Dairy of a Nigerian Student

Lazily rising from my sleep with strained eyes and a big sigh, numbness rapidly disappearing from my fingers and toes, I roll over and curl up more tightly, hugging my knees between my arms. Its yet another new day. I am a young lad but my fears and worries are that of a Christmas goat awaiting slaughter.

My school identity card says 2009-2013 but I know that with the way things are going I may not graduate till well into 2015. That is if I am not dead by then, blown away by a bomb, shot down by the police or even beaten to death by a violent legislator. I sound very pessimistic and gloomy, it’s not my fault. The situation at hand has killed my enthusiasm and that of millions of students of government-owned tertiary institutions.

News of an impending strike started trickling into our ears around late June and we shrugged it off as one of those things, ‘normal ASUU wahala’ which would be resolved in no time. Alas, our joy was shortlived in the first week of July when a communiqué was issued confirming the strike action. Students living in far places were confronted with the sad fact that they may yet again have to risk their lives to return home as this strike was actually happening.

Thank God for my Industrial Training, Facebook, and of course Twitter, I won't have to end up idle or exposed to extrajudicial killing.  As ironic as this may sound, the combination of some of these 3 facilities, if not more has being responsible for maintaining the sanity of millions of Nigerian students sitting down at home idle and frustrated. So many students are spending virtually this period of strike “facebooking” and tweeting, chatting, visiting friends and just doing anything to kill the boredom.

When two elephants fight, what shall become of the grass? Question for the gods, maybe. No one knows when ASUU will be calling off the strike. How I wish the government and ASUU sheath their swords and pity our plights. How I wish the government pays more attention to funding of universities and investment in human resources.

How I wish ASUU compromises a bit and comes down to reasonable agrrement. All we here everyday is meeting upon meeting, negotiations. To make matters worse, ASUU seems to have pulled out of negotiations and the government itself is concentrating fully on political brouhaha, domestic violence, and Boko Haram issue in no particular order. Well I will not digress into the details of it all, after all what do I know?

All I know is that when I resume back to school (only God knows whenever that is) *sad face*, austerity measures might have to take its place in favour of my usual philanthropic nature. Economic meltdown has taken a rather harsh toll on my dad’s finance consequently affecting my own meagre share; it means no more generosity with my belongings.

We are been told ubiquitously to pray. “Pray for your family. Pray for your country. Pray for the whole world.” So we are praying or at least I have being praying. Even with my deep pessimism and sarcasm, there’s still one tiny voice in my head telling me that things will work out fine. I have survived worse. But for now its back to tweeting, chatting and hustling, at least these ones have not decided to strike yet.

Source http://news.naij.com

PHOTO: Mesut Ozil pokes fun at Manchester United

Arsenal midfielder Mesut Ozil points out Manchester United's poor start to Premier League season

Arsenal midfielder Mesut Ozil has been causing quite a stir on Twitter after a picture emerged of him appearing to mock Manchester United's poor Premier League position.

The German playmaker has already won the hearts of Gunners fans after a series of scintillating performances following his £42.5million move to north London.

And, it looks as though the former Real Madrid star will be the toast of the Arsenal terraces again at the weekend, after seemingly poking fun at the reigning champions.


Standing alongside fellow Germans Per Mertesacker and Lukas Podolski - who point out the fact that Arsenal are five points clear at the top of the table, with 25 points from their opening 10 games - Ozil chooses to focus his attention on the Red Devils, currently eight points adrift, in a lowly eighth place.

The image of Ozil - which might well have been photoshopped - is likely to add even more needle ahead of this weekend's crucial Premier League encounter, which sees Arsene Wenger's side travel to Old Trafford to face David Moyes's Manchester United on Sunday afternoon.

Arsenal victory means nothing for Man United's title hopes

The sight of Robin van Persie emerging back on to the pitch after the final whistle, despite being substituted showed two things.

The first was that Robin van Persie was happy to beat his former team and that he no longer feels sorry for them. He'll hate to see Arsenal win the title as he languishes at Manchester United and saw this win as further confirmation that he made the right decision.

The second; it showed just how much this victory meant to Manchester United.

In the same fixture last season, the Red Devils played Arsenal off the park in a dominating performance. The 2-1 scoreline paints a different picture but for those who watched the game, you would think the two teams were in a different division. Arsenal were inferior.

United fans and players alike saw the win as an expected formality, but that is no longer the case.

It seemed the win last night was a marquee moment in United's season. Arsenal hadn't gone to Old Trafford with so many expecting a Gunners victory in years.

But the reality is, the Gunners were at the end of a hectic two weeks that saw them play Chelsea, Liverpool, Borussia Dortmund and Manchester United. They were exhausted and had very little left to offer.

Despite the fact that Arsenal's stars were far from their best, Manchester United could only score one very, very lucky goal before relying on Nicklas Bendtner's incompetence to keep their lead intact.

Had the ball not hit Van Persie's shoulder, or if Per Mertesacker had been there to defend the near post as usual, that goal would not have gone in and Arsenal would have got the draw they deserved.

Despite losing, the game delivered many positives for the Gunners.

It confirmed that the defending champions are not the confident force they once were.

They struggled to break down an Arsenal side that was still recovering from a historic win away to Borussia Dortmund whilst United were rested from a meek 0-0 draw to Real Sociedad.

