Reorientation Campaign

 

I bit my tongue again, as I jerked at the sparks of hurtful words that flew out of his mouth, through his thick dark lips.

            “I will not tolerate any form of indiscipline from any of you. Submit this assignment before 12 noon on Wednesday. Or else, forget about passing this course and prepare to come back next year to see my ugly face. Ask your predecessors of how much I dealt with them.”

            Certainly, Dr Williams’ face was unavoidably ugly. Perhaps, due to those horrifying lips of his, which had a permanent curve downwards, the complete replica of a sadist. I blamed myself for taking up that course. It was an elective but I really wanted to do philosophy in school, which was totally different from my field. Dr Williams was a renowned lecturer in the department and he had given a tough research assignment on that Monday morning. Requesting its submission on Wednesday, that same week.

            He was not the only one in this business of sadism. Many students kept on rewriting his courses, even after the stipulated time for their degree study had elapsed. I watched him closely, observing him, right into the darkness in his heart. His dark lips depicted it all. He cursed and threatened without mercy as he talked as someone determined to have more carryover students for the semester. I switched glances from him to the classroom, discovering the same expressions of sadness on the faces of my course mates. Then, I began to ask myself silently:

            “Must it always be like this? Must some lecturers be bent on failing students? Is this really what we expect in the Nigerian educational system, frustration? Which way Nigeria?” I really think that some Nigerian University lecturers should go through some reorientation exercise. We need REORIENTATION FOR OUR LECTURERS!