Massive protest at my school

Today has been one word; crazy! I never expected it to turn out this way. I prepared for school as I do every other day, and I was expecting to be back by 4pm but all activities were disrupted before noon.

Let's start from the top

Before resuming school this semester, the vice-chancellor (VC) of the University of Benin (Uniben) announced that all school charges should be paid on or before September 3rd.

She went on to further say that after the deadline, ₦10,000 (around $20) will be added, and another ₦10,000 will be added after 4 days. That's wicked!

My school fees is ₦45,000 ($90), adding ₦20,000 to it will bring the total amount to ₦65,000 ($130). Most of our parents are still trying to balance their businesses after the covid-19 disaster, so coming up with that money in a short time is hard for them.

When I heard of the incoming increment, I was already thinking of a way to tell my parents to quickly send the money, I initially told them they can pay it by November. To cut the story short, they sent me the money on the day of the deadline and I quickly paid.

A lot of persons still didn't pay on the deadline and we were all thinking the fees will be increased the next day, but nothing happened. "Maybe she changed her mind", that's what many of us thought, but she didn't! She was just bidding her time.

Fast forward to Monday, September 13, 2021

We were in school, going about our usual business when information started going around that the school fees has been increased by over 44%, she actually added the extra ₦20,000.

It sparked outrage all over the campus, but nothing happened yet. Later at night, information started spreading online that there will be a protest today, but I didn't take it seriously. I just concluded that just a few persons will participate (I couldn't be more wrong).

My gang and I went to school today as usual and we were discussing the school fees increment and how the VC is wicked. Everywhere still looked normal at about 8am, so we concluded that the protest won't hold and that it was an "audio protest".

I normally go to school through the back gate, so I asked someone that came from the main gate (the proposed site for the protest) if he noticed anything there, and he said he didn't.

Later on, one of my coursemates arrived late to school and said she had to walk from the main gate to our faculty (it's about a 30 minutes walk) because everywhere was blocked. Well, it looked like the protest have started.

We didn't go to protest, so the protest came to us.

We were still at the farm having a meeting with one of our professors when we started hearing shouts from everywhere. One of us told the professor that he needs to end the meeting because we aren't supposed to be here right now.

We were still discussing when a crowd invaded the farm. The protest has arrived! Our professor had to quickly end the meeting and I carried my bag and joined the crowd 😂 Yay! let's get this party started.

I followed them outside and I noticed there were going in another direction, so I had to cut off from them. I checked out the situation of things in my faculty and no lectures were going on.

I went to the opposite faculty which is the faculty of law and all their students have been chased out of the lecture theaters. "Looks like the protest is serious", I said to myself.

I haven't eaten that morning, so I decided to have some food first before I joined the protest. I went to withdraw some money from my account and was about to go to the canteen when I saw two of my friends, they said they are going to join the protest.

On to the protest ground

I decided to just go with them so we all boarded a shuttle bus heading to the main gate. We got halfway and saw another set of protesters who blocked the road and held the bus, they were hitting it and ordered all of us to come down.

My friends were scared and I was just laughing. We got down and were deliberating if to join this set f protesters or to just head on to the main protest. We decided to just go to the main protest at the main gate.

We got to the main gate and I was wowed, the protest was bigger than I thought. The main gate is on a road that links two major cities; Benin and Lagos, and the protesters took advantage of that.

Those in Nigeria should be familiar with the endsars protest that happened last year and the role that uniben main gate played in it. It was one of the major protest grounds in the country that happened on a federal road.

When we arrived, one of my friends (IJ) suggested we climbed the flyover bridge on the road to get a better view of everything. That idea was brilliant but I have one problem; I'm afraid of heights.

The flyover bridge is pretty high, but I just summoned the courage and climbed it. The view from above was indeed very beautiful. We spent time on the bridge taking pictures, but it was time to get into the thick of the protest.

It was time to come down from the bridge, and I discovered that was the hardest part! I was with two ladies and I just knew I can't show any weakness 😂. We descended the stairs and all the way I was feeling like fainting, but I made it to the bottom.

It was all fun and games

Different activities were being done on the protest ground; football, dancing, games. Foods, drinks, and music were present and it all looked like a carnival, right in the middle of the road!

I was feeling bad for the people that were stranded on the road, they are caught in a war between the VC and us the students. But this is the only way we know that can help to get the attention of the VC and the state governor.

I and my friends were just exploring the protest ground and at one point, it started raining snacks! 😃

Someone got the idea to start throwing plantain chips into the crowd and everyone was scrambling to get some. I didn't bother to get any, I don't want to risk getting injured.

Soon after the chips, different other things started raining down including ice cream, bottled water, popcorn. The bottled water is a problem because it can give you a concussion if it hit you on the head.

There is a bakery opposite my school, so it also rained bread 😄. I haven't still eaten anything but I can't be struggling to get snacks on the protest ground.

I told my friends that it's time to leave because I was feeling hungry, both of them brought out money at the same time and offered to buy me something (I felt loved).

I took the money from one of them and just bought a can of coke, which should give me energy for a while. We remained on the protest ground, taking pictures and exploring but after a few hours we decided to leave.

Concluding thoughts

Almost all Nigerian students in public universities have witnessed one protest or the other in their various campuses, it's a norm just like regular strikes.

This protest will probably run throughout this week until the school management has removed the late payment charge they added to the school fees.

The VC is a stubborn woman, but we are more stubborn than her. If she doesn't return the school fees to its previous amount, everywhere will be on lockdown.

Even if I have paid my fees, I still have friends that haven't and I will support them. The fact that I have paid doesn't mean it isn't my business, it might be my turn tomorrow and I will need the support of everyone.

Tomorrow is another day and we will all be coming out in large numbers to continue the protest. School activities have been grounded for now till the VC listens to us.

Victoria ascerta, aluta continua

Thanks for reading 💗💗💗

September 15, 2021