The Student Union And UCH Students, SU And US

On the thirteenth of January, 2025, the Student Union released an open letter to the Federal Government. The letter, titled "Open Letter to the Federal Government of Nigeria on the Deplorable State of the University College Hospital, Ibadan," decried the situation of things in the hospital. In the letter, was an expression of a stance that "... healthcare is a fundamental right and not a privilege." This letter also stated that the Federal Government has an ultimatum of seven days to address the pressing issues that plague the hospital. Failure to act would precipitate "no option but to mobilize and protest against this continuous neglect by the government."

This letter, its wording, and timing reveal a significant issue with the demographics of student representation. It is always re-emphasized that the student union is not its executives. Rather, it is a union of the students. As such, no students means no Student Union. The current state of incessantly epileptic power supply to the University College Hospital is not news. As of November, when the drizzles of this current blackout picked up into the storm it still is, many student press organizations among the UCH students refused to write about it as news. The simple reason was it wasn't news anymore. So grave is the situation, that ABH is now Alexander Black Hall, jokingly dubbed a correctional center for criminals convicted for trying to study medically oriented courses.

It is hard to believe that such a spell of gloom would overtake a single hall in the University of Ibadan environs and there wouldn't have been a "mobilization and protest" much earlier. The only sound heard before this release, from the Student Union was an open letter that, to put it accurately, related weakly with the students of Alexander Brown Hall. Not mourning, not sympathy, not empathy, nothing tangible. It is at this point that a few more things must be said. The Student Representative Council is not underrepresented from the end of students in ABH. Neither is there profound apathy from this end regarding the activities of the Student Union. Samson Oluwatobiloba HOST is not the first Student Union president from Alexander Brown Hall. Also, the Council of Faculty Presidents is not spared the involvement of ABH student representatives.

If we have given ourselves up, being represented among students and being representatives of students, why is it that we are not recognized by students as students and hence not represented by the student representatives? What is our sin? Where is the faux pas so great that we have committed? Is there a reason that future health professionals were given this long vacation from electricity, light, and water without any "mobilization and action?" We were left to our devices, eking, pleading, fighting, meeting. If we have been considered a body onto ourselves, an isolated island, if we are stranded Jasons with no escape from Ogygea and this black Calypso, do let us know. That way, at least, we may put our hopes, energy, and effort someplace else. If we are a part of you though, if we have a home in the Student Union, University of Ibadan, please give us something better than this. Palliative statements and half-hearted pats on the back are ensuring that more ABH students forget they are a part of the Student Union.

This is not to disparage the efforts of the Student Union for Alexander Brown Hall. The welfare visits, the fuel donations and the meetings are all recognized and appreciated. This article is not to say they did not happen. This piece simply asks why. Why was our condition treated like a mere headache at a clinic when a similar case within the University of Ibadan would have received urgent attention, akin to treating a snake bite or acute abdomen? Why the mildness of malaria prophylaxis when we face conditions comparable to stage four cancer? It's hard to believe that such a thing would have gone down quietly and easily as our weeks of tenebrism went. A one-week boycott yielded only palliative care. Was the Student Union standing with us, or were we merely being watched with amusement?

All these being said, the 7-day ultimatum has a lot riding on it. If the student population of the University College Hospital gets any response from the Federal Government, great. If not, then there will be a lot to do. Any "mobilization" on the Student Union's part could be a game-changer or a dud. Until then, keep your chargers close, and your buckets closer.

Salami Wisdom