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.