On Fellowship Buses… By Adebisi Adeniji

The University of Ibadan is perhaps one of the most socially backward tertiary institutions in Nigeria, the uplift of the ban on student union activities did little or nothing to help matters,our focus is mostly on academics and how to make “seven points”. We are socially behind the likes of OAU,UNIBEN and the fun city of UNILAG although we would rather die than admit it. However,what we lack in social activities we make up for in academics as I earlier mentioned and of course religion. There are currently over thirty fellowships in the university with students at the helms of affairs and the executives of such fellowships taking such titles a “momsy”,”popsy” etc. Most of these fellowship are subsidiaries of bigger churches in the society, Redeemed Christian Fellowship(RCF),Winners Campus Fellowship(WCF),CACSA to mention a few, taking after the steps of the bigger churches,the structure of these fellowships is a hierarchy of some sort as there are fellowship presidents,hall pastors,block representatives etc. Meetings are held every other day of the week,from morning devotions to hall meetings and retreats, it is not uncommon to hear brethrens “casting and binding” in one room or the other. Posters announcing different religious programmes grace strategic places in the institution leaving one to wonder how many of these gatherings to attend. One of the hilarious issue about the whole show is the early morning announcements in halls of residence by member of fellowships seeking to publicise one religious programme or the other,the announcement is often form in of a call and response,below is a typical example;
Call: Good morning Awoites…
Response: Good morning…
Call: This is the voice of…
Response: Assembly of the faith children.
Call: We are here to remind you of…
Response: Watercircle 2013… etc till they communicate the venue,date and other necessary information about the programme. This they do as early as 5 in the morning and on top of their voices too,needless to say most students’ sleep are disturbed.
Student sow seeds of faith and contribute towards such causes as procurement of musical instruments and most importantly,felloship buses. It is therefore surprising that some of these buses turn a blind eye when the same set of students need help with transportation,it is not uncommon to see a church bus speed past students waiting for transportation to convey them to various destinations. Particularly affected are residents of such halls as Obafemi Awolowo and Queen Idia,these halls are located far from the academic area of the university of Ibadan and getting transportation to “school area” from these hall is like a camel going through a needle’s eye,most times, the inhabitants of these hall go late to class and sometimes miss classes not because they were not ready in time but because they did not get transportation early,it would therefore be of relief if fellowship buses can render help to such students but the reverse is the case. Awo hall for instance, is very close to an area known as “mount zion”,a religious arena where different fellowships have pitched their tents,it is not a new thing to see a fellowship bus emerge from the arena after having dropped off members of the congregation or musical instrument and zoom pass Awoites with reckless abandon,one is therefore forced to ask,of what cost will it be to transport students to their destinations,saving them from the stress of having to wait under the scorching sun and also save them money,even if the driver(who are oftentimes students) cannot convey everybody,they can enquire about those going towards the same direction the bus is headed and help them. Some of these buses would zoom pass you even if the rain is threatening to beat the hell of you and it is obvious you are headed towards the same direction.
Are these buses only meant to transport UItes to and fro fellowship centres only on sundays,during weekly services and during rural rugged evangelism? Apart from funds by students,some of these buses were donated by alumni and other well meaning individuals and organisations,did these bodies forbid that these buses help needy students? We all complain about the nonchalant attitude of leaders in the country,yet we shy from carrying out social responsibilities, Is it the money to fuel these buses that are keeping their drivers from helping students or the need to maintain the tyres? Did God not promise to provide for our needs according to his riches in glory? We should not shut our eyes towards the predicament of others,Jesus christ in his time was a helper and was merciful,are christians then not supposed to be christ-like and as such render help to those who need it? Even the holy book states that “Be merciful as your father is merciful”, helping students in dire need is therefore only the right thing to do.