No artist Night@UDS Wa Campus

The University for Development studies Wa campus is the youngest and highly populated among all other campuses of the University for Development Studies. It is however pathetic to say that we are under developed in terms of infrastructure and other necessary social facilities needed in a university.

Entertainment at the university level is very important and hence millions of Ghana cedis goes into organizing SRC week celebrations for students to relieve stress and socialize appropriately to ensure continuity in the University set up, hence developed Universities like The University of Ghana Legon, The Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, The University of Cape Coast and the others spend huge sums of monies to ensure this happens successfully.

However, it saddens me that, an under developed university like ours, characterized by numerous developmental challenges that impedes studies and comfort of students are not seen as a priority by student leaders who claim to work in the interest of students. Wa campus is enveloped with myriad of challenges including

• Insufficient lecture halls which causes lectures scheduled to run into late hours
• Lack of transport system
• Insufficient communication systems in lecture halls
• Shut down of campus radio
• Inadequate street lightening
• Dusty roads leading to lecture halls
• No befitting entrance or exit

One can keep mentioning on and on. Judging the fact that we as a University is challenged with all these myriad of problems, I turn to ask that big Question: Is the SRC artist night necessary?

Over the years we have spent millions of Ghana cedis that might have perhaps gone a long way to solve if not all but significant number of our problems. Imagine these monies are spent in the universities infrastructure let’s say committing such monies in building an entrance or tarring the road leading to Pavilion, won’t we all benefit from that permanent development and even our brothers and sisters at home and all other people come to enjoy these facilities? As compared to bringing an artist with that same money who at most in the matter of some few hours and in some cases minute  is gone with our millions of cedis?

What really do we stand to gain from these artist nights, how different is it dancing to their songs via laptops and their presence on stage pointing mics to the crowd to sing out their songs? Or better still find an alternative activity to replace that at much cheaper price with same outcome.

Yes, it is not a bad idea to host these expensive artists here, that move is normal for relatively developed universities mentioned above, but not we in the University for Development Studies Wa campus. That should not be a priority looking at our pitiful problems at hand.

Its in light of this that I write as an advocate, not everyone would buy into my ideas, but I sincerely believe you reading this message might perhaps be convinced at the sense am establishing here. I therefore conclude by saying that, the SRC should re think and use our monies for projects that are permanent and stands the chance of tremendously affecting the lives of students in the positive spheres, instead of bringing temporal happiness and eternal doom over us.

Think Right

Mulumba Ngmenlabagna Songsore

Students Activist