By By Ganiu Bamgbose, PhD
Many factors have stiffened lecturer-student relationship or engagement in higher institutions of learning in Nigeria. First among these factors is the convention in many African societies which prohibits young people from talking when older ones are talking. Many young persons have over-internalised this act of respect for elders that they tend to lose their voice even where and when it should be heard. I have heard students say “nothing on earth can make me talk in class”. Some would rather tell someone else the answer to a question asked by a lecturer than ever stand up to say something during lectures. My biggest shock among my students who graduated last year was reading on the walls of some of them who said with a tone of fulfilment that they never spoke in class throughout their degree programme. I was bewildered that such could be proudly announced by a student.
To stay on track, other factors that have stiffened the relationship of lecturers and students are harassment, victimisation and/or extortion. Thankfully these are being tackled in several ways by different bodies within and outside the higher institutions of learning. But are these reasons enough to frown on or avoid engagements with one’s lecturers? I think NO is the answer. The need and benefits of creating and sustaining student-lecturer engagement outweigh the supposed dangers that come with it. I have said to my students many times that the most terrible of lecturers will not victimise a brilliant student. You do not have to prove it that you are being victimised/extorted if a particular or some particular lecturers’ courses are your only carryovers in a semester/session with As, Bs and even C’s in other courses. Therefore, rather than sneaking around school and preferring not to be known by any lecturer, be the diligent, brilliant and outspoken student that no lecturer will dare to fail. Do no make yourself vulnerable by failing and seeking help in offices. I will move on to the crux of this piece which is to give three important reasons why your lecturers must know you.
First, you will, as graduates, need reference/recommendation letters for job or postgraduate studies. I have had students I never noticed throughout their stay in my department cry to me for such letters. They tell you about being their last hope for the work or admission they are are pursuing. Some of them cannot even go to those who supervised their projects for such letters; a testimony to how poorly they engaged with their lecturers. In fact, some come from other departments and faculties and you are forced to ask if they were not taught by lecturers in their departments/faculties. The possibility of needing recommendation letter someday is one reason why your lecturers must know you.
The second reason why your lecturers must know you is the chance of being recommended. While you can need to be recommended, a good relationship with your lecturers can even make them recommend you for job opportunities, career advancement and even linkages. I recall that my lecturer and present dean of the Faculty of Arts, Lagos State University, Professor Ayo Ayodele got me my first job after my service year which was to teach some Koreans working in Nigeria English. Another renowned professor of literature, Professor Remi Raji-Oyelade, contracted me to teach his children during my master’s programme in the University of Ibadan. The possibility of opportunities makes it important for your lecturers to know you.
The third reason why your lecturers must know you which I will connect to participating in class activities is the need to sharpen your communicative skill. If young people know how much many successful people pay for public speaking classes, they will utilise their classrooms as their stages to hone their communicative ability. In the myopic view of many students, especially those who are not in Humanities, they feel their job will not warrant them to have to always talk so they feel there is no basis for learning, trying and wanting to speak in public. Sadly, they forget that any successful person in any field can become a governor of a state, a CEO of a company or even a wife of a president who has to deliver speeches at functions.
These three reasons and, of course, others that I have not mentioned make it important for your lecturers to know you. It is in place, however, to end this piece with a caveat or clarification. Relationship or engagement with one’s lecturers is compulsory but such relationship should not be misconstrued as intimacy. While it is okay to have a personal relationship with lecturers for several reasons such as mentoring, it is important to know that you can equally make your presence felt by your lecturers most especially through your class engagements. Every old professor has that boy or girl who is now a man or woman that they cannot forget because such person made their presence felt as students.
Remember, one attitude of a modern human being is the need to express your opinion. Do not engage in the self-deceit of calling yourself an introvert when you simply lack confidence and probably suffer low self-esteem.You are a voice; you deserve to be heard.
(c) 2024 Ganiu Bamgbose writes from the Department of English, Lagos State University.
