My FUTO Story - #7

Well, most of us have had the opportunity of going through tertiary education in a Nigerian University (government owned universities, I don’t know about private), and we all can testify to the drama (trauma in most cases). I am one of you and I survived. Here are some highlights of my time in the Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO).

2011

Physics Lecture

Three departments shared my lecture hall, workshop 3, which was more of a machine floor than a classroom. During one physics lecture, a professor of about 70 years of age and probably chasing 80 walked into lass and during the course of his dictating a note, his phone rang. He took the call and at the end of the conversation peered long at his phone as if it fell from the moon. He then announced to the class.

 “Please I just got this phone and I don’t know how to operate it. I need someone to help me”.

We spent the next half hour lecturing him on the use of phone 101. After that he continued with his lecture this time sitting down till his time was up. He got up and then said goodbye. I had just received a physics lecture.

Chemistry Lab

On the day scheduled for the practical, we arrived the lab as usual (over 600 students in a poorly ventilated and completely unequipped room). We were divided into groups of 10, making a total of 60 groups and counting. After the theory, group leaders went to pick up the apparatus needed. This particular experiment required the use of a Bunsen burner but the entire groups were given just three stoves that barely worked. Do the maths on how 60 groups were to use three stoves and submit their results within the hour. Well, trust FUTO students, we improvised and submitted on time. Some of us not even making use of the lit stove. Once again, I had conducted a chemistry practical.

2012

Lecture Hall

This time around, we were gathered for a lecture- Engineering drawing III. We were in a much bigger auditorium. But there still was a problem (there always is a problem). The hall’s capacity is 750, but we were over 1200 students from 10 departments who were expected to attend that lecture and there we were, as many as were willing to attempt, rather than attend that class.

The lecturer came in for his class quite early. Annoyingly, he was from my department. He walked up to the podium, introduced whatever he was about to do, talked about the prerequisites for the course; engineering drawing  I&II, which were hell. When he was done, he turned to the board and began to draw.

He drew for 40 minutes straight without saying a word and we could barely see what he was drawing on the board. The class became a market place. But he was too engulfed in the beauty of his art work to care (he was from my department so we already knew that he loved watch himself draw). Some students who cared joined him at the podium and began to draw with him. Some jumping like frogs, others stretching their necks, wishing they were from an ostrich breed. It was a beautiful sight that I had to video the scenario.

When the board was filled with his art works, he moved aside and announced to those who had been so kind to share his stage with him, that they had five minutes and he would wipe off the board. Five minutes later, he did wipe off the board and availed himself of a fresh canvass to begin his beautiful drawings. And once again, I had just attended a lecture in engineering drawing.

2013

This was the year, academically and otherwise. It was predominated by my extracurricular activities as a member of the Enactus FUTO team (of which is a story for another day). Although I didn’t care much for lectures, there were few classroom moments.

·        The man who came to class and dictated laplace transforms and z-transform as if we were in a GST (humanities) lecture.

·        There was fluid mechanics and heat and mass transfer where we were threatened by both lecturers (one of which was the dean of my school then).

·        There was strength of material; beautiful course, wonderful lecturers (the first so far abi?)

·        The endless hours of standing outside under a tree in the name of practical sessions amongst others.

And then came ASUU with their strike.

2014

From this year, my choice is IPE 403 (work study and productivity).

We always went to class as was expected of us as students, but he never always came to class as was expected for him as a lecturer. For the entire semester, he made an appearance on three occasions. The days he did come, he would yell at us half the time and call us crazy (at this point nothing was new).

He however, divided the class into groups and sent us out on a work study (which happened to be his best idea so far). My group was sent to the Ministry of Environment And Waste Management, Imo State. For the record, if you wish to visit that place for any reason, best be prepared.

Long story short, we gave out questionnaires. Two weeks later, we got back our questionnaires just as we had given them out- BLANK! We had to write a report, which we did and them waited for the examination with his two paged note and ten paged material.

In the hall, the answers to the questions required us becoming professional auditors, because we designed virtual companies in there and did the auditing (neat). It wasn’t fun, but as always we survived.

2015

This was the beginning of the end. I really didn’t care much for what was happening now, because we were done (at least I was). I skipped classes, slept in most and spent my nights watching movies. Oh what the hell, I was done.

There was one lecturer who called us empty brains and didn’t think we were worth any good in life. That man should be chasing 90. But there he was; a lecturer (CNC machines). There was another who preached for half his period every time we had his class (entrepreneurship). And there was another who wouldn’t want to leave the class room (maintenance), and his exams usually requires you to re-write the textbook (no jokes). There was another who would bring up a problem, start solving, but never ever saw it through to the solution (control systems design). And then there was Oolala, he was just amazing in class but a pain other times. And finally, there was project, which bit me in the ass so bad, but as always, we survived.

Naturally, I could write about all the terrible experiences I had (not that these were good ones), but I like to focus on the moments that when I think about or talk about with friends, we all share a laugh. Those are moments that make the whole journey worth it. I personally call FUTO the hell hole and I consider its staff, academic and non-academic as hell hounds.

We made it through hell in a Nigerian university and we are out here now, as members of the real world. I am however conscious of the risks and uncertainty that accompanies whatever is to come. And when that time comes, I will be ready.

And as always, I will survive.

Wilson Ezama is a Mechanical Engineer who loves to sleep a lot. He likes annoying friends and says the Big Bang Theory series should win a Nobel Prize. He claims to be Bipolar as sometimes he prefers being mute and other times, he wants to be screaming like a mad man to be heard all the way in Germany. Wilson is fascinated by science and engineering, he loves music and video games. He is an expert in engineering designs and can be reached on his mail- wilsonlawrence2@gmail.com