STUDENTS RIOT AND MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCES

In 2012 When Prof. James Epoke was inaugurated as the new Vice Chancellor of the prestigious University of Calabar, he introduced certain concepts that drove a greater percent of the students mad. Though at a long run, we discovered that these concepts were to trigger seriousness and discipline amongst students, the truth is that his timing was inaccurate.

One of the concepts he introduced was the increment of school fee after one month from the resumption date, and the closure of the school's portal a month after the one month grace. That means in every week of the month of grace, students who were unable to pay their school fee immediately after resumption would have to pay N5000. What this means is that each of such students will have to pay N40,000 in addition to the normal school fee. Not just this, if after two months and you're unable to meet up, it means that automatically, your studentship in Unical has been terminated.

Students thought this was a joke not until the portal was closed. They were left with no option than to stage a serious protest against the management. You know one thing about protest? The process is always hijacked by some bittered and unknown persons who have no link with the main protesters or the issue that led to the protest. Theirs is to take advantage of the process and make things happen. This was what happened during the Unical 2012 riot. Innocent students were robbed at gunpoint. School properties were destroyed and even commercial vehicles were also destroyed. An unlucky student was killed at the school's main gate because of a phone. There was nothing the management could do than to close the school for a while. Both the innocent and bad students later paid the consequences of this; they stayed at home for almost a year.

Again, sometime in 2015 we had another protest but this one wasn't as regretful as the former. Though at the end of the day, we still had to spend six months at home as our punishment. The punishment wasn't for a section of the students, but it was for both the so called good students and the bad students. This is to say that whenever there's a protest in any institution and there's a punishment attached to it, the punishment will be served to all students across board. Not minding who's a pope or devil amongst the students.

After witnessing more than three riots in my University of Calabar, there was a new law made by the management. This law restricted the students from organizing any form of protest in the school. The penalty for anyone who leads a protest was an immediate rustication from school.

Along the line, the then Students Union Government President was inspired to organize a mini-protest against the management. What motivated him was greed. The then Bursar had used him to settle his differences with the VC, his boss. The President was a level 500 student of Medicine and surgery, and was rusticated from school as his punishment for organizing a protest in Unical. After a year, he was recalled but till date, I don't think he has graduated.

Barely after few months that the President was suspended, the next in line was Umani Uwemedimo Frederick who was the Director of Information, Faculty of Biological Sciences. What really happened?

I was in my lodge when a group of students came, complaining and bitterly weeping. When I asked why they were in that mood, they informed me about the mass failure in one of the GSS courses. The course was Computer Application. I was informed how the students were threatened that anyone who doesn't pay the sum of N8000 would be made to carryover the course. And this affected some students who had one or two problems in their respective Departmental results. I rushed to the school and behold, I found out that 97% of the total students who wrote this course had failed. With this, it could be seen that there's something fishy that was going on. But would I just close my eyes and move on because I wasn't affected? What would be my fate at the tail end of this? Having understood the existing law that stated " no protest", I knew that if I followed mind, I was going to be rusticated, but at this moment, someone needed to make himself the scape goat for others to be freed. I was ready to lead a protest, get rusticated so far the GSS result is reviewed across board.

After series of meetings with some Deans and Head of Departments, I was mandated to lead the students on a peaceful protest. By this time, I had forgotten that I was about going into my finals. I had also forgotten what awaited me. I was controlled by another spirit. I moved out, addressed the students and boom, the protest was on.

Few hours later, findings were made to know who actually led the protest. At last, they got an information that it was me. How did they know it was me?

One of the students who had took active part in the protest had snapped me while leading the students on the said protest. He presented the photos and my details to the Chief Security of the school. In a joint Board meeting, the VC had mandated that I be rusticated from the school with immediate effect. But why was I betrayed by the same people I staked my academics to salvage?

When the news escalated and I got to know about the person that betrayed me, though disappointed, I understood his reason was concrete even before he had approached me for his explanations. If he didn't betray me, a lot of students including those at the Students Union Government would have been dismissed from school. They needed to point out the black fish and I was that black fish. After series of meetings with the management, the result was reviewed across board. The following day, the Director of GSS, Director of CES, Director of Academic Planning, DVC Academics, Deans of different Faculties and a cross section of Students Leaders approached the VC soliciting for my pardon, and he succumbed to it. I erred. I was doing the right thing the wrong way.

What am I trying to say in essence? In every riot, there's always a punishment there after. For the punishment no to be general, the black fish must be spotted. But when the black fish is unable to be spotted, both the good and the bad will be victims of the punishment.

The temporary closure of Government Technical College, Uyo by the State Government is in line with the punishment of the school's inability to spot out the perpetuators of that yesterday's crime. Without this punishment, those students would never sit up and be watchful.

Maybe there was a misunderstanding between some groups of students, and maybe the whole process was later hijacked by some NON ACADEMIC STUDENTS. These set of students may be students who have been expelled from that some school because of one thing or the other. But to avoid certain questions from families, they keep putting on the school uniforms, going to same school on daily basis. These are students who are constantly praying for something that looks like a problem to occur so they could hijack it and make life unbearable for the real students. This set of students have nothing to lose even if the school is shut down for years.

But because crimes and punishment are the twin brothers of destiny, everyone is asked to go back home and if the school is not reopened anytime soon, students in SS3 and JSS3 would have to repeat their classes. But at the other hand, it'll serve as a warning to students of other public schools in the State. By the time those students in SS3 and JSS3 miss their final year examinations respectively, other students would take cognizant of the fact that instigating crisis in school is at their detriment. When next they find any group of students indulging in any act that would cause unnecessary tensions in the school, or find students who were expelled still coming to school, they would run as fast as possible to report these group of students to the management for prompt actions just as I was reported back then in school.

This is one lesson they all must learn.

Umani Uwemedimo writes from Uyo.