THE DAY AFTER THE RIOT

I know we Bowenites are supposed to be worried about the closure of our school and how it affects us. Fortunately, today I had such a great day, I couldn’t be bothered. As at yesterday when my friends and I got to Ibadan, the plan for today was to go to the movies and hang for a couple of hours. Good plan ey? Well, today the plan turned awesome.

I got a call early this morning from a close friend. Let’s call him ‘M’. So M called me this morning and said a couple of our friends were planning to hang out at Premiere Hotel. They wanted to swim and wanted me to be there. Since the plan was different from my Shoprite-Cinema routine, it sounded like a good one. Besides, A and T were gonna be there. There are some of my closest guy friends. I then called my twinnie to ask if she was interested. She got the consent of some of our other friends including A’s girlfriend. All of us were supposed to meet at the hotel by 1pm.

At 1pm, my phone was constantly buzzing with everyone asking me where I was. Unsurprisingly, at that time, I was just getting out of the bathroom and struggling to put on my makeup with all the sweat trying to make sure I couldn’t. Eventually, my friend, Franciara and I left the house to the venue. Of course, everyone else was at the hotel.

To cut the long story short, we got there and met our friends eating, drinking and swimming. None of us girls wanted to swim so we sat watching the guys who swam a bit, came back to us to play, gist and drink, and returned to the pool. Some kids were brought by staff of a swim school and it was a delightful to watch them learn. Some of the kids in the advanced class shamed me as they swam with such grace at the deepest end. I must learn how to swim and stop wasting swimsuits.

After about an hour, one of the girls went to the playground to swing a little. The rest of us didn’t give her any thought until we heard her squeals. One after the other, we left our table for the playground and that’s where the fun started. All of us forgot that we are final year university students and played like crazy kids. Everyone tried to swing the fastest and highest and my goodness, we girls can scream our lungs out. The merry-go-round was just the icing on the cake. The boys did the pushing while we did the squealing and unconsciously made the ugliest faces known to man. One of us fell in the bid to jump out cuz the speed scared her so much. Luckily, she didn’t get hurt and her boyfriend was there to carry her up and cuddle and bla bla.. Talk about love! The seesaws were amazing as well. We took a lot of pictures and tried to limbo. It was fun! The last time I played this much, I was in primary school and it wasn’t this exciting because it was a norm. We didn’t care that we are adults or that we are supposed act in a certain way. We stole the damn show with no regrets. Afterwards, we all left the playground and got plates of Asun (severely peppered chunks of goat meat). I dunno who ordered our murder but the pepper was deadly. Bottles of water were downed in less than 3 mins yet everyone kept dancing funny and fanning their open mouths with their hands. It was a funny sight to behold.

After we all parted ways, Franciara and I went to the mall to get a box of pizza before heading home. We ended up buying the pizza and a huge chocolate cake called “Black forest”. I also bought some other personal items. So much for getting just pizza *rme*. We then went home to make dinner and devour our purchases. The pizza was awesome while the Black Forest was more like bread with icing. The icing and topping were great though.

I’d say it was a great day; the best I’ve had in ages. It was different from the regular adult fun. I dunno who else had a great day but I’d say there’s something about today. I was reminded that once upon a time, I was free with no problems and that I can still feel that kind of freedom despite adulthood and the hard times.

I hope you all had a reason to smile today. If you didn’t, I hope you were affected by the joy in my tale. J

P.S: I'd have loved to put up all the pictures but for some reasons (*listing 'em in my head*), I'll leave you with the three at the top. I didn't put up any with the ugly faces I mentioned earlier; was scared I might send y'all running, and I need my readers. :D

Have a great weekend!

Xoxo,

Nazzy

BOWEN HARAM

I have been thinking of a more dramatic way to start this post but I think the tale itself is laced with enough drama. I am still shocked that what took place within the last 24 hrs was even a possibility. History was made today when the students of a missionary private university in Nigeria, Bowen University, Iwo, rioted and destroyed property in the school premises. Stories are better heard from the horse’s mouth right? Well, I am the horse because I am a student of the university.

