UNIOSUN: THE LOST ONES AND THE REST OF US; BY APOGUNPOTE OLAYIMIKA CHOCOMILO

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On a fateful friday, I ran into a procession of students of Osun State University, Osogbo Campus in the course of discharging my duty as an investigative journalist. I did not want to step out of the car because I have already involved myself in a loads of work but the dry songs of sorrow, the chants of worries and the sounds of distress could not allow me to proceed on my journey. I asked my friend who was already carried away that what could have happened but she nodded in a negative way. I had to leave the car and approached a good looking and beautiful girl maybe she could be able to water my ignorance and at last she did. She replied with a faint voice and I could read aloud the sadness on her face when she said "This is the fifth person; we have lost four to the cold hands of death and we have been looking for him for days but he is no where to be found. Please, help us".



Hmmm....I wept in silence for few seconds and I pondered in silence as if I have the capacity to provide solutions or to help as she requested. I was in deep silence trying to figure out how to convince the lady and her friends or maybe I was thinking of how to tell my fellow students that I'm also a student like them and I belong to the class of the lower citizen. Either the former or the latter but I'm confident that I said something like that and their tears brought out my hidden tears. It was a parade of tears. It started from hike in fees, cultism, epiletic power supply, bad water, poor road network, poor laboratory equipments, non-installed machines, poor standard of living and now our campuses are insecure as a result of kidnapping.


It is very unfortunate and quite disheartening that our society has reduced us to the least form of human existence. We lack basic amenities needed in schools and it is shameful that the irresponsiblity of our government has aggravated to the level in which security of lives and properties in our campuses has become less important.


Kidnapping has turned to modern day professionand many hopes have been dashed away by these miscreants who see the tears of others as a means of wealth. The most unfortunate part is that we have a government who foams in the day and weakens at night. Now that UNIOSUN students could not walk freely around to attend lectures, read at night and make meaningful researches at their leisure time; how shall we define education without fear?


If a tertiary institution could lose five students within a session and people responsible for such act are still walking freely; it shows the deteriorating state of our state security and a clearly stated message passed across to others that state security has been hijacked and it has become individual responsibility to see to his or her safety and that of his or her loved ones.


The sudden disappearance of UNIOSUN students is still astronishing surprising but the need for the rest of us to be careful with friends, boyfriends, girlfriends, oldies, contemporaries, street brothers and sisters is sacrosanct

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