Homosexuality in Africa

Among the most discussed issues in the world today such as Syria, Terrorism, Israel-Palestine conflict spying etc., we also find homosexuality gaining prominence and catching the world’s attention. Let’s take a little bite from history. One of the earliest manifestations of homosexuality in recorded history can be found in the bible where it was allegedly practiced in the twin cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. This act biblically formed one of the numerous reasons why God destroyed the cities with fire. The veracity of that claim is still a source of debate in many quarters, but it has been the basis of many religious injunctions to outlaw homosexuality especially in Judaism, Christianity and Islam. On another hand, fillers also have it that gay practice had a field day in ancient Roman and Greek cities where the governments were quite liberal about matters of social life. The question I would like the current generation to answer is; how did societies that practiced homosexuality fare better or worse than those which did not? Or, what results were generated from the conservativeness of those who did not permit certain things in their own cultures. Obviously, the Greeks and Romans who would be tagged as perverted were among the earliest conquerors and bearers of culture. It is a miracle why and how God did not destroy them.
In modern times, homosexuality began to raise its head publicly most especially in Western Europe and the United States of America where it was initially and for a long time met with hostility. Nazi Germany was particularly notorious for having gay men being victims of the holocaust in their thousands. Apart from handing death and near-death punishments to active homosexuals, their advocates were not often spared the same fate.
As time went by and with persistent pressure, the inhumane persecutions receded but the discrimination continued. In the U.S.A for instance, gay men and lesbians were not allowed to serve in the armed forces, work discrimination was on the high and homosexuals were forced to keep matters of their sexuality as secretly as possible. But in recent years, the tables have turned and homosexuals have been properly integrated into western societies.
Here in Africa, the game takes a different twist. Many Africans believe that homosexuality is an alien culture to the continent, therefore, it should not be accepted. From another view, a lot of Africans still hold on to religious maxims. Hence the enacting of anti-gay laws.
If conservative cultures and religions are the way forward for the development of a society, those have certainly not worked for Africa taking into consideration the fact that we are highly cultural and religious, yet, the poorest continent in the world. Since the colonial era, Africa has become a melting pot of several cultures. Many indigenous African cultures have been relegated to the background due to interactions with other cultures. Our languages are fast fading away, our religions are becoming crimes, our medicine is seen as barbaric etc. What a culture shock! When important aspects of our lives were taken away almost without a blink on our part, what then is the fuss over homosexuality? We have taken in many “foreign” cultures, some of which are good and some very injurious to the African society, so why the out-lash against gays and lesbians who are merely expressing themselves?
Importantly, a lot of African countries operate a quasi-liberal law which guarantees the freedom of expression for individuals. I am inclined to believe strongly that a right to expression includes the right to sexuality and an attack on this choice of sexuality amounts to a direct attack on people’s fundamental human rights.
With the rate of corruption and human right abuses dominating the political arena of African, bringing a war against homosexuality to the fore-front at this period is simply diversionary. What we should be concerned about right is how we can bring together our differences, fashion out our goals, fight corruption, feed the numerous hungry people, cure diseases and solidify our unity, instead of chasing a shadow called homosexuality. But as it is, laws have been passed, fights are on for survival and the end is far from near.        

As NUGA Winds Up

After the long period of expectant waiting, the Nigerian University Games hosted by the Obafemi Awolowo University kicked-off amidst a lot of fanfare. The series of events which saw a stiff competition among over fifty Nigerian universities brought in its trail a lot of lessons for those conscious enough to observe them.
In the first place, the sporting activities had a goal of discovering and exhibiting various talents in Nigerian youths with which they are expected to deploy in the movement for national development. Again, I believe it is a means of bringing youths together from different parts of the country so they can exchange ideas, cultures and many more in order to further integrate the citizenry. A fundamental question to be asked at this point is; how much of the above has been achieved?
To answer this question, one has just to take a critical look at the 24th NUGA events. For the purpose of talent exhibition, seeing the numerous feat achieved by participating sports men and women, and the fierce competitions engaged in in order to claim their victories, one can confidently say that lots of talents have been discovered and displayed. Without doubt, a lot of them measure up to international standards. Now, if they have enough mental magnitude and character to convert their winning attitude into a veritable tool for national development is a disturbing question in the entire story. Although diverse people had a rendezvous but were the proper ideas and cultures exchanged? Far above bringing people together to participate in events and have a paper-work plan of things to be achieved, it takes a visionary leadership to galvanize the abilities of its people and gear them towards a nationally profitable movement. A sincere leadership is needed to bring people together across board and get them to exchange the best of their ideas. The worrisome question now is; to what degree does the current leadership in Nigeria possess such qualities (vision and sincerity)? Will the 24th NUGA not be forgotten as hurriedly as it came? What can be done in order to prevent this event from being just another carnival?
To the economic side of it, especially with respect to opportunistic traders who came from far and wide to take advantage of a concentrated population. Quite prudently, the management of Obafemi Awolowo University thought it necessary to set aside a part of the university environment to build a make-shift “NUGA market” as they probably foresaw the surge in trading activities. But quite unfortunately, the first ditch this brilliant move would fall into was the exorbitant fee of seventeen thousand naira that was charged per stall just for a period of two weeks! There has been wide-spread complaint among traders and non-traders as commodity prices were on the high to the detriment of consumers. Worse still, traders complained bitterly about the location of the market because it was in obscurity. They claimed that there was no ordinary inclination for people to walk to that area simply to patronize them as it was not located in the path of activities. For this reason, traders found a justification for themselves to turn every walk-way in and around the sports centre into a busy and bubbling market. They all displayed their wares freely on the roads like it was a lawless no-man’s land. Shockingly, the university management did not take any visible action against this “traders’ match” probably because they feel guilty. This then raises a moral question; should we begin to act lawlessly because we feel aggrieved? In fact, why did the university management charge such fees in the first place?
The market situation and many other loop-holes in the organization of the 24th NUGA were blamed on the poor preparedness on the side of the university administration. Now, how have they and we learned to do things better and faster as individuals and a nation?    

