MOURNING IN THE MORNING: July 10 Agony and the Horror of Cultism

MOURNING IN THE MORNING: July 10 Agony and the Horror of Cultism

Dunnex writes...

"Oro nla le da ,eh eh oro nla le da( great loss you've bestowed on us)

Eyin te pomo wa te je o dagba (those who killed our child, depriving him of growing old)

Oro nla le da (great loss you’ve bestowed)"

That was the song that rented the air of Obafemi Awolowo University during the 'cold' morning of July 10, 1999 as students mourned the organized assassination of their colleagues by men of the underworld sponsored by the then Wale Omole-led University Administration.

It was a day when the amusing effects of 'Aro' (A type of joke peculiar to OAU) was replaced with free-flowing tears, a day when the ever-bubbling mood of OAU students was replaced with sadness, a day when the sky casted a dim cloud and the cloud was thick with grief and sorrow. A day when the hope and struggle for a better society blinked because of the loss of five intellectual combatants to the cold hands of death, courtesy of the oppressors who derive pleasure in tyranny and calamities. What a day!

"Indeed, July 10 would forever remain an unforgettable memory for OAU students. "So, Eviano Ekelemo would no longer achieve his dream of becoming a Medical Practitioner, Efe Ekede would never live the life of his dreams as a Certied Psychologist, what more of Yemi Ajiteru and Babatunde Oke whose potentials turned mirage. Our Secretary General is no more! So George Iwilade (or Afrika as he was fondly called) would never become a Lawyer.
What a tragedy!"

Those must have been the thoughts that flowed through the minds of many who witnessed the ugly incidence.

The massacre which occured at 4:30am, when about 40 members of the Black Axe confraternity "Aiye" stormed Obafemi Awolowo Hall with shotguns and hatchets in a uniform dress of black trousers & black T-shirts with masked faces. The arrival of the neo-fascist elements was about time that a lot of students were in Awo cafe for different reasons, led to a stampede in Awo café as students scampered in different directions to save their lives when gunshots were being fired. Many students sustained injuries.

What more? The marauding beasts continued their shooting spree as they called out names of radical union leaders who had been a pain in their ass through the campaign against cultism on campus - This they did while advancing for each of their rooms.

Have you ever wondered why OAU is a very safe zone for all? They are the reasons; Lanre Legacy (SU President 1999), George Iwilade 'Afrika' (Sec Gen SU 99) and other students who played significant roles in the fight against cultism.
They were the major targets. However, only "Afrika" was the only executed target, other murdered students were mere accidental victims.

However, the July 10 massacre story remains incomplete without connecting the roles played by some authorities which gave the cultists a favourable environment to carry out their evil deeds.

The July 10 massacre coincided with a period when attacks on public education reached it's climax and the Government became desperate to commercialise public education by outrageous increments in fees.

This led the Government and University to employ and sponsor cultists when it became necessary to silence radical activists that would never succumb to such anti-students policies.

Then the question that still begs for answer nineteen years after the massacre is; where were the security officers at the University Gate? What was their response to such movement at a time the gate should still be under lock (according to the University's regulations), why was electric power withdrawn that particular night? Could it all have been a case of coincidence or premeditated calculation?

Even if it were a case of coincidence which is unarguably improbable, reactions from the university authorities before and after the attack clearly indicates the side they belong to. Before and after the attack, culprits that were apprehended by students and handed over to the university management never faced any 'serious' disciplinary action compared to what is being melted on student activists who demand a free and better system for all.

Some of the arms that would serve as evidence were retrieved from the cultists and submitted to the authorities but it had no effect as they destroyed all available evidences themselves.

Albeit, confessions made by some of the apprehended cultists pointed the then Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Wale Omole as the masterplanner of the gruesome murder. It was equally established that the cultists were handsomely paid by the Vice-Chancellor and the said money was disbursed by the University Bursar.

With recourse to such confession, one needs not to imagine so much on the reason the July 10 attack was successful, also, the reason for the destruction of all available evidence cannot be farfetched.

With a comprehensive view of the above analysis, then one should understand the underlying factor for the violent attacks on student activists. Yes, they can. They can go any length to achieve their evil aims. One need not imagine why the university management takes no delay in 'punishing' student activists but suddenly become lethargic to discipline cultists and other issues that are more pressing.

Do we still need to ask why the university jailed five of her students for resisting forceful eviction? Do we still need to ask why the university suspended three of her students for leading peaceful protest? Do we need to ask why the management is yet to deal with past union administrators that ushered cultists into campus? Do we still need to ask why the state of security on campus has declined? Do we still need to ask why cultism now becomes more pronounced on campus?
Do we need to ask why Afrika's portrait has been withdrawn from Awo café?

Once again, the night is fading...the day is long gone...the morning is coming fast and faster than we think, our men have chosen the silent path. Now, our land is on the brink of another mourning in the mourning.

N.B: Our freedom on OAU campus was not gotten through silence and it won't ever be sustained through silence.

It is on this note I withdraw by saying to prevent another violent massacre, death of another ‘AFRIKA’ and to prevent another mourning in the morning, we all have to start watching in the afternoon and guarding in the night .

DUNNEX SAMUEL
(Ag. Coordinator of Education Rights Campaign OAU Branch & Member, Democratic Socialist Movement)