Kolawole: The Star Dims

Comfort Obi

The story of Adio Kolawale did not make headline news in national newspapers. But it is the story of the tragedy of the Nigerian Youth. The young man made history in 2002 by being the highest scorer in the Universities Matriculation Examination (UME). He scored 320 out of UME’s 400 marks and was promptly offered admission by the University of Ibadan, (U.I), to study physiology in the department of Medicine and Surgery. He became an instant star, and the envy of his mates. But Kolawole’s entry into UI marked a turning point in his life. Penultimate week, the 2002 star was paraded by Bashiru Azeez, the Oyo State Police Commissioner, along with three others as an armed robber. Azeez alleged that Kolawole and his gang had become the nightmare of the University of Ibadan community, tormenting, especially, female students. They were caught, Azeez said, with one revolver, one dagger, one knife, and one black belt in a bush pathway while waiting for their victims who they had ordered to meet them in the bush. They had robbed some female students of their valuables. But they felt they did not get enough. So, they ordered their victims to meet them in the bush, with more valuables.
So, you wonder at their courage. Luckily for the victims, the police got a tip-off, and rounded members of the gang up. Kolawole was the star of the gang. He was not only their leader, but the celebrated face of the Nigerian Youth in 2002. He passed out from a public secondary school, thus making the point that inspite of the sorry state of public schools in Nigeria, they still have the capability of producing some of the best in the country. How did this poster boy descend to this gutter level? He tells his own story.
His descent into infamy, he told the police, began as soon as he entered UI. His words: “Because I led the UME of that year, they (a cult group) insisted that I should join them. When the cultists knew about my brilliance, they started troubling me that I should join them.” True? In university campuses, the impression is that brilliant students have no use for cultism. Cult members are usually, almost, the not so-brilliant who use their membership of cult groups to intimidate lecturers into giving them good grades. Cult members are usually, almost, the children of the rich who use the money available to them to oil the machinery of their cult groups. Kolawole does not fit into that profile. He is brilliant. And he does not belong to the rich. But let’s hear more from him. Kolawole: “I reported to a policeman who, unknown to me, was the one bringing unsuspecting young ones into the Eiye Confraternity. It was not a thing I originally wanted to do. When I reported to him (the policeman), that a boy was troubling me, the policeman arrested him, and then let him off the hook after 24 hours.
“I that reported the matter to him was held as a culprit and detained for three weeks. When I was eventually released, the cult leader boasted to me that nothing could happen to him, and that if I did not join them, he would kill me. I was then forced to join the cult. But if I am pardoned, if they don’t kill me, I hope to join the police to help reduce criminality.” Then he added: "I am not an armed robber. I am a cultist."
Kolawole’s story should be thrown where it rightly belongs – the trash can. He says he was forced to join a cult group. But he cleverly does not mention the name of the gang member(s) who put him under pressure – or that of the gang leader who mocked him that the police could do nothing to any member of the group. He says he reported to a policeman the boy who was harassing him. Yet, he neither mentions the name of the student he reported, nor the name of the policeman he reported to. And what is the name of the police station where he was detained? He says he is not an armed robber, but a cultist. What is the difference between twelve and a dozen? And there are other points to note.
A gun was found on him. And his defence: A friend of his gave it to him to keep when they left a party. When did he become a licensed amourer? He admitted that he only forcibly (emphasis mine) collects handsets from female students. Is that not robbery? Was it a handshake? He has passed out of the university, so what does he always look for in the university community? Indeed, did Kolawole, whose brilliance made the headlines in 2002, actually pass out from UI? Kolawole’s tragedy is an indictment of the Nigerian society. It is also an indictment of the university system.
Youths in other countries, as brilliant as Kolawole was in 2002 when he entered the university, are monitored by the authorities. They are given support, guided and shielded with an eye on the future. They are classed amongst the best in the country. The questions are: What strategy does the government have in place to monitor such brilliant youths? Who guides them? When Kolawole entered UI in 2002 as the highest scorer in the UME, did the university take note? Did they monitor him and his progress? If Kolawole and his likes are well managed, they will help move the country forward. But let’s pause and believe Kolawole’s story for a moment. The questions then will be: who protects innocent students from undue pressure from cultists? If a policeman could be the “chief recruiter” of new students into cult gangs, who do they report to?
It is sad, but public universities have become the training ground for criminals. From petty thieves who steal the provisions and, atimes clothes of their fellow students, they have graduated to full-time armed robbers, kidnappers and fraudsters. Each time they are arrested, paraded, and the names of their universities mentioned, the reputation of the institutions is tainted. Not to talk of parents who have not only lost confidence in these universities, but wake up everyday, with their hearts, literarily, in their mouths. It is a tragedy.
The public university environment, as it is now, is not conducive to bringing up well-rounded characters. The hostels are suffocating. Oftentimes, there is no water, no light, no good library, no refectory and no recreational facilities. In the absence of all these, the students loiter around, and channel their energy to crime. When they manage to pass out, they have no jobs to keep them busy. So, like Kolawole, they go back to campus, committing crimes.
Kolawole’s story is the story of the Nigerian Youth. A nation that does not invest in its youths, especially those with promise, produces the Kolawoles of the society. It is a shame.