How ABU Student Union Humiliate A Student, Throws Him Out Of A Room -By Bello Orwell

The Students’ Representative Council, which serves as the student union government of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria has through its Secretary General, Khalifa Andaza thrown out students out of the university’s Sassakawa Hostel. The Sassakawa is a hostel that is allocated to post-graduate students and on rare occasions, a few undergraduates. Khalifa Andaza, an undergraduate student of the Faculty of Pharmacy reportedly claimed that the room in question has been allocated to him by the university’s Students’ Affairs Division.

Owing to the fact that post-graduate students are to continue studies through virtual platforms, the post-graduate hostels are likely to remain vacant. However, before the shutdown of universities last year occasioned by the Covid-19 pandemic, post-graduate students were in session. It was in view of this that one of the room occupants gave his friend, who is an undergraduate student, access to the room to stay briefly to sit for the upcoming first batch of student examination. According to the undergraduate student who spoke to this writer,

“I was reading for a test in the library this afternoon when they called to give me one hour to pack my things out of the room. They also threatened to throw out my things if I failed to pack within the time. I am stranded at the moment, however, I am reaching out to some of my friends to see whether I can find a place to stay up to the end of the upcoming examination which begins in the by first week of this March.”

All attempts to speak to the SRC president or Secretary failed as both of them were not picking calls put to them by this writer. However, this conflicting scenario presents the arrogant nature of student union organizations on Nigerian university campuses today. A student interviewed, who pleaded for anonymity placed this in a better perspective, “The student union leaders are supposed to fight for and protect the interests and welfare of their members, unfortunately they don’t do that anymore. They only fight for their pockets, to misappropriate funds that have been contributed by students. Their major preoccupation is to romance with university management and dirty politicians in town. So unfortunate, so sad.”

Another student has this to say, “Are you talking about this bunch of clowns? It is very shameful of the SRC or anyone to humiliate students that they should protect. God forbid!”

This is the beginning of an Orwellian society, a society were leaders subject their supposed followers to cruelty and humiliation. And this is where Nigerian leaders emerge, a crop of leaders without a sense of empathy or sympathy.

-Bello Owell writes from ABU Zaria