Why Bowen ‘Versity banned the use of blackberry by students

Disclaimer: The author of this piece has no intention to reduce the image of any party mentioned in this piece.

The latest news from Bowen University has it that Bowen University will be employing strict measures to ensure that students do not possess Blackberry and other camera phones. According to one of the numerous students I confirmed this pathetic news from, here’s their reason:

A girl took the nude pix of anoda girl while she wz having her bath in d hostel & used it 4 her Blackberry DP.

That was a bad act from an undergraduate and I will not in any way support it. I will also not in any way support the management’s response to it. The truth is that anything good has the potential of been abused by it’s users. That’s exactly what happen in the case of the student. If the Government is to ban everything abused in the country, our life will be incomplete by now. Trust me on that! So, the girl should serve appropriate punishments and not the whole student populace suffering with her. [Hey, don’t tell me the righteous suffer with the wicked. Not in this case.] As a matter of fact, 23% of students use their smartphone in mischievous ways. Not just that Bowen Girl.

This is 21st century where youths should have access to digital tools. Blackberry and many other smart devices are one of those essential tools. A recent research result in America stated that 95% of students acquire smart devices to enable them connect to the WWW on-the-go. Most of the people I have met (both old and young) possess smart phones for the same reason.

Here’s my point: Even if you’re banning BB and other camera phones, provide alternative ULTRA MODERN facilities that will enable them achieve their objection of easy access to the net. The Iwo campus of Bowen has Wifi but the problem is that it is restricted to the staff. Even the staff complain bitterly about the poor service. One of my lecturers will never come to school without a GLO modem. Students pay 20,000 naira for internet services every session. According to the school, this gives them access to 2 hours of internet per week strictly at the school’s digital centre. I only enjoyed this facility when I was in 100 level. I am sure the new 100 level students will not understand this because the service is practically no more available. Now, I thought the 20k will be refunded or at least removed from the next session’s fee. Nothing of such happened. I can remember making a vow never to enter the digital centre again. This was because I get frustrated about the slow speed of internet connection there. Even the café in my friend’s village is faster than what we they offer in that cafe. My friend has decided to call the café an ANALOG MISTAKE, and I strongly agree with him.

Now, for a University that has POOR internet facilities, how else do they expect students to connect to the net? Sure, a mobile device is the way out. Now, these same mobile devices are been banned by the school. This case is just similar to Nigeria removing oil subsidy without ensuring that our refineries operate at full capacity.

Last weekend, I decided to speak with one of the Bowen Baptist Student Fellowship (B.B.S.F.) officials – the student representative body of Bowen University. The response I got from him was disheartening. He saw no reason why the school should reverse the decision. Since the student body is partly in support of this decision, Who then fights for the students?

While the students do not have the impetus to revolt against this unintelligent decision by the management, I choose not to keep quite.

There are 3 sets of people who will not agree with the points in this note and the earlier ones and I have no apology for that:

1. Current/Past BBSF et al.
2. Non-blackberry/smartphone users in B.U.I.
3. The 21st century folks who are still living like it’s the 20th century.