LAUTECH: THE MAKING OF A RUMOUR INDUSTRY! LAUTECH is vast becoming a rumour industry. And many of us, Ladokites are good fabricators of stories. We claim always to have seen what we did not see; and many times it is always “I heard, I heard”, nobody has ever for once been an eye-witness! Honestly, it seems rumour mongering is a major extra-curricular activity for some students here; as you’re all well aware, rumour spread like bushfire in the dry season, even more than that here. No wonder Ladokites lives and feasts on rumour! If my memory will not fail me, I could remember vividly that many students missed the Post-Utme that I wrote, passed, and which I got admitted through. A day before, a rumour went round that the Post Utme had been postponed till further notice…some said it had been cancelled due to undisclosed situations beyond the control of the School Management. Mere hearing that, many students packed their bags and luggage, and returned to their destinations. Some students even travelled that early morning of the scheduled day for the Post Utme. Unfortunately, the Post Utme was held; the news turned to be a hoax! Last two sessions, it was about 2.00 p.m on a bright sunny Wednesday afternoon. The weather couldn’t be more than perfect; in a relaxing mood, listening to the golden oldies (old songs) as usual. Things seemed normal then someone knocked on my door, a fun spoiler one might say. “I… just hear…d there is a test h…ol...ding now… in 250LT”, he said, words not coming cut, like something stuck in his throat, though gasping for breath! Hearing that, my chest pumped out; my veins and artilleries failed me immediately, soaked with sweats like a Kirikiri Prisoner who had had no bath for days. Not brothering to ask of the Course, I instantly picked my pen and identification card. Headed to the hall unprepared with the hope and personal consolidation that it is only the attendant that matters; even if answers couldn’t be given to the questions asked! I got to the hall to realize that it was only but concocted news. Last session, a rumour took the wave that the Ag. Vice-Chancellor, in person of Prof. Suleiman Adeniyi Gbadegesin, resigned due to some logistic reasons- some said his tenure as an Ag. Vice-Chancellor had elapsed and in the case removed by the co-owners of this institution of learning, while some said he resigned due to internal frustration; he has gone to University of Ibadan (UI) where he came from, to contest for the enviable post of Vice-Chancellor, some proclaimed! Trust Ladokites, the fictitious news blew out of proportion; it gave some people the free platform to unzip their mouths without any civility of how to talk. Some took it as a job, mega-phoning it around. Facebook was already filled with HIS fallacious resignation; Ladokites pinged & tweeted! It turned to discussion points in hostels, 2go application never slept as the news spread out; it also gained the attention of the media! Shock waves and many groused; the news took people as a surprise; threw students into a convulsive state. And for many it would have been April Fool, but for the fact that it came in the full blossom of August; if it was not April Fool, then certainly fools spread it. Later as the weeks wore on, we discovered the news was only a hoax. Also, a terrible story made the rounds that a guy died beside a calabash, in a particular junction. It was “I heard, I heard.” Nobody saw. It was a hoax. We are so gullible we believe anything! Plausibly, the rumour mongers really had a sweet sail during the recent students uprising which was triggered by the sudden death of a lady. The lady who was making her return from her hostel to school, after getting her Laboratory Coat as ordered by the lecturer-in-charge of the practical class. The death of the lady led to peaceful processions done to honour and pay tribute to the deceased and also in same vein clamoured for a tightened security in our hinterland. The rumour mongers claimed three people died and that lecturer-in-charge of the practical class was beaten to a coma…a point of death...; some said the students vandalized school properties…they claimed to be eye-witnesses whereas nothing of such happened; no traces of the lecturer were found and there was no destruction of school properties whatsoever, as widely reported.. Some even reported that the Students went rioting against the School Authority, NURTW and the Policemen. But I digress! The sad part of it all is how the so called Professional Journalists of the Nigerian Print Medias and pages on Social Networking Sites threw professionalism to the dust, published fake stories without any confirmation from either of the School Authority or the Students’ Union Government of what really transpired. They grossly misinformed the whole world on what happened; brewed false alarm, as many students received distress call from parents, ordering them to come home till the coast is clear. Anyway, if their plan was to tint and dent the image of our UNION; and paint the Union Leaders black; they’ failed! But I digress! Though it is always said that in every rumour, there is always an element of truth; but just as an advice, I enjoin you all to check and validate all rumour before acting upon them and dispose-off those that are harmful to our well-being because we all will be glad that we did. Oluwatomilola Boyinde, TOMI’NIGERIA, PRO, Union of Campus Journalists, Lautech. Oluwatomilola2@gmail
Posted on: Tue, 11 Jun 2013 00:08:33 +0000
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