LEGALIZED EXTORTION OF KADUNA STATE UNIVERSITY STUDENTS IN THE NAME OF ACCOMMODATION

The past government of Kaduna State during the Makarfi administration through the management of KASU leased some plots of land in KASU to certain private investors for the construction of privately owned hostels to accommodate her female students on the basis sessional rent. The lack of accommodation in KASU at that time compelled everyone to applaud the move without given any consideration to the amount they are to charge every interested student for a bed space per session.
For every student that aspires to thrive in his educational pursuits, residing within the confines of his/her institution is of paramount importance, in other to access a conducive classroom to study and learn, a well equipped library to study, make reference and research and to also access latest academic information on Campus in good time. Therefore any serious student will go any length to reside on Campus and in the case of KASU students, they are overwhelmed with only the accommodation option offered to them by those private investors at any cost. Building those female Hostels (Adama, ASD, Hamdala, etc) was a welcomed idea but over the years, it became glaring that the sole aim of those private investors was to create a Goldmine by milking our helpless students. The current price of bed space in a room of four (4) students in KASU has refuted our opinion of free education in this state and the sincerity of our elites in Government with respect to the welfare of the Kaduna state students. With the exception of KASU, There is no government owned high institution in Nigeria were a student pays above ₦10,000 for accommodation. It is inhuman for any investor no matter his quest and greed for making profit to hide under the government and extort our innocent and helpless students by renting them a bed space per annum at; ₦58,000 in Kadabu Hostel, and ₦50,000 in Hamdala and ASD ₦45, 000 Hostels. With these outrageous prices of bed space in KASU, the least a group of four (4) students will surrender to these heartless investors for a single room is ₦180,000 which will without doubt settle the rent of a 2 bedroom flat self contain in most areas of Kaduna state. And with the minimum wage still pegged at ₦18,000, how can a student that depends on a low income parent be able to raise an approximate sum of ₦30,000 as tuition fees and ₦58,000 as accommodation fees? With the present economic situation of our country, it will be difficult for any of those KASU students especially those from a humble background to be able to raise over a hundred thousand for both tuition and accommodation fees without going out of their way. Hence to survive this condition and get education, most female students in KASU will definitely have to go out their way.
Since time immemorial, the essence of governance has always been the welfare of the people but the accommodation of the female students in KASU has proven otherwise and it is obvious that some of our elites in and out of the corridors of power in Kaduna state have over the year’s fine-tuned some educational policies of the government to enable them with the proper opportunity to make a huge dirty profit out of the miseries of those helpless KASU students. This insensitivity has brought untold hardship and academic constraints and has forced most of the KASU students to reside in the suburb settlement of Ungwan Rimi and has left them vulnerable without security at the mercy of Area thugs and street urchins. This insensitivity over the years has prompted us to ask the following questions;
1. Why will the government create a university without any plan of accommodation for her students?
2. Why will the government lease those plots of land in the heart of KASU without regulating the profit they make?
3. Is the Kaduna state government unaware of the plight of these innocent and helpless students in the hands of those private investors all these years?
For the past one decade, the Kaduna state students in KASU under the watch of the Kaduna state government has become an ATM machine for making quick millions by these private investors. The leadership of the Kaduna state students repudiates the extortion of her students in the name of accommodation and will no longer allow these helpless and innocent students to be a conduit pipe for any high profit private investor. Therefore we call upon the Executive Governor of Kaduna state, His Excellency Mallam Nasiru Ahmad Elrufai in the name of justice and his free education initiative to speedily intervene and lessen the burden of these students by rescinding any form of contract the state through KASU management might have entered with these private investors, compensate them and take over those properties for the benefit of the poor students. His Excellency should write his name with Gold in the Annals of good governance in Kaduna state by eliminating this menace that has been shortchanging the ordinary Kaduna state student or join the long list of insensitive and corrupt Elites that has connived with those private investors over the years against the educational progress and welfare of the students of KASU.
We will remain law abiding but we will soon demonstrate our grievances through legal and non violent means. Aluta Continua Victoria Ascerta!
JATAU MUSA LUKA

STRANGE PRACTICES IN AFRICA

Strange things we do in Africa in the name of Culture*

*1. We care more for the dead than we do for the living!*

*2. We spend more to bury a person than we do to save their life.*

*3. We will not travel to go see a sick relative but to bury him/her*

*4. People will rarely respect you while alive but will want to "pay their last respects" to your casket.

*5. A person may NEVER receive roses in their entire life but they will get lots dumped on their graveyard!*

*6. We will spend a night at a neighbour's funeral and it will be our first time to see the inside of their house!*

*7. No one gives a damn to know your village until you die and they will all fill car after car to "escort" your corpse.

