COVID-19 PANDEMIC AND THE NIGERIAN STUDENTS: WHERE TO FROM HERE?
By
UGWUIKE, CHINWEUBA VICTOR
UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA, ENUGU CAMPUS
Being a student in one of the premier and prestigious universities in Nigeria – UNN has been one of my dreams which to the glory of God has come to pass. Secondly, being in final year in my course of study makes the whole story indescribably wonderful and pleasant. I was telling myself that 2020 would be through the grace of God my year of triumphant graduation from the university in flying colours. I envisioned it to be a year of my meritorious crystallization from the purifying and forming crucibles of university education after five donkey years in the den. Little did I know that a monstrous and decelerating encumbrance lay latent waiting for the best time to show up in the light!
The emergence of the corona virus pandemic globally and its infiltration into Nigeria has really dealt an unprecedented blow on the nation at large. Let me tell you a little story: it all started earlier in March when it was only a ‘rumour’ or ‘gossip’ , perhaps that was how I perceived it then. Students were talking about a new disease that had changed the modus vivendi of the people world over. When I attended daily Masses then in the Chaplaincy, the priest would talk about the havoc being wreaked by the disease. These testimonies further validated the news making round the campus then about the novel disease which until then I thought was an illusion and cooked up. Subsequently, sitting arrangements changed during church activities. The social media and the internet became inundated by photos and videos depicting excrescences of human remains littered in many countries across the globe. Those were people whose lives were cut short by the disease. Let me save you the whole stress of going down this memory lane.
Moreover, on the 22nd of March 2020, there was a tumultuous and massive exodus of students from the Campus following the directive by the Federal Government that all schools-tertiary institutions inclusive should be closed down. I could not fathom it that this little breeze that barely crept into the country had metamorphosed into a full-blown hurricane wind; and has forced ‘innocent’ students out of their citadels of learning. Ah! What happens to my vision 2020? What are the hopes of my fellow colleagues-dear finalists who thought that it would be all over this year? What becomes the fate of the other students? These were the questions that flooded my mind then and continue to. The august pandemic has remained adamant like the proverbial visitor that paid a visit and never left the host in peace – may be it should leave first and then let the host be saddled with the pains and discomfort caused. Oh, how I wish!
However, recounting these experiences, I feel embittered and disheartened and I guess I share similar feelings in one way or the other with my fellow students. Endless questions keep bombarding my brain seeking urgent but sincere answers. Till when will this malady come to an end or assume a manageable dimension at least? What happens to the education of the students? Is the government doing anything palpable to salvage the situation or at least manage the cases recorded in a view to ensuring that universities and other schools of higher learning safely reopen? Is the government oblivious of the pains and terrible experiences of students and their guardians occasioned by this pandemic? When will it be all over for COVID-19 to be totally exterminated before things can re-assume their normal courses? All these questions demand individualistic answers borne out of sober reflection and analysis. I will leave you to give your own thoughts.
Students have engaged in all forms of activities some noble, while others are not-ignoble and deplorable! The negative side may be the one topping the chart since the saying that an idle mind is a devil’s workshop still holds true. A lot of students have been expressing feelings of sadness, disappointments and the disappearance of ginger- the zeal to do things, as it is colloquially used among the youth folk. Books and lecture notes have been dumped. The long and seemingly interminable waiting have dispossessed them the little left in their cerebral cortices as jacking ( study) has become a thing of the past. Many students have equally expressed sentiments of lost hopes- that schools will not reopen again and hence, the biblical to your tents O Israel becomes the case. My friend told me that there was nothing like school again, that he had better found some other thing doing, may be learn some handiwork or craft. I agree with him on the part of finding something doing rather than staying idle, but not on schools never reopening again.
In conclusion, the COVID-19 pandemic has come and has perniciously destabilized the whole world; our country and its systems and structures too. The ordeals passed through by average Nigerian students are humongous. The feelings of frustration, hopelessness and despair have overtaken him/her. No schools again! However, it is my candid and humble submission that the plight of the students amidst this perilous time be looked into. The government should sincerely evaluate these issues and take necessary but beneficial steps to address them so that the future of our children, students and the entire nation is not jeopardized. Students are tired of this unending promises and waiting! Finally, my fellow students and Nigerian youth, we should not lose hope. I am an ardent believer in the hope of a great light at the end of the tunnel. Do not despair! Find something noble and engage yourself in. Learn new skills, try new things, explore and fan into flames your hitherto hidden potentials and talents. Break new grounds! Remain focused and expectant as in no distant time, it would be all over and we will return to our respective campuses and schools. Think, behave and act positively!