Last night at about 9pm, I was happily chewing on my chocolate parago at a friend’s fiancée’s party when I heard from someone that boys were rioting at their hostels. Before we could wrap our heads around that, there was news of broken windows, car windshields, furniture etc. The group of students moved the demonstration to the main campus where most of the girls reside and began the demolition of shops and merchandise. Come and see free drinks ooo. Some girls all rushed out to witness it all while the rest who were locked in their hostels contributed with screams and songs like “solidarity for ever…” Classrooms and labs were also broken into and vandalized. All the cars and buildings at the administrative block were also vandalized. Eventually, at almost midnight, the cops were called to calm the situation down which they did with tear gas. However, the situation was not totally put to rest since there was still some unrest even up to 3am.

From all I have gathered, the students seem fed up with all the old and ‘new’ rules and according to them, unnecessary constraints associated with the new government. Lately, these university students have been made to adopt a feeding timetable that conflicts with their class schedules, thus adversely affecting their nutrition. I suppose a hungry man is an angry man. They have also been made to compulsorily take food flasks to cafeterias if food would be sold to them. All the previously existing rules seemed to be stiffened. Yesterday, news sprouted about new rules which included that all students should leave the hostels by 8am and return by 4pm, whether or not they have classes. Meanwhile the cafeterias must not accommodate them unless it’s their ‘mealtime’. Where are these students supposed to stay? Under the sun? Another rumor also came up about a suspected increment in the school fees. “What happened to the #540,000+?” they asked. I also heard one about ‘D’, ‘E’ and ‘F’ grades all amounting to a carry-over. In short, I’d say the explosion was caused by stored up anger and frustration on the part of the students. The students have complained of a whole lot of unfavorable conditions and treatments all to no avail. They probably just needed the additional lack of light and water for 4 days to trigger it.

As early as 6am, all students trooped out to the main campus to feed their eyes as well as negotiate with the school authority on the release of some students who were arrested as well as convey their grievances. The dialogue was unfavorable, hence, the continuation of the protest and even a little more vandalism. The students refused to stop saying that they would not back down until their peers who were arrested are released. The whole thing stretched out till about 3pm when the school management passed a memo saying that the school was to be closed down temporarily till further notice, and that all students should leave the campus effective immediately. Unfortunately, I think those students are yet to be released.

So my people, that’s how I landed in Ibadan. Honestly, I never believed that Bowenites (the generation changers) would ever gather the liver to even complain out loud let alone riot and destroy stuff. I guess the highest form of madness is born by anger. Someone may say that violence isn’t always the answer; while I agree with that, I think that the students had to prove a point and since diplomacy had failed them in times past, took the laws into their hands. We all know how youths can be. Again, while I feel that vandalism and violence are not ideal, I also think that these private schools should be responsive to the yearnings of the students and should cut down on the unnecessary rules and constraints. These students are human and are grown ass adults so while they mean to teach and discipline them, some respect would do. Feed a man till his too full and he just might puke on you.

The English don too much. Fact is, I never experience this kain tin for my life. It was really a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I don’t mean to sound like I enjoyed it all but man……it was exciting.  If I had graduated before this event, I for just dey see pix on dp, dey read am for Linda Ikeji’s blog. Good timing ey? Lol. So today, our omo mummies turned omo ghetto. One thing I can say for sure is that nobody saw this coming. Not the school, not even the students. Today was supposed to be ‘cultural day’ with suya night to make things pop. I was even supposed to open the evening service with a prayer in Igbo *pops collar* Na wa oo. The generation changers sure triggered a revolution. We hope things are put under control soon so that the students can resume and continue with their studies.

Here are some pictures that will give you a LITTLE idea of what went down at BUI today.