Dovetailing from the last editorial, the importance of leadership cannot be overemphasised. In Nigeria for instance, a quick conclusion can be made that, one of the biggest problems in Nigeria is not scarcity as such, but a proper management deficiency of the resources available in Nigeria, which are evidently in abundance. When the matter of mismanagement is spot-lighted, there is only one culprit that comes to mind, and that is the leaders/management. The same also applies to an organisation, a firm, an association or a company, as they are what they are because of their leaders. However, there is a twist to how this works, as, the outcome of the people is hinged on the leaders, while, the leader of the people especially in an association will most of the time be from among the people. It then becomes difficult for people to get a leader that will stir them on the right path if someone among them does not see the need to do something positively different. Hence, whoever will become a leader, must have that leadership paradigm, and coupled with that paradigm should be a chip from Ralph Nader’s belief that “the function of a leader is to produce more leaders, not more followers”.

Here at the University of Ibadan at this present moment, the issues and matters of leadership seem to be one of seemingly less significant subjects and further concerns. From Class Representatives to Departmental Presidents and other members of the Executive Council to the Faculty level and the Student Union level, there seems to be a minute stream of general consciousness on what these various leadership roles really mean. It is no longer an uncommon awareness that students who find themselves admitted to the University of Ibadan, seem to have some sort of extra value compared to other students from Universities across Nigeria. However, on an introspective critical probing, what value is there indeed, when the value in that supposed value is literally next to nothing while being present on campus? This assertion can be made for the sheer reality that, out there, solutions are typically expected from undergraduates or anyone in higher institutions. For instance, when there are domestic puzzles to solve in the neighbourhood, the first source of help a neighbour’s mind will pick on is most likely an undergraduate, or someone “in school”, who is around. Because, by default, society expects that the reason for a child or an individual going to school is to be able to solve a problem. And sometimes, there is no consideration as to what is being studied specifically. This explains why, as an engineering student, you are expected to be able to do the work of a road-side mechanic better than him, and even faster, because you are studying engineering in school, it might be difficult to explain sometimes that you are a civil engineer or production engineer. The bottom line is that solutions to problems are expected from you as an undergraduate, and eventually a graduate. In some sort, the same too is being expected from student leaders or representatives.

Now, the University of Ibadan has been going through quite a number of challenges and issues for a while now. These challenges are becoming somewhat protracted challenges that date back to either a long time or recent occurrences, or problems that have been accumulating. These problems are becoming inimical to enhancing the quality of education being obtained at the University of Ibadan (and most likely other Nigerian universities), and only aid and contribute to the unpalatable experience students are subjected to. This is a public school, a public school that, in some sort of sense (remember there is no receipt for the purchase of land the university sits on), is collectively owned by both the government and the people. By implication, this means that the power and responsibility of decision and policymaking in the school are not just subjected to the whims of a selected few, irrespective of whatever name they choose to be referred to. This is an institution that has, that is, and that will continue to have a literal direct impact on people’s individual lives, families, communities, and the country as a whole, directly, while some of these impacts normally have a global reach indirectly, sometimes directly.

While completing a degree in the Department of English, one cannot but become familiar with certain terminologies, such as the “theory of humanism”. By this, what is being referred to is that point when humans look to themselves to get solutions, instead of an overt dependence on the divine, or better still, dependency on mysticism. The theory of humanism entails that humans will look inwardly to better themselves, and in so doing, humans will inadvertently make positive use of their faculties, be it the faculties in charge of reasoning, thoughts, emotions, intellects and so on. It also gives room to respect for humanity beyond just one’s self selflessly, to cater for the next person even when it “seems” not to affect you as a person. This can be said, to be an alienistic disposition in the University of Ibadan, as the outcome of what we see today in the University of Ibadan, owes in part to this reality. 

Normally, an activist will categorise the fundamental problem of a typical student of the University of Ibadan into; Ignorance, arrogance, and a perpetual unconscious state. Aside from the literal things of what is being taught, the general intelligence of a typical UI student can be described as insufferable, because they do not really know what they need to know in full (sometimes they do not even know at all), the excessive and detrimental imbalanced tilt towards just academia (which can be proven deficient when the rubber of critical know-how hits the road), pumps the vain vanity of “being brilliant” or “good”. The worst of all is the docility of the conscious state of a typical University of Ibadan student.

It is very important to note and also understand that what an undergraduate needs to be meaningful in life is not solely subjected to the hands of the professors and doctors who deliver lectures to you as a student. Some of these lecturers do not even care as much about the content of what they are teaching. The reality of what they teach when placed side-by-side with their lives and beliefs is as distant as the sky is from the ground. It now becomes difficult for such lecturers and their lectures to have any contributive meaning to a student’s advancement as expected or anticipated, sometimes, the very purpose of education is even defeated by this miscarriage of purposes every now and then. Nevertheless, the students themselves cannot be left out of this blame game. A good percentage of the students population is either full adults or close to being an adult, however it may be, they are far past being children. At that point, it becomes imperative for an adult (which starts at 18 years old in line with the universal adult suffrage as backed by Nigerian Constitution), to take responsibilities of looking after themselves, an adult in the University of Ibadan, should; know and understand his/her constitutional rights and obligations, have a clear picture of what to do when it comes to public matters and issues, and also understand what it means to be a true states-man indeed.

Now, a good number of students have dropped out of the University of Ibadan, while some could not even start at all in the first place. All hands will easily point to the undoing of the Student Union President, Bolaji Aweda, right? Correct as it may be, if Bolaji Aweda could have played the stunts he pulled off during the wake and quench of the protest, and seeming to get away with it, it only shows one thing. That the student community as a body is in a seriously urgent need of curing as a matter of emergency. In every class, there are representatives, four classes in a department gives us 4 (four) representatives, plus an Executive Council consisting of an average of 6 members, which is typically more, that makes it a total of 10 students representative for just one department. Faculty of Arts consist of about 13 departments, with each department having 10 student representatives from each department, that will give us 130 student representatives, plus an additional about 10 more representative consisting of the AFAS executive council, that will bring us to a number of 140 student representatives. Now, there are about 17 Faculties at the University of Ibadan, just counting about 13 instead of 17 faculties, that will be 1820 student representatives. Note that, the members of Student Representative Council (SRC) have not been factored in, neither is that of the members of each legislative arm of all the faculties, and some departments that have a functioning legislative arm. Yet, with all this number, students of the University of Ibadan are being treated like refugees, but they get outside and subtly or overtly try to assert an aura of superiority against other graduates. 

A big question keeps resurfacing, which is, to what end is all being learnt that is being taught at the University of Ibadan. For certain fields, a scientific laboratory in the sense of a science-based course is not even needed, but the plethora of leadership platforms available to represent fellow students, serves as labs to carry out values that have been instilled into student. When there is a problem of general ignorance among the people being represented, or led, it obligatory behoves the representative and leaders of such people to inform and educate the people as much as is necessary. There is much a willing and a responsible class representative can do when he/she realises that it is some sort of a leadership position. One of the most absurd of things will be to believe that the Student Union are the, barely handful of students who are being elected to form the Executive Council occupying the Kunle Adepeju building. The Student Union starts from each class, and if there is an end, ends at the Kunle Adepeju building, and not the Kunle Adepeju building being the peak. The earlier these realities can be understood, that the University of Ibadan is a public school, and all policies and rules must be in accordance with the Nigerian constitution, the school cannot decide to victmise and suppress student, and that an “injury to one, is an injury to all”, the better the chance to prevent the eventual death of humanism and Student Unionism at the University of Ibadan.