Between 'Siddon Look' and Affirmative Action

There is a particular short drama regularly featured on Royal Fm, Ilorin, titled, 'No siddon look.' The drama revolves around people's reaction to situations affecting them and how they respond to same. At the end of the drama, listeners are told not to 'siddon look' i.e. don't just sit down and watch that as things affecting you (mostly negative) occur without you doing something to make it better.

Judging by familiar occurrences in the University of Ilorin, this message couldn't be more apt for the various stakeholders of the university, especially the students who seem indifferent to the welfare package being offered. This complacency has led to progressive deterioration in the learning conditions of students, and a review of prevailing events suggest an urgent need for a positive change.

Students of the University are reassured on a daily basis of how the determination to ensuring a conducive environment for study, and the comfortability of all and sundry is unshakeable.  It's testification can be perceived from angles of the campus, though with more sniffs than required. But then, the students voice speak a language far off this kind.

Many a student now attend classes without a proper morning shower as hostel supply of water has become a timely thing. Water is supplied at certain irregular times of the day, leaving lots of students stranded and with no choice other than to "rub and shine" before heading for morning lectures. Although this new ritual is one that occurs once in three days for students with 08:00am lectures, and once in about four to five days for students who attend 10:00am lectures averagely, it has come to become a part if the life the average Unilorin student reside on the university campus lives.

Walkways and tank sides have also become makeshift bathrooms for many as the bathrooms are sometimes too messy to be used. This past week, a staff of one of the blocks at the Abuja female hostel complained bitterly about the mess she was welcomed with in one of the bathrooms on a Wednesday morning. An unknown student had been there the previous night to leave a heap of faeces on the bathroom floor rather than where she was supposed to have done it. This act is on the increase, as most of the toilets are no more hygienic or safe for use due to the fact that there are leakages from the pipes and overflow of water from the latrines available.

Worst still, students complain bitterly amongst themselves but stifle these cries elsewhere around campus for fear of being condemned or referred to the SDC for making derogatory statements against the campus and its facilities. Thus, they lick their wounds quietly and 'siddon look.'

As students react to the inappropriateness by messing up the premises of halls of residence, cleaners also react to the  irritating attitude of the students by leaving bathrooms unwashed for long period of time making things worse for all.

A similar set of events reverberates across the various strata of student welfarism on campus. Nevertheless,  a conducive learning environment is generally observed to be necessary for scholarship, academic excellence, and the overall productivity associated with it. Therefore, it is a primary responsibility of the managements of tertiary institutions to, through relevant units, provide adequate facilities and conductive environment for its staff and students to function optimally.

However, the school seems to be giving cosmetic attention to this responsibility. This situation is due largely to poor oversight activities of the Nigerian Universities Commission (NUC), the ineffectiveness of the Student Union's advocacy—partly due to complacency on the part of the students. Meanwhile, the Student Affairs of the university which has the primary objective of "overseeing the day-to-day activities and needs of students..." needs to reassess its attitude to student welfarism.

There is need for the students to advocate for improvement in matters affecting them. Students should not just not 'siddon look' and continue dying in silence. Silence is complicit when you can speak out and bring about a change. The fear of victimization should not overcome the need for a positive advocacy; in this case, for a better learning condition.

Also, the Student Union should expedite more efforts towards ensuring that management sit up to its responsibilities and address them accordingly. Furthermore, the Nigerian Universities Commission (NUC) should put its mandate of "ensuring continuous improvement in student welfare programs in the universities and identifying areas that require intervention" to perspective.

Overall, there should be a proactive approach to solving the problem of student welfarism on campus. Playing the ostrich won't solve it, neither will the 'siddon look' approach being adopted by students. To all relevant stakeholders, the message is 'no siddon look.'Act, but do so within the confines of the law. Unilorin students are truly Better by Far varsity; their ways and conduct are civil and intellectual in nature.

This is an editorial of the Union of Campus Journalists (UCJ), University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Kwara state.