June 15, 2021
By Dadson A. Musa
Whatever went wrong with things that bind students together in institutions of higher learning is something the country must not take with a pinch of salt. It has the potential to threaten the future stability of a country. Student Unionism has been very necessary for academic life in our institutions of higher learning. Imagine the academic, social, economic and psychological stress that young people go through in colleges.
So, the creation of student unionism was meant to help channel their concerns, aspirations and fears to their respective college administrations so that solutions can be found and learning will continue in an atmosphere of serenity and tranquility. Learning itself especially at the higher level should be far from being stressful.
So, only a student union government that understands what colleagues are going through can help put their issues across. Otherwise lecturers would have been appointed to liaise between administration and the student body. We have seen over the past decades a situation in which students instead of coming together to address what is affecting them would rather engage in activities that render them vulnerable and expose them to further ridicule. Then the other question: are these institutions of higher learning admitting the right students with the right attitudes and the right caliber into these institutions of higher learning?
Students must know that the primary reason for being in these institutions of higher learning is to acquire knowledge and qualifications for their survival in life, nothing more and nothing less.
All other things about student union elections are just to facilitate the learning process, period. Places of higher learning must be purely for students who are ready to fill the job market.
But like William Shakespears wrote in the book Julius Caeser ‘…oh judgement, thou had fled to brutish beast and men have lost their reasoning…’ That is exactly what we are seeing in our colleges across this country.
A place that should be packed with reasonable people is now always packed with hooligans who at student union elections are always ready to show the muscle power instead of the brain power. What future awaits this country? These students are supposed to come out and head our MDAs, run things in this country and even at international level but are allowing the police to tame them. What a shame on student unionism in Sierra Leone?
Yes, there is a school of thought that points out that some administration officials might be acting behind the scenes to manipulate the students in fomenting terror.
It would suggest that students can be puppets on the strings of the administration. So if they foresee that the malleable candidate is not going to win, there can be covert acts to undermine the whole process.
Another school of thought holds that politicians at the national level always have interest in these elections so that they ensure that their own candidates are installed for strategic reasons. So, these are the reasons student politics have ceased to be about unionism. Student union leaders are usually powerful voices that can translate into future decision making.
For these reasons the propensity for violence and disturbances has been strong. We saw ballot boxes been taken away at the student union elections up at Fourah Bay College of all places. What has happened to academia in this country? It has happened before, it is happening now and it might happen again. The police presence was heavy from what we saw on national television which is not good for academics at that level of learning. Maybe we are still reeling from the effects of the brutal civil war. But things must change for the better or we all will just go to college to acquire academic qualifications and leave even if it means undergoing whatever treatment from the hands of the authorities, be it the administration or political leaders and not complain. Until students are united I continue to call it ‘student dis –unionism.’