“THANK YOU!” The words ‘ thank you’ are just too minimal to express my heartfelt gratitude and appreciation to all those who made this year’s birthday, tuesday 10th day of September, 2013, a colourful and memorable one for me. I feel special, loved, humbled, gleeful and indebted for the copious gifts, goodwill, wishes and encomiums bestowed on me via calls, sms’, messages on bbm, facebook, yahoomail, etc. Indeed you have celebrated me more than words can tell. I am most grateful! May Jehovah, the source of every good thing bless you this day and always! Amen!!! There was a particular message I received from a young man I chose to call a clown. The content was inter alia as follows ‘u shall live lng like methsalah, ur unborn daughter Saphina ‘ll nt sch in 9ja, Asuu ‘lln’t fustrate ha’ To me the message came at the right time in that while I was celebrating my birthday, ASUU was celebrating 70 day old strike but at the same time demoralized and diminished because I ought to have been celebrating this year’s birthday as a Lawyer and not as a law undergraduate. Thus i have to elect whether to do battle with the system or sit down and do nothing to change the hardship around us posed by some of our recalcitrant lecturers and a government that has failed the utility test on education. The pitiable state of our school worries me. I wonder how the present academic and political actors will be content with shutting down academic activities, thereby delaying and destroying destinies of our youths. This clearly demonstrates the lack of zeal to champion education as the bedrock of human development. No people can reap the benefit of its natural resources without a corresponding competent human resource base. As it is our case, the lopsided education has misdirected the energies of our Youths. In Rivers State for example, there is no sector of the economy where Rivers Men and Women have their feet firmly rooted. Expectedly, many have turned to politics as means of employment and not for service to the teeming poor. This has enthroned the culture of wealth worshiping in our towns and villages. This is incurably bad and as long as this state of affairs continues, we will continue to raise unprepared graduates who will find it difficult to stand the challenge of nation building. Men and Women though willing to make contributions towards our well being are unable to do so because they have been short changed by the system. To ASUU; you should note that just like human wants are insatiable, your demands will definitely continue and no government anywhere in the world can grant 100% of this demands. And that this problem is not peculiar to you . My own father served this country gallantly and meritoriously for 35 years, 11 years in Mopol 5, Benin city and 24 years in various parts of Nigeria as a policeman respectively. Surprisingly, in the end, he was paid only about 40% of his retirement benefits. He had never thought of joining the Boko haram sect or Niger delta militants to frustrate government’s effort in building the Nigerian nation. Hence, you should be considerate in your demands. At this juncture, I shall pause to say a million thanks to the visitor of my school Rt. Hon Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi and our amiable and hardworking Vice Chancellor, Professor B. B. Fakae for making strike a thing of the past in Rivers State University of Science and Technology, Port Harcourt. I will forever remain grateful and indebted to this two great men and continue to celebrate Katsina Alu’s decision in Amaechi V INEC (2007) 7-10 S.C. 172 that brought Amaechi into play. To the government; it is trite that to build is more difficult than to destroy but in trying to build, you must shun empty promises. The law is that pacta sunt servanda meaning, agreement must be kept. If you are quick to enter into any agreement with ASUU, you must not renege but keep to the terms of the agreement because nobody both at common law and equity is allowed to approbate and reprobate on at the same time. In Military Governor of Lagos State V Ojukwu (1986) All N.L.R 233, the supreme court admonished the Government to always respect the rights of the citizens and this includes the rights of ASUU. To the judiciary; you are the last hope of the common man. You must always strive to live up to expectations and must dispense justice without fear or favour. I heard of a justice of the court of appeal who accepted bribe to the tune of two million naira in a matter pertaining to chieftaincy stool and died shortly, after delivering his judgement. It is sad because the Nigerian judiciary is under siege. The desperation of politicians to have a soft landing for themselves through the courts is making them to bastardize the judiciary. If the judiciary which should be the bastion of justice becomes a cesspit of corruption, what hope is there for ASUU and the nation at large? Perhaps this could be the reason why ASUU has been reluctant in seeking the face of the court. However, this is not to be accepted completely as we still have men of integrity in the judiciary especially at the appellate level. We only hope that the judiciary gets better. ASUU, please go back to work! E. E. PANTALEON Esq
Posted on: Wed, 11 Sep 2013 14:35:22 +0000
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