As NUGA Winds Up

After the long period of expectant waiting, the Nigerian University Games hosted by the Obafemi Awolowo University kicked-off amidst a lot of fanfare. The series of events which saw a stiff competition among over fifty Nigerian universities brought in its trail a lot of lessons for those conscious enough to observe them.
In the first place, the sporting activities had a goal of discovering and exhibiting various talents in Nigerian youths with which they are expected to deploy in the movement for national development. Again, I believe it is a means of bringing youths together from different parts of the country so they can exchange ideas, cultures and many more in order to further integrate the citizenry. A fundamental question to be asked at this point is; how much of the above has been achieved?
To answer this question, one has just to take a critical look at the 24th NUGA events. For the purpose of talent exhibition, seeing the numerous feat achieved by participating sports men and women, and the fierce competitions engaged in in order to claim their victories, one can confidently say that lots of talents have been discovered and displayed. Without doubt, a lot of them measure up to international standards. Now, if they have enough mental magnitude and character to convert their winning attitude into a veritable tool for national development is a disturbing question in the entire story. Although diverse people had a rendezvous but were the proper ideas and cultures exchanged? Far above bringing people together to participate in events and have a paper-work plan of things to be achieved, it takes a visionary leadership to galvanize the abilities of its people and gear them towards a nationally profitable movement. A sincere leadership is needed to bring people together across board and get them to exchange the best of their ideas. The worrisome question now is; to what degree does the current leadership in Nigeria possess such qualities (vision and sincerity)? Will the 24th NUGA not be forgotten as hurriedly as it came? What can be done in order to prevent this event from being just another carnival?
To the economic side of it, especially with respect to opportunistic traders who came from far and wide to take advantage of a concentrated population. Quite prudently, the management of Obafemi Awolowo University thought it necessary to set aside a part of the university environment to build a make-shift “NUGA market” as they probably foresaw the surge in trading activities. But quite unfortunately, the first ditch this brilliant move would fall into was the exorbitant fee of seventeen thousand naira that was charged per stall just for a period of two weeks! There has been wide-spread complaint among traders and non-traders as commodity prices were on the high to the detriment of consumers. Worse still, traders complained bitterly about the location of the market because it was in obscurity. They claimed that there was no ordinary inclination for people to walk to that area simply to patronize them as it was not located in the path of activities. For this reason, traders found a justification for themselves to turn every walk-way in and around the sports centre into a busy and bubbling market. They all displayed their wares freely on the roads like it was a lawless no-man’s land. Shockingly, the university management did not take any visible action against this “traders’ match” probably because they feel guilty. This then raises a moral question; should we begin to act lawlessly because we feel aggrieved? In fact, why did the university management charge such fees in the first place?
The market situation and many other loop-holes in the organization of the 24th NUGA were blamed on the poor preparedness on the side of the university administration. Now, how have they and we learned to do things better and faster as individuals and a nation?    

NUGA: For Football Fixture

Visit acjoau.wordpress.com/nuga-football-fixture

NUGA: LET THE GAMES BEGIN

After all said and done, after all hustle and bustle, the D-day finally came and the ball was set rolling. The day of the opening ceremony of the Nigerian University Games, NUGA, hosted by the prestigious Obafemi Awolowo University, O.A.U, was first significantly marked by the august visit of the vice chancellor of Olabisi Onabanjo University, Prof. Saburi Adesanya, to his school’s team.
At 12:00pm, the event earnestly began by the ceremonious entry the host university’s vice chancellor, Prof. Idowu Bamitale Omole alongside the deputy governor of Osun state, Mrs. Grace Titi-Laoye Tomori amid very tight security. Without much ado, it was time for the vice chancellor of O.A.U to give his welcome/open address but unfortunately, in the characteristic and epileptic nature of the Nigerian power sector, his speech was interrupted and delayed for a long time as a result of power outage. The deputy governor of Osun state took the podium after him and after which the duo took their leave from the arena.
When it was time for participating universities to officially make their presence known to the public, the march past/parade was conducted in a style like no other. For being the home and the first university to host NUGA, the University of Ibadan was the first school to march in the parade then all other universities moved in an alphabetical order except the host university which came at the very last. The entire march was so glamorous that the camp of spectators was absolutely exhilarated as they accompanied each university with commensurate praise songs.
The first sporting encounter of NUGA-OAU 2014 was a football match between Obafemi Awolowo University and the Ekiti State University, Ado-Ekiti, scheduled for 4:00pm, immediately after the opening ceremony. At half time, the match ended in a 2-0 score in favour of the host university. At the end of the full time however, there was a 4-1 score which was also in favour of the host university. This was a boost to the morale of members of Obafemi Awolowo University community as they became more confident in their various teams, whereas, the victory struck more terror in the camp of other university teams.            

