The shadows are across the sky

 

2022 has had its run and if you look carefully, the market people have stocked their shop with your Christmas and New Year food materials. While they await you and your purse, it is time to take stock and evaluate all the happenings of the year. January to December has been a journey - primarily, a journey spent mostly outside the school walls. Some students had fantasized about flaunting their Youth Service Khaki trousers and boots by November but are unfortunately still pleading with their lecturers for an extension for a test. 2022 might be drawing its curtain but everything that came as a feature or characteristic of the year is spilling over into the New Year. 

ASUU Strike

At the top of the list is the inconclusive battle between the Lecturers and the Federal Government. Until November, each party was bringing out knives and threatening blood. While everything seems to be back to normal, we know there is nothing normal or peaceful about the current calm. There is no guarantee that we would not be sent back to our homes come 2023. The Asuu strike is a problem that - unfortunately - will not pass with 2022.

Personal Development

Somehow, everyone ties their development goals to a particular stage or happening in their life. For those who had linked their goals to school or academics, that goal or decision has definitely slowed up and slipped into the New Year. Results that should have been gotten mid-2022 toward the end of 2022 are non-existent. Personal development outside of academics did not sail smoothly for some still. Many students have confessed to wasting the first three months of the strike because of the uncertainty of the system and the fear of starting what you cannot finish. A student learnt a skill at the theoretical level; but by the time she was ready to dive into the practical aspect of that skill, the strike was called off and ever since resumption, she has not practised a single thing she learnt. This is an example of a spillover. There is a chance that when she goes back to that skill, she would have forgotten some details about it because what you have not practised is not really learnt.

A student who intended to start his business at the beginning of the year and use his hostel mates as his first customer base was forced to think of new strategies because for eight months, he and his prospective customers were asked to vacate the hall.

Many resolutions, decisions, or set goals have spilt into the new year. Because of this, many cannot boast of significant progress made during this concluding year. The starting point of 2022 remains the starting point of 2023 for many. As an individual born into this part of the world, it is only wise to have a plan B for all your resolutions and prospective goals. 

2023 Elections

2022 came with a wave that saw youths rise to take the whips of this country into their hands. The zeal displayed became the topic on every lip for the better part of the year. It was and still is a desire to dictate and direct how Nigeria moves from 2023. This wave and its postulated effect are about to be tested in less than 100 hundred days. The war did not end in 2022 because the people who shied away from engaging the "angry" youths still congregate in their conference halls to map out strategies to win the sacred 2023 war. The tension, confusion, and desperation still pervade the air with a thick stench. There is yet to be a clear direction and observers are still waiting to see if the youths will translate their Twitter rants into hard votes. 2022 did not subdue the ones the youths have sworn to deal with; the bravado displayed post a balablu town hall meeting has revealed this unto us. Also, the never-ending war between the G5 and the Atikulated camp has proved that these men are yet to take the youths seriously. Another spillover into 2023. 

Ongoing academic session and beckoning examinations

Perhaps the most heartbreaking of all is the fact that while our Christmas chickens are sliding down our throats, our hands might be full of materials and slides to read. Not exactly an enjoyable way to end the year or a way to celebrate the festive season!

2022 is ending but the 2021/2022 academic session thrives on. Opening the floor of 2023 is the first-semester examination. By now, fellowships are preparing their graphics to announce the usual Prayer Rally programs for their students. It is the time to fill the Chapel ground with prayers; dominate lecture theatres and reading rooms with bags, notes, wrappers, and mosquito repellants. The only thing students would have wished not to see in the sky is exactly what is written for us. Writing exams in January after an overly-choked November and December is not enjoyable.

But these are the things you get after a year of ups and downs. 2022 is ending but the sky is not exactly free for the New Year. Maybe 2022 should continue till it reaches a conclusive ending. 

However, Happy New Year in advance.