*8. We will take the dead to the temple knowing fully well they had nothing to do with worship*while alive.

*9. We might not have granite tops in our kitchens but use the granite in the graveyard!*

*10. An entire village might not have a single house with cement floors but the only place with cement will be a graveyard!*

We have a culture of "hypocrisy"... a culture that is "Pro-death" and NOT "Pro-life!" We need to value life BEFORE death* This is deception!

We need to change our mentality.

The Olympics started in far-away Rio in Brazil. Many countries have adequately prepared their athletes and are eager to see the games begin.

The games kicks off on August 5. While so many countries have completed the preparations of their athletes because they began four years ago; immediately after the London 2012, Nigeria, the most populous black country and “giant of Africa” failed to understand why she is sending her athletes to the games.

This confusion is borne out of the country’s legacy of “fire brigade approach” to virtually everything she undertakes.

One would have expected that as a country which performed woefully at the London 2012 Olympics, Nigeria should have been one of the countries that are by now very much prepared for the edition in Rio but the reverse is the case.

At the London 2012, Nigeria, the self acclaimed or sometime ago giant of Africa did not have a podium finish while some African countries Nigerians believe to be minor and of lower status had their national flags and anthem paraded and sang.

Nigerian Athlete at the RIo Olympics

The failure of the country to have a podium finish did not spur her to take a decision to prepare her athletes adequately for Rio 2016 games in order to take the world by storm and recover the fame of being touted the giant of Africa and one of the world’s super powers in sports.

Nigeria rather went to sleep after the London disaster. The only remarkable step the country took was organising a Presidential Sports Summit immediately after the games.

But the big question is; what benefit was derived from the summit?

With the seriousness attached to the summit held at the Presidential banquet hall in Aso Villa with former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan leading his Cabinet members; the national assembly members, states governors, captains of industries from within and without the shores of Nigeria in attendance the country should have at least learnt how to begin early preparations of her athletes to major competitions like the Olympic Games.

However, the sing song of paucity of funds which delays and in most cases denies athletes their right to adequate preparations so that they attend the games as competitors and not participants still lingers.

Some suspected reasons behind the country’s fire brigade approach to important issues like preparations for the Olympics are that those in government (ministers, Directors General ), even those of them in the presidency and National Assembly seize that opportunity to amass wealth.

I have tried as a journalist to find a country that waits till about a month to a major competition before the funds meant for both preparations and participation are lumped together and released after athletes had cried to high heavens for help during preparations without any concern from the authorities and I have not been able to see one country that shares this identity with Nigeria.

All I have heard and read is how much a country spent in preparing an athlete and how much such country budgeted and released in good time for her contingent to compete in the games

1. This is the basis of my worry. From onset Nigeria in every four years prepare adequately to participate in the Olympics not to compete and that is why most of the medals won previously were by sheer luck.

*The Naked Truth of Life*

There was a man with four wives. He loved his fourth wife the most and took great care of her and gave her the best.

He also loved his third wife and always wanted to show her off to his friends. However, he always had a fear that she might runaway with some other man.

He loved his second wife too. Whenever he faced some problems, he always turned to his second wife and she would always help him out.

He did not love his first wife though she loved him deeply, was very loyal to him and took great care of him.

One day the man fell very ill and knew that he is going to die soon. He told himself, *_"I have four wives. I will take one of them along with me when I die to keep me company in my death."_*

Thus, he asked the fourth wife to die along with him and keep him company. *_"No way!"_* she replied and walked away without another word.

He asked his third wife. She said *_"Life is so good over here. I'm going to remarry when you die"._*

He then asked his second wife. She said *_"I'm Sorry. I can't help you this time around. At the most I can only accompany you till your grave."_*

By now his heart sank and he turned cold. Then a voice called out: *_"I'll go with you. I'll follow you no matter where you go."_*

The man looked up and there was his first wife. She was so skinny, almost like she suffered from malnutrition. Greatly grieved, the man said, *_"I should have taken much better care of you while I could have!"_*

Actually, we all have four wives in our lives.

a. *The fourth wife is our body.* No matter how much time and effort we lavish in making it look good, it'll leave us when we die.

b. *The third wife is our possession, status and wealth.* When we die, they go to others.

c. *The second wife is our family and friends.* No matter how close they had been there for us when we're alive, the furthest they can stay by us is up to the grave.

d. *The first wife is our soul,* neglected in our pursuit of material wealth and pleasure. It is actually the only thing that follows us wherever we go.