NUGA: OAU SPORTS MEN AND WOMEN PROTEST, ACJ NOT TAKEN SERIOUSLY

St. Valentine’s day and NUGA opening ceremony was due for a day later. Maybe for the peculiarity of the day or as a matter of pure coincidence, the National Agency for the Control of Aids, NACA, conducted a free HIV/AIDS test and distributed condoms to members and guests of the university community (young and old).
There was also a NUGA Forum/Conference held with the title: DEVELOPING UNIVERSITY SPORTS; THE ROAD MAP TO SPORT ECELLENCE IN NIGERIA and the keynote speaker was Prof. Taoheed Adedoja, a former minister of sports. The unpleasant part of this conference however was that the one thousand capacity hall which was the set venue for the event was slightly above empty like nobody was interested in or affected by the prospective outcome of the conference as NUGA delegates were barely aware of it.
Another not very interesting event occurred against the interests of the Association of Campus Journalists, ACJ, Obafemi Awolowo University, which is the umbrella body of all press outfits in the school and a major stake-holder in information dissemination. The trouble occurred when members of the body were supposed to be accredited for their participation in the games. A member of the local organizing committee (LOC) who was in charge of the accreditation in all his might treated the team like they were there to ask for special favours as he initially denied them the number of slots they required. But after a long and persistent persuasion, he heeded their request. This incidence goes a long way to show the rate at which the university management does not value the impact made by the body in the lives of students and their disdain for campus journalism and information in general.
The most disturbing highlight of the day and of NUGA so far occurred later in the afternoon when sports men and women of the host university, O.A.U, took to the major roads in protestation and disturbed traffic in the process. They protested and complained very bitterly against the lack of welfare which they were currently suffering as a result of non-payment of allowances for the period of their training and preparation for the games. A sports man said: “we have been training all this while on our empty bellies. No food, no money, nothing! And they expect us to win the games, how?” In addition, they also complained that necessary tools and kits have not been made available to them as the eve of the opening ceremony. It later took the intervention of members of the university sports council to take the sports men and women off the roads with promises that their demands would be met. The success of team O.A.U or indeed any other team in any completion whatsoever is largely dependent on the welfare of its members in all ramifications.
       

NUGA: THE COUNT-DOWN CONTINUES

It was another morning again on the 13th February, 2014 when students of Obafemi Awolowo University, OAU, and delegates to the 24th Nigerian University Games, NUGA, woke up to another day of waiting for the games to commence earnestly. As part of preparations and to beat off the boredom, all teams went out early in the morning to keep their adrenaline high and in the process, people from a wide range of places mingled with each other and got along quite well. The possibility of emotional matters cannot however be ruled out as some young men particularly had their eyes on ladies.
On the economic plain, many businesses had sprung up at almost every corner of the university campus especially around the sports complex while they were generously patronized. If this does not defeat the purpose of the university management’s decision to set up a make-shift market for the period of the games is another matter entirely. In the make-shift market itself, traders could be seen moving into their allotted stalls and putting up goods and wares such as food, drinks, clothing, furniture etc. with their patronization also going on. Meanwhile, notices were already put up at the market first, with respect to the modules operandi of traders in the market and secondly, for the prospective sale of the materials used to construct the market stalls immediately after NUGA. (Find copies of both notices attached to this piece).
Hard ware traders were not in any way the only business people present at the event. In just one glance, one could see a lot of banners advertising numerous businesses such as banks, telecommunication companies and beverage producers. Some of them threw the environment agog with blast of music from their tents as they gave incentives to attract the student population to their services.
Away from the hustle and bustle of the sport arena to the residence. Some delegates in the halls of residence were commendable abided by the rules of the host university community while some others simply walked in the opposite direction. From about the second night of arrival, there had been cases of people smoking within the halls of residence, an act strictly forbidden. As a quick response, members of the defunct students’ union security committee embarked on a tour to sensitize and stopped the guests from such and similar acts as it would no longer be tolerated. Worse still is the frank decision of some delegates--from University of Nigeria, Nsukka and Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye for instance—to continue to have their bath, not in the bath rooms provided but outside, in the full glare of the public. This became a source of embarrassment to many students of OAU as they have not ceased to complain.
The opening ceremony for the games have been slated for Saturday 15th February, fingers are crossed and all available hands are on deck to make the day and indeed the entire event a memorable one.
For instant updates, follow @AbiodunOmonijo on twitter.    

NUGA: Arrivals, Fun, Fun, Fun.

