Dear Governor Babatunde Fashola,
I will assume you have a strong mandate over some of our most vulnerable citizens including the elderly, the sick, and the under-educated. You’re busy doing very important work! I just wanted to drop you a line about some things that, as an Alumnus of Lagos State University, bothers me.
Sir, I know students of Lagos State University are required to register online to sit for the examination but only 708 students were able to do so, leaving out about 1,292 unregistered students. I heard from a reliable student union representative that the VC had angered the students when during a visit by officials of the student union government to plead for an extension of time for registration, he reportedly told them that those yet to register were insignificant and would automatically have to carry the session over, not considering the huge amount to be paid as school fees. This sparked a protest that later turned to the violence we all see and hear on the news.
Sir, I personally think it is unfair for the VC to address the students as illiterates, rude and violent. I also read a statement in which he called the student touts, which is inappropriate.
We are fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, entrepreneurs, dreamers, visionaries, hard-workers, believers, liberals and conservatives. More importantly than any one of these labels, we are decent and kind human beings, and upstanding, loyal and patriotic Lagos State University Students.
However Sir, the best leaders decide to take the greatest burdens upon themselves so that those they serve may live harmoniously and sleep well at night knowing that the daily sacrifices they make are not in vain.
And I believe that the only moral position is to stand up to bullies and fascists of all kinds. I believe in equal rights for all and special privileges for none. We believe it’s our duty to dedicate our life and sacred honor to the glory of Lagos State University, and every last one of us deserves and has a right, not from our government, but from our Creator, to be heard.
This is not a letter to shame you or to highlight the misappropriation of your government. It is intended to let your constituents know, that as we gear up for the better LASU, we have to be informed of the things slipping by us as we go about our everyday business.
“If the minority tramples on the rights of the majority we all lose.’’
The fundamental basis on which our country was built was on robust free speech. The very first right that the Founders of this nation enshrined in our Bill of Rights was freedom of speech because we created this country to escape the yoke of tyranny. When freedom of speech is taken away, we cannot openly express our ideas, and without competing ideas there can be only tyranny.
If a man cannot be free in his thoughts, can a man be free?
If a VC cannot tolerate all thoughts, can LASU be free? Is not our very strength as a country measured on its ability to tolerate and encourage all ideas?
So Gov. Fashola, we must ask in light of your attitude towards the administration of LASU, would you build a tyranny here in Lagos state University. Would you stand against LASU and blot us out into the darkness merely because we disagree with injustice, or because it serves you or your party politically?
Sir, I commend your effort in building a new Nigeria through the APC. You have always believed in change and you support the current campaign of changing the lives of over 150 million Nigerians. That’s incredible, but LASU only has a total population of less than 20000 students.
My question is this; if you find it difficult to initiate change in LASU, how will your Vision change the lives of 150 million Nigerians?
Respectfully Yours,
Brayn Johnson. An Educationist, Activist, Sociologist, and an Alumnus of Lagos State University….
0 comments:
Post a Comment