Since time immemorial, the celebration of birthday brings its own thrills and frills to friends, acquaintances, relatives among other people that form an integral part of the society. To many, it is a period to celebrate their achievements made all year while others see it as a moment to reflect and offer thanks to God for sustaining their life. Thus, it is not unusual to see celebrants and their guests trooping into eateries, amusement parks, exclusive resorts, churches and other places of interests all in a bid to celebrate. However, as casual as the practice may appear, the dimensions birthday celebrations take on campuses are, particularly, disturbing.
I had a remarkable encounter. It was on a weekend when the sun was still blaring in its ferocious rage. I was passing through a major street at Tanke, the large community that hosts the University of Ilorin(UNILORIN) permanent campus. I was going about my own business when I ran into a scene that gave me more than my bargain. A female student was half-naked while about seven fellow students, including males, were bathing her with muddy water. I became so baffled as to why such a young woman would subjet herself to such untoward ordeal all in the guise of a birthday celebration. While I kept fuming deep within myself over the barbarity, a group of her supposed friends were screaming the traditional happy birthday wishes.
The above episode is just a tip of an iceberg of the many abuses that follow birthday celebrations among students. While being drunk with the euphoria of its celebration, students are being hoodwinked into believing that throwing lavish parties will reinforce their social credibility or make them more popular among their friends. For instance, there happened a time when youthful exuberances occasioned by a birthday celebration led to the death of a final year student of Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH) in Ogbomoso. He was reported to have engaged in a fight with a hostel guard that led to his death. He allegedly instigated the fight when the guard accused and denied him entry into the hostel at midnight. He was reportedly returning in the midnight after attending a birthday night party. Is this not a hard price for frivolity?
As a matter of fact, the new dimension it now assumed transcends what is expected of any reasonable celebration. The financial net worth of the potential celebrators goes a long way in determining how the bash turns out. This often results in high indulgence in wide-scaled smoking, consumption of alcoholic drinks, and sometimes illicit sexual activities. We have also had many cases of campus birthday celebrations that later ended in commission of varying degree of crime, such as gang rape of unsuspecting female students. In extension, night party, in general, is a veritable ground for all sort of youth-related violence. Is this not an outward transition from mere fun to criminality?
Let me digress a bit. It is often believed the education of both the mind and body is essential for every youth. However, the storyline is somewhat contrasting as most students cherish ultimately the beautification of the body rather than educating the minds. This is grossly a clear departure from the founding ideologies of our past heroes who used education as a tool to fight against oppression and achieved freedom which we all enjoy today.
Our campuses have been turned into breeding grounds for cultism, indecent dressing among female students, financial shenanigans at the students’ union level, examination malpractices among other vices that keep betraying the values and purpose of education.The situation is really monstrous as it is apparently affecting the employability of the teeming youth population.
The bottom line of the discourse is that immorality is fast gaining consciousness among the youth of today, particularly the students. Taking a critical assessment of the quality of graduates
that are being churned out of the institutions, it wouldn’t take a second to conclude that our education system is in the doldrums, and of course the situation needs a special emergency intervention to redeem its lost glory.
In a nutshell, this writer is not out to condemn the celebration of birthday and its associated vanities. This article seeks to put caution on the excesses and the likely consequences its abuse might have on our primary assignment on campus. Therefore, it becomes imperative that an end should be put to all form of youthful exuberances that have hitherto jeopardised the future of many students.