The 12th of February 2014 started like every other day at the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife except that there was something special in the air, Nigerian University Games, NUGA. Taking a trip to the sports complex of the school as early as 7:00am, one would find several members of TeamOAU carrying out their daily rigorous routines in preparation for the games. Footballers took the peach, athletes ran their races, fighters aimed their kicks and every other one to his/her own kind.
In the midst of all this were also present various security and para-security teams in their different shades and colours. From the Nigerian police force to the Federal Road Safety Commission, Nigerian Security and Civil Defense Corps, and Man “O” War were all available to light up the environment.
As time went on, the show of the day began as sporting delegates from various universities across the country began to make their marks on the land-scape of Ile-Ife and ultimately, OAU. Among the first arrivals of the day were delegates from Benson Idahosa University, Olabisi Onabanjo University, Federal University of Technology, Akure, Kwara State University and Niger Delta University University. At the university sports complex where every delegate team arrived before they were allocated to places of rest, the home students threw the environmental mood into an ecstatic jesting with the popular tradition called ‘aro’. All visiting students were made to feel at home among fellow students, dispelling every fear of intimidation whatsoever. An additional spice was given to the round of events with the sudden entry of the university vice chancellor, Prof Bamitale Omole, into the arena. He was met by a crowd of his jubilant students who hailed and cheered him almost to a point of embarrassment.
After the student-oriented welcome displays and delegates had been allocated places for accommodation, then began another phase of the night. It appeared that management of the host university was not fully prepared for the large turn-out of guests which they were receiving as there later generated confusion with respect to where and how certain delegates would be lodged. As at the time of writing this report, lots of delegates are sleeping at the Adekunle Fajuyi (Faj) hall café on the pretext that they arrived late into the night and that their accommodation issues would be resolved in the morning.
It is however noteworthy to state the following: 1. That lots of mattresses were purchased by the university management for the comfort of delegates (some of which are been used at Faj café). 2. That there was a slight drama early in the afternoon when delegates from Benson Idahosa Universuty tried to gain access into Obafemi Awolowo (Awo) hall. The delegation was repelled by “Awoites” as a result of the disagreement they had with the university management the previous day over a failed attempt at forceful eviction from the hall of residence with the aid of armed mobile policemen.
For live updates, follow @AbiodunOmonijo on twitter.     

SPEND THAT TIME ...

Many are times when we jump in estatic frenzy at the approach of the weekend and at the knowledge of a coming publis holiday, especially when there had been a barrage of works antecedent to the present period. At the end, when we take a random sampling of people to ask them what tangibility they had achieved with the “free” time they had celebrated so much, I bet we shall be disappointingly statued at the result we shall obtain. Then I wonder, what exact business get in the way of people that hence makes them seem so busy, yet, achieving nothing?
Truely, we are in a generation of  very many advancements and also, too many distractions. The society, almost more than any other era, needs us for her liberation in so many ways, yet, the means and excuse to disobey that clarion call is embeded in the society herself. According to the Stoics, “he that will be a master of others, first, should be master of himself”, and for  me, being a master of one’s self entails being a master of one’s time. In effect, if one’s managerial skills does not emanate from his/her mastery of time, then their activities are inevitably conducted by misguided impulse, a condition which amounts to no good.
Now, as the days go by, it is exigent that everyone is proactive in his/her affairs and the following factors may be useful for an effective time management:
Envision all you wish to do before hand
Make a to-do list (if you cannot commit all your plans to heart)
Avoid unnecessary company and discussion
Endeavor to sleep less
Cultivate the habit of work
Spend that time wisely.

NUGA and BUSINESS

As preparations for the 24th Nigerian University Games, NUGA, went and still goes on in the sporting and infrastructural phases, all was not limited to the two as participants would be in need of commodities such as food, drinks, wears and more things at one point or the other. As expected, many traders would look forward to benefiting  from this rear opportunity.

For the purpose of NUGA, the management of Obafemi Awolowo University has set aside an area of land at the sporting area as makeshift market for interested business men and women to carry out their various activities. But this move, particularly the choice location did not go down well with the registered traders. Their complaint was that the location was too far from the residence of the sport participants.  Speaking with me was a man who identified himself simply as Okani. He said, "I came from Lagos and I've been doing business at several sporting events such as the last NUGA at UNIBEN, National Sport Festival in Lagos, West African University Games, WAUG, at Ilorin and several others. The problem with this place and why we are not happy is because this location is too far from where the sports men and women reside. They will only come to this area during the day when activities are on, but after activities, there will be no one here, so how do we make sales? In other places where we go to, we are usually allotted spaces close to the residential areas." Speaking with a couple of women too who identified themselves as Evelyn Uzo and Ada and claimed to have come from Anambra state, they said that though the trading space is large but obscurity was a major factor.

The opening ceremony for NUGA has been scheduled for Friday 14th, all business preparation are in top gear and some are already feeling disadvantaged even before the beginning. The ingenuity of traders to overcome such challenges is actually worth looking out for. How other businesses located in the halls of residence accommodation the participants plan to utilize the opportunity is a special point of interest. Arms are folded as we watch other dynamics in the relationship between NUGA and its business opportunists.

Follow on twitter @AbiodunOmonijo

Forces Storm OAU Ahead of NUGA, Protests Among Students and Guests Arrive

Ahead of the 24th Nigerian University Games, NUGA, which is scheduled to be held at the Obafemi  Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, men and women of some security outfits have been deployed to the school in order to beef up security which would be much needed during the sporting events.

