As Africans, one value we've been taught right from childhood is to never cry wolf. Whatever the situation we are going through, we learn to endure as much as we can and not to make a fuss. Even when something seems amiss, we have been indoctrinated in the art of gaslighting ourselves, trying to convince ourselves that those oddities are only in our minds just to be sure we are not making unnecessary waves. More importantly, as journalists, campus journalists no less, we have been trained repeatedly in the act of checking, cross-checking, and double-checking, dotting the ‘i’s and crossing the ‘t’s to ensure as much balance and accuracy as possible. For this piece, the title asks a bold question on a quite dicey phenomenon. But the question is fair, given the individual factors and overall picture considered. The headline of this piece is a screaming headline, which is also fair given the fact that the issue it examines screams for an even greater level of attention and scrutiny.
Normally, Zikites are the type of people who will definitely not see themselves as victims; even when things are getting out of hand, they just adjust and adapt. And when the situation gets even more ridiculous, they make jokes about it like the Nigerians they are. In one of our previous reports, we delved into theft in Zik Hall over the course of fifteen months. Even though we only highlighted the standout cases and tried to trace obvious and not-so-obvious patterns, the issues raised in the article still continue to plague the Baluba kingdom and its people. When that article was published, we were not expecting a drastic change, and it is rather sad to say that not much has changed. The only difference between that time and now is probably that the article was published in May and this is July. And between then and now, more recent cases have occurred; more hall properties have been vandalised, and more residents in the hall have lost their valuables.
Between May and this period, an individual was almost badly beaten for allegedly stealing clothes, and another individual had his room broken into and his padlock broken right in broad daylight with his floormates as witnesses because the perpetrator claimed that was his room. Two other individuals had their rooms broken into in C block. In another instance, one of the vendors in Zik Hall was affected; his source of livelihood was carted away by an unscrupulous individual. Even the hall properties are not spared, as an individual was allegedly spotted trying to steal the wire around the Zik transformer. All these are the cases that the Nnamdi Azikiwe Hall defence team has heard of and confirmed. There are probably still more. Diverse factors played their distinct roles in this.
First there is the ever-present issue of strangers roaming the hall. Given how literally open the hall is, it is often difficult to know who is who; even then, most individuals are reluctant to point out strange faces, as this might lead to unwanted unease for them. There is also the issue of carelessness in some quarters, by the hall's residents, the eventual victims of theft, and so on. In a chat with the defence minister, Emiola Waliu, and his team's chief security officer, Ajuwon Restoration , the latter pointed out that another factor that contributes to issues of theft in Zik Hall is the issue of how dark the hall can be at night and in cases when there is no light. While some other halls can boast of having solar lights for their floors and are easily able to identify friend or stranger, Zik Hall lies in darkness, leaving its residents even more vulnerable.
Ironically, there's also cause for concern for the safety of the individuals perpetrating the theft. Almost every other day on the Hall's official WhatsApp group, there is a Zikite lamenting about his clothes, shoes, or any other property being stolen. Some of the individuals affected still talk about it days later, which is normal. What is concerning is the general sense of consensus on the kind of treatment the next apprehended suspect will receive. Ordinarily, one would not expect that an apprehended suspect be given a red carpet welcome, but the kind of response that this situation is building up to could be one that comes at great bodily harm for any apprehended individual. Anyone who objects to this is regarded as out of his mind. And indeed, who in their right minds would object? In a setting where such craziness persists, of course logic, humanity, and other laws of human order begin to lose their voice.
Apart from the rampant cases of theft, there is also the issue of dangerous animals roaming the hall. A couple of weeks ago, a snake was killed in Zik Hall. Even before that there had been sightings of snakes and monitor lizards. In one instance, a snake was killed in a room on C block's ground floor. This is rather enabled by how bushy the surroundings of the hall can be at times. The issue of bushiness and dirtiness has allowed for a favourable breeding space for these dangerous animals. It is rather appalling that they are now coexisting with Zikites, strolling around their surroundings and popping up once in a while in their rooms.
On a psychological level, seeing how easily one's belongings could get stolen often drives people to do one of two things. They either become extremely paranoid, or they become overly unconcerned. In Zik Hall, the brunt of this issue falls on the defence minister. It is important to note that for how terribly this issue has escalated, the Emiola Waliu-led defence team has literally hopped above and beyond when it comes to spreading the message of vigilance, employing all forms of media, both online and physical, to spread the message of vigilance and security consciousness. Surely, there are certain individuals, most of them freshmen, who have no sense of self-security or perception of danger. With the survival instincts of a deer, which these guys possess, the blame falls on the defence team when their stuff goes missing. But then, there are also individuals who have adopted a more morose outlook on the issue, those whose properties were stolen despite their vigilance and have resultantly become moribund. Dealing with the struggles of academic work, financial hurdles, and other miscellaneous loads, and then having to worry about losing one's properties and valuables can produce responses like that.
Being the defence minister in this kind of situation is not a glamorous job. After spreading the message of security consciousness almost every other day, he and members of his team go on raids and patrols to test how adherent residents of the hall are to these rules. Normally, raids are something that happen once in a while, but this semester the defence team has gone on raids three separate times, according to records the team showed to Zik Press. In the first instance, about 14+ phones and electronic gadgets were taken from rooms whose occupants failed to lock their doors, with these properties eventually returned with a firm reminder to the affected persons to be security conscious. These messages did not seem to have been deeply imparted, as during the last raid, about 50+ phones, laptops, and other electronic gadgets were taken, according to the Hall's chief security officer, Ajuwon Restoration.
Nonetheless, this headache is not Zik's defence minister's alone. Recently, UI'SU and the Council of Defence Ministers announced the Campus Defenders initiative. Soon there were calls for membership, and Uites from all over were encouraged to register to become part of the team. On the one hand, this would have looked alright and fair in order to address security concerns in other areas of campus. But then, it also points to how the issue of overall security of the UI campus is. Ordinarily, the UI'SU is not famed for its wise choices in terms of committees and councils they form; almost every member of the executive council in each hall and faculty belongs to an association of his contemporaries in other places. The most popular ones are the Council of Hall Chairpersons, the Council of Faculty Presidents, the Board of PROs, the Council of Health Ministers, and so on. However, the recent emergence of the Council of Defence Ministers to tackle issues of security in the wider campus context, especially given the fact that the school already has a security unit, calls out an even graver concern.
For individuals who have been charged with the primary responsibility of looking after the safety and security of their various halls, these individuals who themselves remain students now taking it upon themselves to hold strategic security meetings and patrol the school, the message their actions are passing is not a good one. Is the school's security unit now so insufficient to take care of its own issues that students must now step up?
In the meantime, Abefele has been commendably quick in responding to calls from Zik Hall, but for how long will this last? The hall needs more proactive steps and security measures from the school authorities because, as it stands, even individuals who have been apprehended and taken away can still come back. Security is not something that can be taken off at once. It's like the head of the hydra; in this case, when one is chopped off, ten more grow in its place. Persistent and continued efforts must be put in place to constantly combat this issue. This article will not deign to teach the security teams, neither the school authorities’ nor the cheery student-led Campus Defenders, how to do their jobs; rather, it is to point out the threats to our safety and security and the huge gaps that still lie in our defence.
In the end, the question comes to the fore and gets asked again. Given all the factors that have been put forward, the nature of the hall, and the level of security consciousness among its residents, as well as the overall state of security in the school, the question of how safe Zik Hall is is a question that anyone can easily deduce answers to.
