World-class?

I am in a world-class university. I have always been proud of that. I have always enjoyed the attention that comes with being associated with The University of Nairobi. I have smiled every time I have heard students chant “Comrades’ Power!” I may have even joined in once or twice; UoN loyalty. I have watched with amusement as politicians, the media and especially students from other universities-the rest of them- have criticized us for being bold and for expressing ourselves in ways no other students in the universe could match up to. For using big words like ‘cantankerous’, ‘obnoxious’ and the like. For being intelligent. I say amusement because I know that even as they express their little negative concerns, deep down, they wish they were students of The UoN. They wish they were alumni of this great institution. They wish they were lecturers here or members of staff; cooks at Arziki, custodians at the halls of residence-may no one ever wish to be a custodian- even cleaners! I know that. Your secret is not safe.

I hate Facebook. I do not know what people go to look for on Facebook but I can tell you to visit “The New Comrades’ Forum” and you will see what I am talking about. Comrades oozing with wisdom and onlookers green with envy. I agree we can be a little-no, a whole lot- reckless and unruly, totally out of control in our words and our actions. “#No mercy,” goes the hashtag. Comrades can really fry you and have you for dinner-with just words. Comrades can also stone the Harrier you bought yesterday and not give a hoot about it. I am not saying that I am proud of these things. No, I am not. Dear comrades, do not stone people’s Harriers again. Even Proboxes do not deserve persecution.

I just love the spirit of togetherness, of loyalty and of a quest for justice that drives these dear comrades. I love the chants of “Tibim” and “Riah” that I do not fathom yet I find myself nodding in approval. Even the trending “Mbithi must go” slogan. I approve. I seriously think Mbithi should go. No, that man must go. He must go home to his wife and kids. I am sure he has enough money now to buy water dispensers to last him and his loved ones a lifetime. Mbithi, go. Ukambani welcomes you.

During graduation ceremonies, I have almost burst with pride every time I have seen scholars shaped by UoN. Every time I have heard of graduates with huge credentials; some I have tried to pronounce, failed and finally given up and continued smiling and being proud of my school, the professors and the management. “Every one of the rest of the universities should learn from this great institution, the great University of Nairobi,” I have thought. But now, I officially change my stand. To the rest of the universities; do not emulate UoN. Do not let your management be like ours. Well, your students can aspire to be like us, we are awesome! We also have badass lecturers like Dr. Jonyo and Dr. Nyarwath and Dr. Ken Ouko. But our management; no. No. No. It is rotten. And stinking. I once idolised it. I was wrong but that’s just fine because a comrade is never wrong, whether right or wrong.

My love for UoN started to show symptoms of weakness when we were sent home on a long holiday after just one semester of school. Double intake blunders, I thought. And forgave. And forgot. Not until they did the exact same thing semester after semester for three years now. Personally, I have nothing against long holidays. If anything, I appreciate them a great deal. I hate school, you know. And the holidays are like summers to me. They give me time and a chance to do things I want to do; to try out new things, to start a stupid business and fail, to do all the silly things in the world. Real life exams. What I do not appreciate is their idea that they can turn our lives upside down, inside out, delay our future after school, waste our time, tell us this then that then this again, play with us like a tennis ball…and the worst part; expect us to sit there and watch then later give them a standing ovation. Silly.

The condition of my dislike for my school deteriorated when during the strike this April, they couldn’t protect innocent students doing great things in the library and those cramming Romberg at ADD building. They could not protect our fair ladies in Hall 5. They watched them harassed and robbed. They watched us beaten up with and rolling in muddy water along Lower State House Road all the way to those devastatingly high, devastatingly crammed lorries and into the Central Police dungeon. They watched our beautiful bums being massacred. I forgave them-UoN, not GSU. Never GSU- A wee bit of the great love I once felt towards my university still existed, hidden somewhere in my heart. It was too much, too great to be lost in just a day. Men in greenish uniform (which I like, by the way. Not so much but I think when worn by someone with the right figure/physique,  look really sexy) and ridiculous clubs, helmets, shields and with guns would not come between us. Nothing would do us part.

Then one day, suddenly, like a flash of lightning or like a Nigerian ghost when he sees another ghost, the little love, the little respect, the little admiration I had left for this institution vanished. Will I ever regain it? I do not know. This is the day they wouldn’t let us have one school bus to attend my friend’s burial. Even as I write this, I am still in disbelief. How could they, these UoN management people-student affairs, maybe? I mean, what does a world-class university do?

      Answer: It ensures the well being of its students in a special way, in a world-class way. In a way that will constantly reassure them that they are worthy.

UoN did not do this last week. So dear reader, I am not in a world-class university. Forget my previous statement. First of all, they suspend my friend from school. For what? For being hospitalised all semester long? You could ask yourself how he managed to fight for his life at KNH and participate in a strike or hide bhang, metal rods, and bloodstained knives simultaneously. Did he magically put all the doctors and gatemen to sleep and escaped, did all those crazy things and made it back just in time not to raise any suspicion? Or did he stop time like in the movies?

It is painful even to think about it. Even more painful to remember how much trouble they put him through. How he had had to travel all the way from Meru to Nairobi to prove his already crystal-clear innocence, to collect his suspension letter and to attend a goddamned hearing. It hurts and I don’t think you will ever understand this, UoN management and that Senate I hear about. You should have proved to be a world-class university last week. My friend is not of the world anymore. The least you should have done for him even as a simple apology was to give his friends and classmates a bus-just one of the fleet you own- to go and be with him in his transition from this world. To mourn with his family, to support them. But you failed, yet again. But terribly this time around. I am disappointed. I am angry.

So even as you give your speeches on how the institution is heaven on a piece of land and as you boast to the universe about the great UoN Towers coming up, I will be thinking of my friend and what you denied him.

For Lewis.

Rest in peace, Sugar.
You live on.