In the early hours of Tuesday 11th February, 2014, a large contingent of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps were already on ground, largely at the sport arena with a few parading the university campus.
Things however took a dramatic turn when hundreds of  men of the Nigerian Police Force (heavily armed mobile policemen inclusive) stormed the school and headed straight for the Obafemi Awolowo(popularly called AWO ) hall on the order of the university management to forcefully eject students from the halls of residence. Information has it that Awo was chosen as the first point of operation because of the particularly radical nature of students resident there. But the story did not go down in a negative for the "Awoites " as they did blocked every entrance into the hall and refused entry to any policeman or university staff who accompanied them. The drama went on "Awoites " singing the school's anthem and other anti-oppression songs.
Their argument and reason for their display however was not an unwillingness to leave the hall at that time or a refusal for it to be used as a lodging for NUGA participants, but that it was wrong for the university management to threaten them out of the hall with harmed men and they bent on showing that such moves were never going to work.
The school's chief security officer, Dr Paul Ogidi and other university staff there present later decided out of frustration to leave the hall with their police escorts and go to other halls instead.

Their next point of call was the Adekunle Fajuyi (popularly called FAJ ) hall. There, members of the school's security committee addressed the hall warden while the large force of policemen waited outside. The security committee members told the hall warden that they were there to let the police takeover the hall of residence for the period of NUGA so they can provide adequate security for the participants. The hall warden and other hall staff nevertheless argued that it would not be necessary to bring in policemen to the hall and all needed spaces for the expected athletes were ready. On that note, the military occupation of Faj hall was quietly repelled.

Later at night, the previously cut power supply was restored and the sport contingent for the University of Nigeria, Nsukka arrived, being the first visiting team at OAU NUGA 2014.

24th NUGA Games, OAU and Militant Students

For the simple and quite uninformed, NUGA is the acronym for Nigerian University Games. A bi-annual sporting event among Nigerian universities which aim, I think, apart from being a noise-making jamboree and student gyrations, should be a mean of bringing Nigerian university youths together for a particular education and societal integration through sports. This event also should be one that would build in the youths of the university communities a spirit of sportsmanship on an intellectual level in other to be able to translate such into an active nation-building tool. Furthermore, a population upsurge in a host community will be an economic advantage for local business owners as students alone cannot benefit from such in isolation. This great sporting activity however had its first outing at the Premier University of Ibadan in 1966.
And here we are. The Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife had won the hosting right of the 24th NUGA games with a lot of excitement, expectations and sheer pride on the part of several students for probably no other reason than the fact that a once in a student life event would be held in theirs and they would tell tales of same to even generations yet unborn. The hopes of a set of students were however dashed as they graduated before the D-day due to the continuous postponement of NUGA by the university management as a result of unpreparedness and the non-availability of infrastructures. Times and times again, rumors were echoed of the approach of the long awaited event only for the larger community to be disappointed again. The five months long show-down between the academic staff of Nigerian universities and the federal government did not also help matters,—oops!—maybe it did. At a point, the games were slated for October 2013, right in the middle of the FG-ASUU tussle. The university management led by Professor Idowu Bamitale Omole could probably have been forced to hold the event then, but the obvious was that the needed infrastructures were not just available and an embarrassment would have been inevitable. To OAU management, the ASUU strike was nothing short of a saving grace and another pretext to postpone the long awaited NUGA. For some students who left their various comfort zones in that period and travelled to Ile-Ife just to witness the sports, there was nothing more annoying than that particular disappointment. But for the terminal students who should have graduated in the strike period, they had a hope of seeing the games—if they are very interested is another question entirely.
The strike eventually ended, school magically resumed and February 12th-22nd, 2014 was chosen for the final D-day. As part of preparations, the university management in all “wisdom and prudence” ordered all students resident on campus to evacuate themselves and valuable belongings latest by 12pm on the 7th February so as to give the residence a facelift for the comfort of expected guests.
This move, as may be expected, generated a lot of heat among students with some issuing a blatant refusal to comply. Their arguments:
°NUGA is an event held for the benefit of students and not the university management or staff, therefore, the purpose would have been defeated if students were not on campus to partake of the benefits.
°When a sporting event is held, the home team needs the support of their fan base. If OAU students are not available to sheer their own, who will?
°How on earth can we hear that a landlord asked his tenants to leave the house, while their tenancy hasn’t expired, because he wants to throw a party and would be expecting some guests? OAU students paid accommodation fee for a session, so, they believe, it would be an injustice to send them out while the session still runs. There are even rumors that the university management had received allocations for the hotel lodging of expected participants.
Some students on their own part, even from the 6th had begun to move their properties out of the halls of residence to friends’ place in the staff quarters and Ile-Ife township so much that by evening on the 7th, the mass exodus was very visible. As a means for the management to show its seriousness, on the 8th, there was power cut in all student rooms. Then the drama began.
It was a time when some students had to show their tenacity and dare-devil traits as a good number of students still stayed behind despite the “get out” order, power cut, and even rumors of the deployment of mobile policemen to forcefully eject students. In Obafemi Awolowo hall popularly called ‘Awo’ for instance, lots of students can be seen going about their their daily life and spicing it with the traditional “aro”. In fact, on the 10th, a stray antelope met its waterloo when it journeyed into the hall. In Adekunle Fajuyi hall popularly called ‘Faj’, the story remains pretty the same, but no antelope. However, it was a different story in the female halls as the evacuation order had more effct. The relatively gentle female nature may be an explanation for that.
For students who stayed behind, certain spots in their halls of resident became the new centre of activities. In Faj for instance, the café, upper buttery/television room, and “photocopy area” as popularly called, all became what can be called room annexes as students could be seen charging their devices, ironing their cloths, playing musical instruments and even cooking (since electricity is the conventional medium of cooking in OAU). The situation could be nevertheless stressful as some students are forced to go far into the academic area to get the most basic of their works done with electricity. The argument here is that the university management has been insensitive to the plight of students by asking them, presumably, to go home for a period of two weeks not long after resuming after six months. What about students who came from a long distance? They asked. What about the expenses to be incurred? They asked again.
Some renovations are on the way, infrastructure projects are being finalized, NUGA approaches faster, the resilience and resolution of OAU students are about to undergo more test. Management or students, who will bend or break? Only time can presently tell. 
   

