Unizik Showdown: A Cry for Understanding
It was laughter, as though it would before spilling later into a all with more personal concern, authority, and entitlement to one’s private space, such looks within the corridors of Nnamdi Azikiwe University (UNIZIK), Awka. It is here, from my perspective as the student involved, that the event has been unbailed from unfiltered recounting of an incident that has since formed the focus of attention for many.
An ordinary day, or so it looked to my friend and I, capturing an idyllic moment outside of our lecture hall. Then, all of a sudden, someone I’ve never seen in my life before tapped me and said, “Excuse me.” My response to him was ignorant: “Can you imagine?” Little did I know the kind of falling-from-the-heavens outburst that would come after all this.
He came back again, ordering me to delete the video, which ended up in a tussle where my phone hit the ground and crashed. However, after the fall of the phone, he actually grabbed my clothes that his nails dug painfully into my chest. I was in pain, begging for him to stop, but it continued until he noticed the camera recording. His composure in front of that lens was an entirely different thing than what one just perceived moments back, while people gathered.
My reaction was fierce, not of spite, but born out of desperation-and defense against what felt like an assault on my personal space and body. I do take responsibility for the squabble that ensued, but I think it visceral feelings, would be understood by the invasion of dignity that I felt.
The incident’s video caught fire, but only to catch the end, not the beginning or the middle where my personal space got violated. In all of this public-latent reaction, the calls for discipline are heard, but the story remains void of provocation and dread.
I’m sorry for my reactions at that moment and regret that it had to go there, but there’s no need to put this entire blame upon me. There were a lot of actions and reactions, such as the neglect of my right to personal space and the brushing aside of my plea that it should stop until the camera was on.
About one student and one lecturer, this incident can advocate for more significant discourse over respect, privacy, and how authority is wielded. There it interrogates power relations in the educative settings and asks how we ensure that it becomes mutual rather than unilateral respect.
I’m not here to defend what happened, and I’m fully aware that I did not act as I should have. However, there’s much to explain, and I seek an understanding and not a condemnation. The blame should not be one-way but rather call for some reflection on both sides-how authority is exercised and how violations to personal space are reacted to.
This story longs for empathy. It longs for a deeper understanding of how things can get so twisted that they could have been prevented from becoming such. Changes must take place before an educational space becomes entirely safe for all. Let this incident be the seed for a dialogue on respect, privacy, and mutual understanding within our academic communities, so that no student or educator feels compelled to act in self-defense over what should have been a simple misunderstanding or a request for space and respect.
Goddy Mbakwe Precious
12th February 2025