For some times now, student unionism has been facing what we can call a Law of finishing return, losing its Strength, power, capacities and Capabilities. Student unionists are one of the most respected individuals in the society ages ago. When a student body speaks, intimidators and oppressors shake and stumble. The Government dances to their tune, the masses believe that student unionists are one of the Indispensable agents in the society and as such they should be accorded some respect. They are catalysts of change but what has changed over the Years? When the echo of the slogan "GREATEST NIGERIAN STUDENTS" rings into people's hearing, everyone felt the spirit but over the time what has changed? The Word has lost its content and value.
Once upon a time in the story of Nigerian students, a students union presidents activities arent restricted to the shores of his School alone. Its a period when student union leaders are consulted even before Government makes Policies. Individuals like the late Segun Okeowo who led the Alli Must Go struggle remains a martyr. The Alli Must Go Exercise was Thirty-five years ago, Okeowo, as president of the National Union of Nigerian Students (NUNS), had led university students across Nigeria to a protest against what was considered an arbitrary hike in students meal ticket by the military administration.
After several meetings and consultations with the Federal Government as represented then by the Federal Commissioner for Education, Col. Ahmadu Ali, without achieving a reversal, NUNS called out students on a national protest which was to be tagged Ali Must Go. The mass protests spiraled beyond the campuses, spilling into towns and causing apprehension and fear among the populace. The military administration led by General Olusegun Obasanjo was rash and impulsive in its response, calling out armed police detachments to quell the riots and shut down campuses thereafter.
When the dust settled, many students had been killed while many others sustained injuries. Though the increment was never reversed, Ali Must Go protest was a watershed in the annals of students uprising in Nigeria as it conveyed to the military government of the day, the capacity for students to mobilize across the country and carry out effective agitation. The protest was also significant for it helped to further mainstream student unionism as a national discourse, just as it showcased the power of students to agitate and force change.
Once upon a time in the story of student unionism was when student union leaders dont see student unionism as an avenue to get to the peak of their careers. They see it as service to humanity and students populace. We have heard about comrades given suspension as a result of challenging the power that be in order to protect and preserve Student Interest. Individuals like Segun Okeowo, Omoyele Sowore, Ropo Ewenla, George Iwilade(Afrika), Pa Soetan Adeola and a host of others have at one time shown that there is definitely great about the word Greatest Nigerian Students.
While individuals like this still exist in Student Unionism, they are meager and small. Today's students unionism is embedded with Individuals who assume that once they get hold of the mantle of leadership they are to syphon the students fund. In recent times we have had the issue of students union president syphoning the students’ fund. It becomes even more appalling whenever protest is organized in order to fight for the welfare of the student populace and some individuals go on to exchange brown envelope in order to sabotage students’ efforts. One will wonder the extent this shameful act has dealt a blow on students unionism.
The students power that we once shouted and proclaimed has turned into a toothless bulldog that can bark but cannot bite. Whenever protests are led and organized sometimes ago, the oppressors start fidgeting and running away, but today, students protests have turned to a laughing stock. One has to wonder how it lost its value all of a sudden. When government receives students as visitors, it is the truth that the officials will start panicking. But today protests are being ridiculed and even being sabotaged by some members of the students movement. One can then assert that is there nothing great again in Greatest Nigerian Students.
The general outlook of students unionism has changed. It can be deduced that the sad condition of mainstream politics has found its way into the roots of students unionism. The pillars of truth, justice, and fairness that upheld students unionism are now being weakened by several wrong steps taken by some selfish self-proclaimed union leaders. It is the case that the objectives of students unionism have shifted from assuring students interests to a more personalized ambition, leading to this delivery of brown envelopes and political appointments.
There has been an unfortunate influx of wrong ideologies into the system. Ideologies conceived with personalized view and thirst for self-satisfaction. Whatever was great about the Nigerian students has been flushed down the drain by over-ambitious student leaders. One can only hope that the wrong elements are overpowered by the good minds so the nomenclature of being great can return to the high level it was in times past. But at the present moment, the sanctity of unionism is being painted with different colors, a rather disdainful development in the 21st century.
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