Riots In AAUA(Akungba): A state of Madness!
As I sit in the car en route to work this morning along the Iwaro-Abuja road I saw a lot of Adekunle Ajasin University students with their dufflebags en route to their homes. I see the mood, sad, remorseful and taciturn faces. I can see regrets, lots of, boldly written on their souls so clear like a glass of moonshine.
For one, the riot will have no positive impact as the students themselves are not so sure of why they rioted. It's different stories from different students but one story seems to be true and that is that a student died and the health centre was unable to save his life. The students responded stupidly of course by vandalising the property (health centre) and other properties of the school like shops,roads etc.
As I interviewed many students I see different reasons from many of them on why they ran riot. Some said their school fees which is less than N30000 per year(about $100), some said a student died, some said a student was killed by natives (which is not true) and a host of other complaints. From all I could gather, the protest is not worth it.
They've enjoyed their 'agbata-ekee' aluta-cum-riot , they've destroyed their own school and many shops attached to it, injured themselves and now it's time they paid the piper. They will stay at home instead of completing their exams for God knows how long.
Well, Hassan doesn't sympathise with them. However, i feel sorry for the parents who will have to pay huge amounts of money in damages, parents who will have to toil in other to pay for their students fees in this harsh economy.
Most of the alutas Nigerian students embark on are of no point, and when they even have a point, it is often poorly staged.
It begs the question 'why can't they stage a peaceful protest'?, why must students vandalize properties in the name of aluta? And how effective is a riot?
It begs the question 'why can't they stage a peaceful protest'?, why must students vandalize properties in the name of aluta? And how effective is a riot?
What is your opinion on this? Drop your comments
Posted by Unknown on Tuesday, 12 April 2016
Seems the default answer to student problems in Africa is demonstrations or riots. Sadly it seems in Nigeria, riots are the overwhelming answer. When will we learn that there are more effective and less violent ways to protest?
ReplyDeleteThanks Bro. And when will we learn that there's a significant difference between aluta and vandalism? Should they be related in any way?
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