SCHOOL FEES AND BENUE STATE UNIVERSITY

Mr. Terzungwe Tser Vanger, the Principal Assistant Registrar (Information and Public Relations) of the Benue State University (BSU) did his job alright when he responded to my piece, “Akume and Suswam Must Do Restitution,” but he was just doing his job. If truth be told, Benue State is the poorest state in Nigeria because poverty is rife, thus it becomes really troubling to concerned folks like us that this terrible state of want is being rubbed down on the young ones by way of inability to pay school fees. Over here in the North and across Nigeria, to admit you are a Benue person is to be told that all the houses of prostitution nearby are occupied by “your sisters.” You can only be momentarily disheartened about this because it is the hard, cold fact.

You can do a self-pity analysis and wonder why the home-front is not working; you wonder why salaries are not being paid and you wonder why cash and investment in-flows are near rock-bottom. Your heart breaks because you cannot help the situation and it pains you if you hear that those at the helm of affairs are living the good life of their contemporaries in other states whilst the poor folks at home are being mowed down by foreign cattlemen. Benue State is not cursed, not at all, this state is just poor but we can pull it out of its wretched state. The people of Benue State have a great heart and desire for hard and honest work. We should be bold and ignore jibes from others; if we cannot get increased federal allocation or some cash inflow infusion, why not legalise the prostitution that our “sisters” are known for and have them all re-locate back to Benue State, be housed in government-sanctioned, template-based housings and then have their horny patrons chase them to Benue State? What’s there to be ashamed of? True, these “sisters” that others mock us about are some of the most beautiful ladies that live in Nigeria; they are all over town at beer gardens, too. Must we be ashamed of our “sisters” and not pause to do an academic thing by inquiring of them what the problem was?

They are not garbage to be shunned and discarded; these are human beings who chose prostitution because starvation is the next option. They should not “waste” and be derided by no-good jackasses. Anyone who is not from Benue State would not understand the pain and fire in my heart; my case is painfully anecdotal and it hit me real hard just recently. The Benue State Government should bring these “sisters” home and this government should fix the school fees imbroglio at the BSU right away. Sunday Adole Jonah, Department of Physics, Federal University of Technology, Minna, Niger State