Oluwagbenga Kolawole
After Ustaz spread his clothes to dry at the back of B block on a bright Saturday afternoon, his mind shifted to his other chores for the day. Seeing how pleasant and favourable the atmosphere was, the last thing on his mind was that he would come back and not find the clothes he had spread. However, when he did come back, admittedly later that evening, three of his brand-new jean trousers had been stolen. At first, he didn't believe that his clothes had actually been stolen. Being the naive freshman that he was, he kept going back every day for more than a week after the clothes were stolen, hoping that the clothes were taken by mistake and not stolen.
This experience is not very different from Michael's, a 400 level Zikite, who says: “The first time, I washed my cloth and I forgot to remove it. Rain fell so I rewashed it. By the next day one of the shirts was missing. That one went. The next time I washed my cloth, when I went back the second or third day, another shirt was stolen alongside my singlet. The third time it happened, my trouser was stolen and I was left with a single shirt and trouser till I was able to buy new clothes.”
Stephen, a 300-level student, had sentimentally valuable clothing taken from him. When he was interviewed, his distress was obvious. “I washed and spread my beloved chinos black trousers, some shirts (about 3) on the rope behind B block. I washed those clothes in the afternoon and I was waiting to pick them up by late evening. However, that evening till around midnight it rained, so I could not pick up my clothes. The following morning I went to the rope to pick up my clothes, but they were not there anymore instead other clothes were occupying the spot I spread them. I looked for them all around even though I clipped them but I could not find them.”
The examples given above may appear to be the extreme scenarios in which people who leave their clothes out for too long find them stolen, and this context makes it easier to blame the victim. However, the reality remains that even people who check on their clothes on a regular basis have reported having their clothes stolen. One minute you are looking at your clothes, the next minute they are gone.
The distress and emotional turmoil of having one's clothes stolen is something a large number of Zikites are sadly familiar with. Now a 300 level student, Ustaz admits that he felt utterly perplexed and downcast throughout the weeks following the incident. For Michael, he has to manage the loss of steeze and demeaning looks he got from “recycling” the same clothes for about a month. Cay (not real name) simply resigned to fate. According to him, he “ felt kind of pained, actually”. When asked if he reached out to anyone, he said, “No ,I didn't reach out because I didn't think they could really do much. The cloth was already gone.” This is the same story for most other Zikites who have their clothes stolen—they just accept the situation.
Over the past few semesters, a lot has been said about the rate at which clothes were being stolen from the lines in Zik hall. While each successive administration has done their bit to contain the issue, these efforts have unfortunately not yielded much in terms of positive results. For instance, one concrete plan the Yamburger and now the Fadaca administration has put is to provide new lines for spreading clothes for Zikites. The Fadaca administration took it a step further by creating entirely new areas for spreading clothes. This has helped to reduce cases of people spreading their clothes on the grass. However, this initiative while creating diverse cloth spreading options does not bring the confidence of coming back to find those clothes there. In one case, in a place with many lines, the apparent possibility that someone might mistakenly pack clothing that is not his cannot be overlooked. In this instance, another respondent, Marvelous, believes that the most logical and thoughtful thing to do is to return it. For him, the widespread cases might not be due to actual deliberate theft but rather a failure to return clothes that have been packed mistakenly.
An anonymous respondent was of the opinion that the clothes being stolen were being deliberately targeted. According to him, “They are shopping for their wretched family simply means they are hand-picking those clothes to go and give to their family members at home. Cos why [TF] is this thing always increasing towards the ending of the session.”
When asked if he thought anything could be done to remedy the situation, Michael said “I don't think the hall management can do anything. It's in the hands of us students. Stricter measures should be put in place. Some people pack other people's clothes by mistake, they should be human enough to return it.” For Ustaz, had it been possible to have CCTV monitoring for the clothes, theft would reduce.
In the absence of CCTV monitoring however, Zikites have been enjoined to be more cautious. When the Zik Hall defense minister, Emiola Waliu was reached out to, he admitted that the situation is a quite dicey one. According to him, “As much as we urge all Zikites to be security conscious, especially concerning their belongings. We can't sit with people's clothes on the lines.”
“The defense team never ceases to admonish everyone to guard their properties as Zikites are the primary security agents of their properties.”
“However, the defense team won't take it lightly with anyone caught in the act. It is an aberration for Zikites to take another person's item without permission. We are meant to uphold the values of the hall,” he concluded.