The Firebrand Cock (1)

Just as the folk-lore, when the cat was the most powerful and feared animal in the wild, he went about gallantly and devoured any other animal he wished and at will. On a fateful day, the valiant cat, for the first time came in contact with the cock, and on spotting the red comb on the cock’s head, thinking the bird carried fire on his head, the once fearless cat fled for his dear life. Curiously, foolishly and unfortunately, the cock sought to build confidence in and make friends with the cat since there was nothing, the cock thought, scary about his own personality. On a courtesy visit to the cat, the over-trusting cock made and convinced the cat to touch the comb of his head to be assured that it was not fire. After the cat realized that the cock’s comb was no fire but very succulent flesh, he breathes a sigh of relief, “Wow! This cock has come to satisfy my appetite at last”, he thought. Once his cock-friend glanced away, the cat bounced on him and the day’s feast began.
The same analogy is directly typical of what happened between Africa and the colonizing Europeans. Africa before the advent of Europeans was developing in her own way along with other parts of the world technologically, politically, philosophically and otherwise. Africa was a self-sufficient continent in which all she needed for her development were available.
Europe on the other hand, since the middle of the 17th century had being going through various political economic revolutions and as a result, needed expansion. Portugal, because of her small size and very little influence in Europe, began the expeditions and was the first European nation to have contact with Atlantic Africa. Seeing the new opportunities, other Europeans moved in their large numbers to Africa for economic opportunities. They needed slaves on their farms, raw materials for their factories and market for their over-produced goods. In other to have an economic footing in Africa, the Europeans also realized that they needed the political subjugation of Africa first. So, behind their economic alliance was political subjection.
In the accommodating nature of Africans, they were all too welcoming of their new guests who came under the guise of transacting business. As an important tool, religion also played a decisive role in softening the ground and the heart of Africans to submit to the imperialist government when it was finally established. Nevertheless, the Europeans did not approach every part of Africa with trade and cordiality. Some Africans actually proved to be cocks with real fire on their head, but unfortunately they succumbed to the fire-power of the Europeans.
These events do not however mean that Africans were or are inferior to the might of Europeans, rather, it was just the case that while the latter was destructively deceptive, the former was too friendly and less watchful. 

THE CHEATED.THE DELAYED

In the annals of man, the beauty and pride of every nation has been the foundations that each generation lays for its successors and how every succeeding generation increases what was bequeathed onto it by parent generations. As it is said and made to be, the peak of every generation is a stepping stone for the next. This has been the secret behind several centuries of empire-building, scientific breakthroughs, intellectual development, language dynamics and the rest. The result of this steady evolution is that man has continually proven and sustained himself on earth as the most advanced animal and one that is capable and in the process of conquering other planets.
The success or failure of trans-generational communication is responsible for every nation’s present conditions. Where previous generations had taken the responsibility of looking far into the future and put necessary mechanisms in the path of success for the future, and the present generation has equally worked in it in consciousness, their overwhelming societal success is not farfetched. In the case of Africa however, in fact, Nigeria, where the story is saddest, the first generation of leaders-preindependence- had great visions of building an indomitable nation where people could realize their good dreams no matter their background or creed under a reliable leadership that is people oriented. Unfortunately, the reverse has continued to be the case and the country has practical jumped from frying pan to fire. Please, let no one blame this on the protracted military rule because in the first place, the success or failure of a government does not depend so much on its mode as on the personalities carrying out the functions of that government. A visionary military government would perform wonders and a visionless civil or democratic government would equally perform wonders, but in the negative. The question is, if those military personnel were civilian leaders, would they have performed better? After all, we have had “democratic” governments since 1999, what has changed much? Nothing much.
The sad part of these lapses is that the common man and especially the youths that are in need of these developments to carry on the evolution are at the receiving end.
However, the whole blame of political failure cannot be hipped at the doorstep of active political leaders but also on people who benefitted from the wealth of good times and who stood aside when things were deteriorating. It is no news that our immediate parent generation in Nigeria always bore us with the stories of how they enjoyed the dividends leadership and depth of their education due to availability of all they needed. But my question to them is; what did they do while things were falling apart? The responsibility of failure or success must be shared across board.
African youths not bequeathed today with a foundation to build their future but a responsibility to repair the past evils, make the present comfortable and lay a foundation for the future. We must not relent in this task, or the future will be far worse. We have been cheated by our forerunners, we have been delayed by incessant strikes in the process of our education, we have been maligned by nefarious administrators and the silence of our parents has not helped matters. Failure is not an option any more.

