DIRECTIONLESS- THE NIGERIAN STUDENTS’ BAILIWICK.
INTRODUCTORY POST
I didn’t think I’d be starting an online journal this year, but there is a lot I didn’t think will happen this year, so this is definitely on track by 2020’s standard. Journal as in day to day entries. In 7 months, I have grown from expecting school to start and my life to go on to feeling like I am losing my sense of direction. Sometimes I sense frustration building and I am just looking for a medium of expressiveness. This time though, I don’t want to express alone. This is a journal for Nigerian Undergraduate Students who have had their plans disrupted, who are in confusion as to what to do, where to go from here.
I have asked myself what purpose does this serve? To what end? Do I just want to have rants on this space? What sort of value will this add to the lives of contributors and readers? I am a value person; I never do something if I feel there will be no impact caused. This journal is indefinite and short term. I don’t expect it to last years as it is my hope that soon ASUU strike will be called off and the bulk of Nigerian Students will go back to school. It is my intention however to create a platform of expressiveness for Nigerian Students, to share their thoughts, their feelings, their stories in this period. Life as we knew it changed this year, I feel strongly though that it affected the Nigerian Student more than any category of people in the world, and oh yes, the world. We have been taught over time in this country that education is your most important asset, school has been out for months and a lot of students haven’t been able to get other things done. About 80% of Nigerian undergraduates do only school work. Our lecturers, our parents and the Nigerian standard tells us its grades first although we see now that it is not (PS. I am very pro-school, and pro-grades, but it’s starting to sink in for real that our educational system in Nigeria is far from sustainable, school has been placed so highly that without it, many Nigerian students feel like they have no direction).
D-I-R-E-T-I-O-N-L-E-S-S means lacking a guiding, governing or motivating purpose. B-A-I-L-I-W-I-C-K is the sphere in which one has superior knowledge or authority- a special domain. I have in many months become an authority in lacking direction, as I am certain many Nigerian students too have become. Did you know, you can write and be consulted about a thing when you are an authority? You even get to be quoted and referenced. I only want to publish the words of authorities. The mere fact that you feel like you are suffocating in all of this and your life’s plans are shattering before your eyes makes you an authority. You may have done a couple of virtual internships, few or even very many online courses, picked up a new skill but still feel lacking, I have been in these spots, you still qualify as an authority. The only qualification is that you have a story to share. And because we are value adders, we will share lessons we have had to learn mildly or rudely in this period. We will share how we have been able to stay sustained in all of this. The goal is that your story (ies) be told.
I mean we are the grass, ASUU and the government are the Elephant and the Hippo. We are the most affected, the ones who pay the price of their decisions, and we are the least considered, the least listened to. We are the pawns that have to suffer the consequence of a war we are not even fighting.
DIRECTIONLESS is our spot to vent, to feel better, to learn. We have learnt in the harshest way, which is not all bad that our lives have to be more than school. We must start to do other things, so we don’t feel this way anymore.
Pour your stories, write in the deepest words how you feel, tell us what you think the government and ASUU can do, share what you have learnt in this period, tell us how you have stayed afloat, what is your life guard. You can share your stories using only your first name or initials, add your schools name and your level for authenticity though.
Don't forget to send in your stories and experiences to directionless.by.tnsb@gmail.com
2020 has been a very horrid year for
me. I have had the worse kind of mood swings. Still don't know if the online courses I engage in was worth it because I haven't been able to gain any thing useful with it 😑. I have so big plans but I am indeed with a direction, tried seeking a mentor but everyone seems so busy with their lives or interested in how much u could pay😓. I find myself so glued to my phone that everyone around me may say I am lazy. No one really understand that that is only way I can manage to stay sane and seek opportunities for anything progressive. This platform is quite useful and will be better if anyone could get help through it... Thanks to the brain behind directionless♥️.
#callmequent
Life seems like a ball game of extreme pressure, where the little you do just isn't enough. People may think you're getting it, but are you really?
I just tire sha.