AN OPEN LETTER TO THE VICE CHANCELLOR UNIVERSITY OF BENIN BY WILSON LUCKY

Yesterday, a UNIBEN student picked to his pen to write to the vice chancellor and his board members. Here are his statement :
It is quite disappointing that the Vice Chancellor
of an institution who is at the apogee of
administration is bereft of the minutest flicker of
administrative ability.
However, it is only human to help those at the
base of the ladder up the rungs. That's how the
world get better. So, I will, in this article, help the
Vice Chancellor realise some 'wise' steps you
with your management team are taking in the
wrong direction.
First, you, the VC and the council that brought
about the increase in fees should be arrested
and sued for insulting the poor and trying to
monopolise education outright. Education is a
right and not a privilege. The African continent is
still behind lights today because the leaders have
paid little or no attention to education. It is
criminal and totally unjust for you to deny anyone
his or her right. If education is a right, why make
it impossible for the poor to get it? That is greed.
It is a plot to have the children of the rich get
education, which they can afford, and become
rich also and the poor, as a result of their
inability to acquire education, remain poor and
serve the rich. In the University of Benin where
you, Prof Orumwense, are the VC, cleaners earn
less than N9,000 and have also not been paid in
eight to ten months. If these people have hopes
of getting their children to school, then they
must sacrifice two years of their total savings,
without feeding or spending on other things, to
pay for just the acceptance and school fees
which are also a way of stealing from the poor.
Mr Vice Chancellor, I think you should know also
that when there is an imbalance in the social
scale, there is bound to be conflict. The ones
below will seek to be in parity while those above
will want them to remain in their positions. This
Marxist observation is one thing you should have
known. Anyway, it's not too late to learn. When
you oppress the poor with an I-don't-give-a-damn
attitude, you expect arms to be folded or thrown
between thighs without actions? The poor are
not dumb. Also, I wonder what you expected of
students you're training. If the people you say
you're giving education were calm even in the
face of injustice, won't you have been surprised?
I would have counted you and the filth you give
as education complete failure. Education is to
liberate the mind and weigh matters objectively.
That was what we did. When you decided to
increase a hostel corner to N20,000, you stepped
on the wrong path and students could not have
kept calm. It is against what we are taught. I
believe also that if you had a son in the hostel -
which of course is impossible because he cannot
share a toilet with over one hundred people and
live with over 7 people in a small room like a
poultry- he too would have joined in the fight.
A peaceful protest that even granted you
audience suddenly became violent? How did you
even think this out? Who are your advisors?
Maybe you don't have any or they know nothing
about diplomacy. How can you lock down a
school after promising to grant their wish? You
were even smiling during your speech. None
harassed you. It's a pity the security personnel
and porters whose children are part of the
struggle are caught in a dilemma as they must
secure their jobs. You ordered the hostels to be
shut down. Who celebrates such madness? How
can you issue an order by 4pm and tell students
to evacuate by 6pm? Some of these people,
same you called your children are from as far as
Kaduna and you want them to leave, forcing
them to sleep on the streets and endangering
their lives. You say they are a threat to the
school but forget that your inconsiderate
decision is a threat to their lives.
Finally, it is very painful that you show us that
what we are taught in school is irrelevant to us
and the society. As a friend once said, A
POORLY EDUCATED GROUP IS A DANGEROUS
MOB. You included a course, Peace Studies and
Conflict Resolutions, to the syllabi of the school
and made it compulsory for everyone. Here is a
little conflict that even a six year old kid can
resolve but you chose a violent approach by
ordering the Nigerian Army, Police and Civil
Defence Corps to beat and arrest students. You
feel threatened? That's just a blow below the
belt.
I know it is very common with Nigerian
universities to suspend students fighting for the
truth but I won't be daunted by such threat. You
MAY STOP THE MAN OF TRUTH, BUT YOU CAN
NEVER STOP THE TRUTH IN A MAN.
Thanks.
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Aluta continue ...... Pls share till it gets to
relevant authority