University of Nsukka where students defecate in the open

Dr Ugoji Ebujo

Widespread anomie prevalent in Nigeria, occasioned by a virtual dilapidation of the societal ethical and moral framework, has literally squelched  any social appetite for  comparative sociological analysis of any segment of the Nigerian society and a corresponding segment of any foreign country even if that country is Somalia .

Nsukka

Any such  study invariably ends as an exercise in rendition of  woes,  lamentations  and pity. Our country once mighty have fallen  and is falling.  The decay is systemic and deep-seated and widespread .

Our political system is heavily  infected by corruption and the educational system is strangulated by poor funding. But our education suffers from much more. Teachers groan and moan, deride  politicians and claim moral indignation but they are equally culpable for the rot that has beset us.

The university of Ghana and the University of Nigeria have so much in common besides being named after their respective countries. They were both  conceived during the colonial era and they have main campuses located on hills, Legon and Nsukka . Both have very large student population of between 35000 and 38000. They have regional reputations and have produced high quality graduates who have played great roles in their societies.

A brief stay in each university last year  afforded me an opportunity to reflect on the two societies through those institutions . In Legon, it was an experience of efficiency, culture and  aesthetics. All buildings were painted and all were white and all had red roofs and all windows black.

Flowers and hedges were manicured and trees added beauty to the environment. Order was evident and everything showed agelessness because the new and the old abided by a laid down code. The library was quaint but noiseless, lacked  modern books but had good ambience.

The hostels showed they have not lacked care and the newer ones were quite  modern. But whether old or new , modern or ancient the  colour codes were maintained and all the roofs were red. The  Guest house was sparsely furnished but functional and had  good landscaping . Order and serenity were evident. The internet wifi system was good. Nsukka was a different experience. A multitude of  Uncompleted projects littered everywhere, grasses had

Turned to bushes and hedges were untrammeled, free and wild.  Many buildings were pale, washed and battered. Hostels were  in shambles .The Enugu campus that houses faculties of Law  and Medicine has no pipe borne water. The state of the toilet  facilities in Enugu campus can only be imagined. A chat with  some female students of that campus revealed that students  have buckets for defecating.

They defecate in the open,  along  the toilet corridor,many at a time, facing themselves, into  buckets and hurl the contents afterward into the toilet  Bowls, leaving trails of feces for the cleaners who come when they wish to effect as much cleaning as they can. The buckets are subsequently rinsed with  scarce water  ,which  they have to buy , and kept in the rooms until when again  needed. Those who cannot stand the bucket idea defecate into polythene bags and fling them onto a heap behind the hostels.

That heap has survived generations . Its pathetic. An Alumni  exists but the atrocity has persisted. The Vice chancellors  residence is state of the art, new. The vice chancellor has managed to ensconce himself in five star  comfort while  students are dehumanized . Dont ask me who  is being groomed there. Perhaps pit toilets , since they cannot have water, may actually  restore some  dignity.

Its that bad. Students learning early how to be wild. The school’s internet  network system  functions so abysmally  slowly that I could not use it . Lecturers  and  students can hardly do meaningful online researches in that   remote location. A senior  lecturer told me she sends articles  to foreign journals using her blackberry phone. That is the story of Nigeria .

And ironically the school’s motto reads: To restore the dignity of man. Ghanas 2015 budget is 50 percent donor funded, Nigeria is rich and lives on her own money. Legon is to a great extent insulated from political and  local administrative  changes because Legon has a tradition.

A tradition that all must follow.  That entrenched tradition is the institution. So while projects in Legon are completed before  others are started,  and buildings are repainted yearly,   Nsukka is a picture of  haphazardness and planlessness.  An environment of order and good tradition  will culture ,  nurture and instill order and virtue in young minds but if you sow disorder , you will reap disorder.

Often Nigerian academics sneer at the politicians claiming they are superficial, flimsy, selfish, shortsighted and wasteful. But Nsukka indicts Our academics.And Its not  just about funding. And Nsukka is not alone ,other   public universities are perhaps  worse.  Nsukka is a reflection  of our society .University of  Ghana indicts all of us. And we shamelessly now troop there  in droves in search of better tertiary education for our children.

 

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University of Nsukka where students defecate in the open