Kiishi-Lagos

My LASU

By Adeola Adejokun

I could not have opted for any other university than the Lagos State University (LASU). First reason, it is within Lagos metropolis and very close to my home, offering me the advantage lacked by pursuing my secondary school education at St Peters Unity Secondary School, Akure, Ondo State. Second, I had high hopes of nurturing my fledging game centre business into a standard game arcade, an enterprise best suited to thrive in low income neighbourhoods in Lagos with the critical mass that do not video game consoles at home. Above all, I had made up my mind to study philosophy out of fascination for the thoughts of Marcus Aurelius.

I took the Joint Admission Matriculation Board (JAMB) examination and was admitted to study philosophy in LASU in 1996. The preceding academic session was disrupted by the industrial strike action of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), which equally delayed resumption until 1997. Once the university opened, events moved quite fast. Registration was quickly over and instead of the usual orientation week for fresh students, we were left to our devices to discover the campus on our own.  

It was not with the usual trepidation peculiar to new intakes at boarding schools. However, in terms of serenity and sporting infrastructure the Ojo campus in 1996 was no match for the collegiate atmosphere of St Peter’s College, a colonial cum catholic missionary institution that transmuted from tertiary institution into a secondary school. Ironically, Lagos State University took off at the old site of Government College, Ojo.

There was nothing interesting to me in my first few days at LASU because the Vice Chancellor, late Professor Fatiu Akesode, banned social activities on campus.  However, I seemed to be making friends more easily than ever.  I recall seeing a few faces that were at primary and secondary school with me. Distinctly, I remember, meeting a primary school mates Sumbo Ogunranti, Alexander Pinheiro in class.      

Having gone without an official orientation programme the Scripture Union people and the Club boys seemed to be the only ones keen about the guiding fresh students on how to make the best of life on campus. The scripture union people were determined to win you over to Jesus Christ before becoming contaminated by the debauchery associated with campus life. One is hassled and stalked fervently by Scripture Union preachers to ensure participation in the array of programmes already lined up for fresh students.

On the other side are the Sigma Phis, Sin Qua Non, Effective Gentlemen etc., the clubs of the socially aware, supposedly exposed and sophisticated students who were strangers to poverty by virtue of the middle and upper class backgrounds. They went about spruced up in the best of American designer clothes, and were very stiff and aloof, priding themselves as societal standards of sophistication on the university campus. Unlike the Scripture Union brethren, their club is open to a select few from well-heeled homes.

At about the same time academic activities revved up with the university authorities desirous of making up for lost time. Getting back to academics, I was not what you could regard as a strict arts or humanities character because I was nominally in the science class throughout senior secondary school based on pressure from the home front. Although, I had always been in love with arts and humanities disciplines, I assumed that I necessarily must work harder than my peers who had the benefit of arts and humanities education at the senior secondary level. It became apparent by mid-semester that I am not disadvantaged.

I took most of my elective courses from the Departments of English and Religion. These departments were like centres for intellectual conversations on artistic, literary and religious. Young Turks who are not wary of challenging conventional wisdom held sway, attracting more than a fair share of elective students. Lecture halls were packed full during Mr. Danoye Laguda Oguntola’s African Traditional Religion (ATR) lectures because it was always a stimulating experience. Same for Ojo Olorunleke’s literature classes and its scintillating revolutionary ‘Mau mau’ flavours.

Mr. Oguntola, now a PHD holder, was a fantastic lecturer. He introduced all in his class to thee main areas of the course, making it appear so easy. Perhaps because of this many that passed through his class developed interest African traditional religion which they may be unable to purge from their system.   

Ironically, the Department of Philosophy lacked the same potency except for the efforts of Dr.Maduabuchi Dukor, Dr. Jide Ojo and Dr. Wale Olajide. Most of my course mates also rarely talk about branches of philosophy such as epistemology, ethics and metaphysics on an intellectual level. Some of them are often too ashamed to say that they were studying philosophy. The class was partly filled with unsuccessful applicants to the Faculty of Law, as well as soldiers, police men and men of the secret service, who were equally students. Not until I was about to leave the university did the tempo rise intellectually because we had the likes of Professor Sophie Oluwole and Professor Kolawole Ogundowole join the department as visiting lecturers.

By far my most memorable memories of LASU are both academic and extra-curricular in nature. On the academic side was the healthy rivalry initiated between the Department of Philosophy and The Faculty of Law. Initiated by Kelechi Anunibe, President of National Association of Philosophy Students, Lagos University Chapter and Kunle Oguntokun, President of the Law Students Association, this intellectual rivalry culminated into debate between the barely popular Department of Philosophy and the ‘almighty’ Faculty of Law reputed to be Nigeria’s foremost in terms of quality of graduates at that period. The outcome of the debate was positive for the department. It boosted the moral of many in the department who were hitherto ashamed of their inability to gain admission into the Faculty of Law.

LASU is not a residential campus. This does not avail course mates enough platform to socialize and bond. A few of us in the department deliberated on this and opted to organize beach parties, publish magazine, organise dinners and awards to fill the yawning social gap. The closeness of LASU to Badagry and its motley beaches were leveraged. We contributed and sourced funds from like minded undergraduate students in the department to organise a dinner and awards night outside the campus for the department. Hence many in the Department were able to make valuable friends, with some of this friendships culminating into wedlock and business partnerships.