 

THE NATURE OF AFRICAN PHILOSOPHY

Philosophy is such a discipline that has no universally accepted form of definition and it is approached in many different ways. This was probably why Aristotle said that “philosophy began in wonder”, for an individual like Karl Marx, he said “philosophy is the unity of theory and practice”, whereas, for J. I. Omoregbe, “to philosophize is to reflect on human experiences in search of answers to some fundamental questions”, and therefore, “philosophy is essentially a reflective activity”. However, philosophy and its subject-matters are universal issues that are applicable everywhere irrespective of race or creed, but this does not mean that all subject-matters of philosophy are addressed by all philosophers at all places. For instance, western philosophers treat the issues of Metaphysics and wisdom in general, while oriental philosophy has its main-stay in Aesthetics and Arab philosophy concern itself majorly with religion and the nature cum composition of man. Nevertheless, there are specific factors that I find common to all forms of philosophy; that they seek to understand man and his relationship with the universe, and to find a way of making this relationship better in favour of man, and in the process, not causing harm to the moral universe. All these are then achieved through a process of reflective, critical and analytic thinking.
But amidst the present academic world order, the controversy for and against the existence of African philosophy has lingered for decades. It has been argued that Africans had no civilization before the coming of Europeans, so there was no civilized society to organize and consequently, no need for philosophy. This argument is easily debased as history has shown that civilization began in Africa as far back as 3000 B. C in ancient Egypt which later translated into other African societies in the Maghreb, the Sudan, the horn of Africa and further into the interior. Likewise, the colonizing Europeans met Africans governing themselves in organized groups under their various forms of socio-political structure and philosophy.
For the fact that Africa, south of the Sahara, was predominantly a non-writing culture, non-African scholars claimed that it was impossible for philosophy to have been done in such a situation because, to them, that was the only means of preserving and transmitting philosophical thoughts and ideas. On the contrary, it may be true that a lot of African nations did not have a standard way of expressing themselves through writing, but writing is not the whole stock of philosophy, it is just one of many ways to communicate philosophy. Whereas, in the unique nature of African philosophy, there are many other ways in which it was developed, communicated and preserved, and these ways range from the African governmental institutions, the various forms of ceremonies, proverbial sayings, folk tales and the likes. Therefore, to infer the absence of philosophy from the absence of standard writing codes is indeed fallacious and absolutely baseless.
Also, there is an argument that African philosophy cannot be because what are been referred to as ‘African Philosophy’ are not classified by Africans into the branches of Epistemology, Logic, Metaphysics, Ethics and so on, so it makes distinction in African thought difficult, and studying them, more difficult. But considering this argument, I would like to ask a set of questions; must African reflective activities be patterned after the western style before they can become philosophy? Certainly not! Reflection is fundamental to philosophy and not classification, and this reflection is a common phenomenon to all men. In fact, who set those classification standards? On what basis? Can they be consistently universal, reliable and applicable at all times? This is just like the imposition of the western system of government on Africa. Truly, the western form of government evidently works for them but here in Africa, it has proven to be a colossal failure in most places. Then casting African philosophy into the mold of “westernism” could also prove fatal, both for scholars and Africa at large. African philosophy need not follow an established foreign pattern before it can be, it has a right of uniqueness.
Another argument brought forward by those opposing the existence of African philosophy is that unlike some other parts of the world, African philosophy is not ascribed to individuals. We have heard and read of the Socratic philosophy, Hegelian philosophy, Marxist philosophy, Confucian philosophy and their likes, so, Africans have been asked; who and where are your philosophers if really there is an African philosophy? The reasons for the absence of ancient individual philosophers on the African scene are very simple. First, it has been said that African thoughts and philosophies were transmitted and preserved through memory and words of mouth, and through this method, there was no room for preserving the names of individual thinkers. Again, those using the personality criterion to judge African philosophy have failed to take the differences in the societies into account. While most other parts of the world were individualistic and personalities stood-out, Africa was possessively, or in a softer language, predominantly communalistic. It was easy to ascribe philosophies of Plato and Russell to them because in their times and countries, every man lived almost entirely for himself and was wholly responsible for his actions and inactions. But examine the situation of my grand-father and his predecessors who all lived among other family members in a village or town where everyone was inter-related, they lived, owned and did almost everything together. Against this background, we can see why properties—material, intellectual and otherwise—are considered as community properties and not that of individuals. The result and evidence of this is that, for instance, Yoruba proverbs are preceded by statements such as “awon agba wi pe…”(the elders say…) or “Yoruba wi pe”(Yoruba says). Nevertheless, these thoughts and philosophies necessarily originated from specific individuals since two people cannot do one thinking. Then I would say that the ancient African philosophers are the unknown egalitarian men and women who deployed their reflective and intellectual capacities to promote unity and faith among Africans.
I hereby assert that African philosophy is a reflective and intellectual activity and the world view of Africans about their natural cum spiritual environment. It is also the doctrinal and conceptual analysis of issues and the thought of Africans as pertaining to the African life and society. Every society that existed, exists and will later exist did, does and will do so on the foundation of a number of policies. This policies will help to consolidate the powers of the authorities and harmonize the people towards a specific goal(internal policies), as well as determine relationship with other societies(foreign policies), and these are in turn determined by the prominent philosophies of that society. Africa was not left out of this world order as every society in the continent inter-related in terms of commerce, culture, conflict, religion, marriage and many more. This shows that Africans were truly organized, this organization was based on principles of philosophical orientation. Therefore, Africa has her own home-grown philosophies and these philosophies are inter-woven with the religion, government and indeed, the whole set-up of the African life. 

