Let me tell you a story about when I was in final year.
We had a lecturer who was issuing vague threats about us failing his course. Unprovoked. A lot of my classmates interpreted it as a cue to “sort” him. A lot more depended on the power of their brains, and that despite his…
We had a lecturer who was issuing vague threats about us failing his course. Unprovoked. A lot of my classmates interpreted it as a cue to “sort” him. A lot more depended on the power of their brains, and that despite his…
…threats, they were still going to pass the course.
This man released so many materials, enough to throttle a horse. He merged all the Materials/Metallurgy coursework from 2nd year to final year. It was clearly overwhelming. It was also near-impossible to cover.
This man released so many materials, enough to throttle a horse. He merged all the Materials/Metallurgy coursework from 2nd year to final year. It was clearly overwhelming. It was also near-impossible to cover.
Here’s where it gets interesting.
I coordinated some of my classmates to report this lecturer to our head of department, he promised to protect our identities (what a man!)
When the news broke that some students reported the lecturer, some of my classmates were expressing…
I coordinated some of my classmates to report this lecturer to our head of department, he promised to protect our identities (what a man!)
When the news broke that some students reported the lecturer, some of my classmates were expressing…
…their anger at the “unknown tattletales” in the class WhatsApp group. They kept asking why we reported, and now things would likely get uglier, and the lecturer would take it out on us in the marking. I kept quiet. We (the tattlers) all kept quiet.
This is our character as Nigerians, we have the tendency to bend over backwards as a people. And when it seems like there are some people who attempt a pushback against the evil system, because we’re so scared of the consequences, if things don’t work out, we side the oppressor…
…in a silent supplication of “I’m not among them”
We chide the protestors openly so that when the oppressor comes with a heavy hand, we can plausibly deny and escape the oppressor’s boot. We, however, seem not to learn that the oppressor’s boots never discriminate.
We chide the protestors openly so that when the oppressor comes with a heavy hand, we can plausibly deny and escape the oppressor’s boot. We, however, seem not to learn that the oppressor’s boots never discriminate.
Over and over again, because we never present a united front, in our folly of false optimism. The resistance of the few then fails. Because while they were fighting off our oppressors with one hand, they were fighting us off with the other hand.
Our optimism is borne from cowardice. It’s borne from delusion. It’s borne from misplaced hope. We’ve been so badly brutalized, and yet, so ready to jump every hoop to make sure we don’t get an extra unit of pain. Our optimism is not based on “let’s fight today, because…
…fortune favors the brave” it’s based on “let’s run away from this fight, so we can live to run another day”
It’s an optimism of the grave.
It’s an optimism of the grave.
Suffice it to say that the HOD took matters into his hands and reassigned the marking of the course to other lecturers. The issue was resolved, and students had a very high passing rate for the course.
In the end, everyone was happy. Except, maybe, the lecturer.
In the end, everyone was happy. Except, maybe, the lecturer.
That is the kind of optimism we want. We want an optimism where the system works, and we’re all assured that our efforts would be commensurate with the results. We’re not asking for much, just a level playing ground.
The optimism we practice in Nigeria is the optimism of “even if the ground is not level, let my own ground favor me”
We relinquish so much power to unknown variables.
We’re optimistic because we’re pessimistic. And so, our optimism is really just pessimism.
We relinquish so much power to unknown variables.
We’re optimistic because we’re pessimistic. And so, our optimism is really just pessimism.
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