David Moyes was lucky to face Arsenal at the right time - at the end of a hard run of fixtures. Had they been facing the Gunners after the international break it is likely the scoreline would be reversed.

So even though Manchester United have closed the gap on Arsenal to five points, they aren't back in the title race. It does alleviate fears that they could miss out on the top four, but it does not mean they'll be top of the pile come May.

If they struggled to beat an Arsenal side battered by tough fixtures and an injury crisis, they will not beat the Emirates outfit, Chelsea or Manchester City to the title.

They may have got the three points, but the game exposed all of the flaws that will prevent United from retaining their Premier League crown.

Read Patrick Obahiagbon's Response To The Death Of Former ASUU President, Iyayi

For those who are very conversant with former Nigerian legislator, Hon Patrick Obahiagbon from Edo State, his ability to speak words in English language that one cannot understand is nothing new.

Just hours after the death of former President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, Prof. Festus Iyayi, who died on Tuesday in a car crash on Lokoja-Abuja Expressway, the former lawmaker gave his condolence on facebook.

In his words:
"The grand initiation of Professor Festus Iyayi is a lancinating loss of another stentorian voice, against retrograde and prebendal forces of primitive mercantilism.That he passed through transition on matters pro bono publico,bears eloquent testimony to our state of dystopia.Such is the evanescence of life.Its all vanitas vanitatum....


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Golden Eaglet's Kelechi Iheanacho To Arsenal FC ?

Arsenal, English Premier League football club, is the latest club to show interest in rising Nigerian football star, Kelechi Iheanacho. This information has been confirmed by the young player's agent.

Iheanacho demonstrated his potential at the recent FIFA Under-17 World Cup, where he received the Most Valuable Player award after bagging six goals and seven assists in just seven games. Thanks to his contribution, Golden Eaglets eventually won the competition against Mexico team.

After the young player's impressive display at the United Arab Emirates stadium, his agent, Henry Galeano, disclosed that Arsenal's chief scout, Steve Rowley, has already spoken to him about the player.

"We're ecstatic to have another major club like Arsenal following young Iheanacho. That said, the attention is well-deserved. Iheanacho's performance at the World Cup was indeed remarkable.

"Iheanacho has consistently shown good form and the statistics throughout his career as a Youth player with the Nigerian National Team, are quite impressive. Even during the World Cup qualifications in Morocco, Iheanacho was the second highest goal-scorer."

Although Iheanacho at the moment belongs to the Taye Academy, there are strong indications that in the nearest future he might become a member of one of Europe's top clubs. His agent also confirmed that the player now has several options to choose from. Galeano noted he would like to see the young man follow in the footsteps of Kanu and make a name for himself with the Gunners.

"At present, we are considering and evaluating all options. Our goal is to match Iheanacho with a club that fits his profile, and a club that can bring out the very best in him.

"If Arsenal F.C. is an option on the table, we'll be glad to sit down and consider it."

ASUU ready to end strike – Chairman

The University of Jos chapter of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), who voted against ending the four-months-old strike, says it will resume classes if directed by the national body.

“Yes, the local ASUU chapter voted 159 to 88 against ending the strike at its congress on Monday, but we shall abide by any decision taken by the national body on Wednesday,’’ its Chairman, Dr. David Jangdam, said in Jos on Tuesday.

ASUU’s central body is expected to meet in Kano on Wednesday to take a final decision on whether or not to end the strike after collating resolutions from various local branches who considered the offer by President Goodluck Jonathan during their congresses on Monday.

Jonathan had made the offers toward ending the strike during a meeting with the striking lecturers who are seeking better funding for the universities and improved welfare packages for the teaching staff.

Jangdam said in Jos that the decision of the national body was final and binding on all local chapters.

“Even the strike was not supported by all the universities. Many local chapters of ASUU opposed it, but majority wanted it and we embarked on it,’’ he said.

He explained that ASUU’s decisions were usually from bottom-to-top with representatives at meetings having to revert to the local branches before any decision would be taken.

Jangdam, however, rejected suggestions that the local branch’s position was influenced by the internal disagreement with management over the conduct of the post-UTME examinations during the strike.

ASUU had condemned that action, and declared that the examinations were “illegal, wasteful and of no effect’’.

“At the congress meeting yesterday, we made it clear that no local issue will be discussed.

“Our focus was solely on the issues related to the national strike. Other local disagreements shall be tackled locally and therefore had no effect on our stance yesterday,’’ he said.

He said that the lecturers voted against ending the strike because they did not trust the federal government to fulfill its promises and therefore wanted something concrete to be seen on ground before resuming classes.

Jangdam also rejected suggestions that the lecturers had not been fair to university education in the country.

“I think the questions should be if the system is fair to the educational sector; Nigerians should ask the leaders why the educational sector is usually the least in their priorities,’’ he said.

He said that it was wrong for Nigerians to blame the lecturers for the bad situation in the universities, saying that the search light should rather be on those in authority that decided what should go to the ivory towers at budget planning sessions.

“Sometimes, I find the situation a bit perplexing; I wonder why should Nigerians complain about poor quality of graduates and heap the blame on the universities and the lecturers even when they know that not much attention is paid to the educational sector?,’’ he asked. (NAN)

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