Discipline is the refining fire by which talent becomes ability

You will be forgiven if you wake up this morning and ask yourself; “What is this world coming to?” Every well meaning, past and present student of the illustrious Fourah Bay College, University of Sierra Leone would be cringing; courtesy of some misguided miscreants who pass for students.  Violence should be a rare commodity in the parlance of student life.  We have known students to demonstrate against governments and other institutions in the past.  Riots have been organised, with Fourah Bay College always being at the forefront.  The famously known “No school, no college” under the “Alie Kabba regime” is still fresh in our memories as the benchmark.

During the days of the late President Siaka Stevens, the student body was the only form of government opposition in this country. The absence of a viable opposition party; courtesy of the one-party state that was ingeniously crafted by Bandaylay, saw the rise of student participation in the body politique of this country.  In those days, students served as the voice of the oppressed, the voiceless and the disadvantaged. “Mass Awareness and Positive Participation used to be the watch word”.

Among others, most of the angst was centred on late or non payment of the Sierra Leone Government Grant (SLG), the price or palatability of the “Kondor”, transportation, etc. Conventional wisdom has it, that students have the most insatiable of demands.  Students are ever ready to complain about everything and anything under the sun.  On the plus side, students have always, rightly or wrongly mirrored the mood of the nation.  To cast them as the barometers of society and thermometers of public opinion would not be a stretch of the imagination.

But it was so disheartening to hear that this year’s “Student Union Presidential Elections was suspended until further notice”.  According to reports, the suspension was as a result of VIOLENCE and the THREAT of VIOLENCE.  In case you are wondering, we are talking about students who masquerade as “the future leaders of this country”.  He that would govern others first should be the master of himself.  Only the man who can impose discipline on himself is fit to discipline others or can impose discipline on others.

Are these the same students who have just witnessed a nationwide presidential and parliamentary election in the most “peaceful” of environments in our history?  We know that the world is addicted to violence.  Take a look at  Iraq, Syria, Libya, Sudan, Mali, Somalia and right down to Nigeria, to name but a few.  With the kind of world we are living in, you would be forgiven to assume that the main goal of our future is to stop violence.  But if that future is to be entrusted with “our future leaders”, what hope is there for future generations?  Because  “if you succumb to the temptation of using violence in the struggle, unborn generations will be the recipients of  long and desolate nights of bitterness; and your chief legacy to the future will be an endless reign of meaningless chaos” (martin Luther King).

If these are the “future leaders” of our country, what hope is there if they cannot conduct themselves at such a politically embryonic level?  Does the behaviour of these students reflect the degree of lawlessness that has become the rule, rather than the exception in this country? There are many people chasing too few jobs, but do we require applied maths, logic and scientific methods or linguistics to qualify as brutes?   If I had a thousand Leones for every time I hear the phrase, “future leaders of the country” I should be Bill Gates’ business partner.

It will be dishonest and naive to assume that all the students are guilty of this misbehaviour.  But if these are the people that we are going to entrust with our future, a one- way ticket to Mars sounds like a plan.  These students should remember they are expected to show the light for the next generation.  But there are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it.  The reported behaviour neither shows the light nor reflects it.

It is every child’s dream to achieve a higher education.  We know that education is a right, but in today’s world and especially in Sierra Leone, it is more like a privilege.  No one is disputing the fact that there is a lot to be desired in our educational system.  The facilities are grotesquely lacking and there is always room for disgust; I know.  Students are well known for the mantra of “affirmative action.  But affirmation without discipline can be the beginning of delusion; for discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment.

Back in the day, student elections were a fanfare affair.  We fought our election “battles” with so much light heartedness, that success or failure in elections depended on your knowledge of “tofiesm”.  Much of the campaigns, politicking and canvassing were fought at intellectual level.  “Chooks” and “Assojo Press” became the battle ground; but at an intellectual level.  Those were the days when the test and use of man’s education was about finding pleasure in the exercise of his mind.  Converting intellectual battles into those of raw brutality is difficult to fathom; especially from such a noble institution.

Discipline is important in all walks of life.  Having the right discipline usually consists, not in external compulsion, but in the habits of the mind which leads spontaneously to desirable, rather than undesirable activities. I am tempted to think that nothing in education is so astonishing as the amount of ignorance it accumulates in the form of facts; for” talent without discipline can be likened to an octopus on roller skates; there’s plenty of movement, but you never know if it’s going forward, backwards, or sideways” (J. Brown).

According to a spokesperson of the University, there is an expectation of some actions to be taken against the main culprits. With exams round the corner, it is plausible to assume why some would welcome such an atmosphere of distraction. You cannot teach a crab to walk straight, but naming and shaming these people might just help in that vein. Universities are usually seen as the microcosm of society and it is no wonder they are nectar to researchers and pollsters. But if the University is seen as our melting pot of minds, does the kind of violence and threat of violence reported reflective of the kind of lawlessness that is pervading our country?  We must all suffer from one of two pains: the pain of discipline or the pain of regret. The difference is discipline weighs ounces while regret weighs tons. Discipline is the refining fire by which talent becomes ability.

Don’t forget to turn the lights off when you leave the campus.

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