10 Ways to identify an OAU International relations student

 By Lawal Shereef

The noble department of International relations in OAU has long been a hotbed for future diplomats in Nigeria as it is one of the few departments which offers pure International relations in the country.

The department which produces Graduates trained to take on 'internationally' designated posts/jobs can boast of producing countless numbers of now-successful  men/women in their respective fields.

Meanwhile,successive sets of students have evolved an image for the department,setting trends which are now consistent with that of the discipline itself.

 We will be discussing these tendencies which can be easily attested to by both past and current students of the department;

• They 'hate' mathematics

 This might be the most glaring trait of an OAU International relations student. IR students are OAU-wide renowned for their dislike for Social sciences courses,SSC 105 & 106. This can be noticed in their deliberate absence in 'SSC' classes,their absentmindedness when in the class and their relatively average results in the course.

Virtually all IR students,both past and present will joyfully welcome the  scrap of these courses from their portal.

• They are naturally 'shanas' 

If there is a department with quite a large number of brainiacs,it should be the department of International relations. Students of the department are known to be avid readers and this no doubt reflects in their intellectual discourse and in their results,OAU just has a way of finding its way though.

• Bunor's book

It's no new thing seeing 200 level students of the department with a cumbersome 750-paged book tagged 'Iwebunor' or better still 'Bunor's book' which is named after a popular lecturer in the department, Dr Bunor(so many legends about him but it's story for another day) who issues the textbook. A student once joked that 'an average student in OAU or let's justifiably say,other institutions might not read as much as the contents of the book throughout his stay in school' ,the book is 'covered in a semester' though.

• They constantly worry over Presentations

This is a particularly popular way of conducting tests in the department which past and present students surely do have something to say on. Lecturers in the department do prefer  presentations to other forms of tests. 

This has placed students in a situation of always wanting to look decent and corperate and always trying to beat submission deadlines,you should meet an IR student to ask about their ordeals as regards presentations.

• They dislike the Faculty of Social sciences

IR students are notoriously renowned for their dislike of Social sciences related courses. The departments if Economics,Demography and Social Statistics,Geography,Political science etc have been recognised as perpetual enemies of the department's students as they are known to do them 'strong thing'

• They love talking politics

 Due to the closeness and intertwined nature of politics and the discipline,students of IR have cultivated the habit of following politics especially when it concerns world peace. You will surely testify to this if you have once engaged anyone of them in a political discourse.

• They love and brag about their department always

OAU students can easily relate the pride with which IR students announce their department and they have all come to the conclusion that the department is one of the most prestigious in Ogbafemi.

They might have the clowns who take joy in calling the department , Islamic religious studies because they share same acronyms,(IRS),the lazy ones who call it 'Inter rel' and the serious ones who call it International relations,nevertheless,they all love their department and can defend it anywhere.

• They recognise themselves as diplomats and are proud of their embassy

Potential diplomats as they are identified as take pride in being called this as it reflects their potential future career. They also value their Embassy which is actually the ddepartment's students secretariat and would do nothing to tarnish its glory.

• They are always well dressed

From their regular Monday coperates to their everyday casuals and their usually Friday natives,International relations students have been acknowledged as one of the most trendy students in Ife. So when next you meet a well dressed OAU student,there is a high probability he/she is a diplomat.

• They are friendly

The most friendly and fun-loving sets of students you can find on OAU campus should be International relations students. They are renowned to be the Mr Nice guys and the jovial ladies,you are lucky if you have one as a friend.

Bonafide students of the department possess/exhibit all or at least half of these traits but if you think otherwise or you want one added or removed,

You can contact us or drop a comment.

Goodbye for now