NIGERIAN YOUTHS AND SOCIAL MEDIA

The first question of this discuss is: who is the Nigerian youth? We may not need to talk at length or write an epistle before we know who a Nigerian is; simple, a citizen of the country created by the British around the rivers Niger and Benue confluence. But who a youth is in this country may take a little bit of a twist as we have a number of social and religious “youth” clubs with most members in their 50s and 60s. The story gets pathetic when the government, in its infinite wisdom, appoints a man in his 60s also to head a youth organization. Many political jamborees have been put up by purported party youths composed of family men and women. The physical definition of who a youth is has become more of a challenge than imaginable; yet, certain things distinguish a class of people.
In the not-so-long past, the range of people who “ran things” (on this side of the world) politically, socially, financially and other wise were indeed the grown and old ones. In the days when ten-year-olds got into primary one and you could not get into the university until about twenty-five, there was no real opportunity for the young to express themselves in certain fora not to talk of contributing their quota to the way they were been governed. But in the wake of the internet revolution, a lot of things changed simultaneously. First, there came a means to draw a line between the youth and the youth. The very nature of the internet itself fascinates only the curious, exuberant and agile, qualities found almost exclusively within an age bracket. Still on the nature of this strange stranger, the seeming complexity of it could not have been more than a job which an idle generation picks to sulk upon while it waits for table of age and leadership to be turned on it. The internet was one of those toy innovations with probably no real future. It just turned out to be the pad on which the (real) youth would be launched into his/her rightful place in time.
In the same vein, several innovations and job opportunities sprang up from the hitherto dormant and lifeless generation who could not live free of the umbilical cord maliciously tying it to the aprons of a (consciously or unconsciously) suppressive generation. Website development and ownership, superluminal messaging and communications and other related activities became (almost) an order of the day. In this new wave of development, the socio-political leadership was almost always shot out, the youth was getting a new definition and was beginning to take up challenges.
As a derivative of the internet, the social media has also come to grace the stage of enlightenment, education and activism. Innovations such as Facebook, Twitter, Google Talk et c. have improved the way and costs of communication, business and governance amongst other things. Today, the social media gives every individual a leverage with which they can participate in and influence policy making. This is obvious by the fact that an obnoxious law to criminalize social media activism and criticism is currently been considered in the Nigerian National Assembly.
The fact that the Nigerian youth has a lot of ends to meet on every front cannot be over-stated, and the role of the social media in this cannot be underrated. Academically, it is no longer news that the country’s education sector has sunk beyond the imaginable and all hands need to be on deck to revitalize it. One of the youth’s contributions to this is to harness every opportunity to improve his/her intellectual capacity by connecting with people, not only in the country but also across the globe. What are the best candidates for this exploit if not the social media? Students around the world can now meet and exchange ideas in their related fields and other areas of interest.
Economically, as stated above, the business horizon and job opportunity of individuals have been widened by the internet and particularly the social media. People now make money through their online presence via various means: advertisement for instance. Funny enough, you can even get a job just as a social media manager to someone or a cooperate body.
If we want to know how the social media can be used to influence governance, one just has to look back at the Arab spring which began in Tunisia in 2011 and is still on-going for the most part in Syria, and the part played by social media activists and bloggers. There are currently arguments in some quarters that the anti-socialmedia-criticism law been considered by the Nigerian National Assembly is an attempt to prevent an imminent “African spring”.
On the whole, there are limitless opportunities which the social media has presented before the Nigerian youth, but a little caution needs to be exercised at some juncture. Starting with security issues. Be very careful on how you relate and respond to requests, invitations and fund transfer because the cyber space has also become a haven for people with nefarious characters with intentions, but not limited, to defraud. Time management also comes to play here. It has been discovered that a lot of young people spend the better part of their time on social media without adding real value to themselves. This is where you have to answer the question of purpose; why am I on social media?
It is incumbent on the current generation of young people to make use of every opportunity available to things around for the betterment of the wider society; the social media is a veritable tool and weapon to achieve this aim. If missed, it may take several generations to be regained.