaborative problem-solving in conflict resolution. All parties involved in a true dialogue must be willing to shift ground. Such willingness must be underlined by the truth that compromise is not about losing. Instead, it is about finding a path that respects both voices and moves forward together. In the light of agreements stemming from collaborative, dialectical compromise, the student populace and the school authority alike can attack the repressing economy which stands in opposition against them both. After all is done, we can all live to be the best indeed, not only in nourishments in matters of academics, but also in our ability to stand united with one voice in such a union where no higher equality is exercised.