So about that UNILORIN ex-student…

I woke up today to the story of that ex student of UNILORIN who recently withdrew from the school and really don’t know what to make it. In case you didn’t know what happened, the guy committed exam malpractice when he sat for WAEC many many years ago. The result of that exam (together with UME I assume) is what he used to gain admission into the University. But he recently became born again and decided to perform restitution. Since, he said, the foundation upon which he gained admission into the school is wrong, the best thing was to withdraw. He was a 300-level student of Sociology.

The Oxford English Dictionary defines restitution as “the restoration of something lost or stolen to the proper owner”, “recompense for injury or loss” or “restoration of something to its original state”. Going by these definitions, it is difficult to see how this action amounts to restitution, or solves any problem.

When I steal money from someone, invest and make profit, it is fit and proper to return the money to the owner, probably with all the profit. It is assumed that is what would have happened had the owner held the money and invested. If I steal money some years ago and used it to eat, do I go back to the owner and return the money, even if the guy is rich and doesn’t need it? Probably. Or if I stole a car. Because returning those items at least fulfils one or more of the definitions of restitution.

Which is where this particular instance befuddles. What is the loss that this action is supposed to recompense? What original state will be restored as a result of this? Even if you assume that every Nigerian university has a fixed number of students it admits every year and therefore this student took someone else’s place, how does his withdrawal help the guy whose place he took (let’s even forget the more complex questions as to identifying the person and if this person did not get admitted into another, perhaps better school at that time)?

This is of course not the first time someone would take this action, and will not be the last. But it has always struck me as nothing more than a feel-good action to take. If a friend told me he was doing this, I would probably call him foolish. But if this is how he thinks he would best clear his conscience, who am I to begrudge him? A guilty conscience, as they say, is man’s greatest enemy.