Every year, the students of the department of archaeology and anthropology carry out the annual fieldwork required by all students beginning from the students in their second year to fourth year of study.
As such, carrying out the fieldwork was not only a norm but also a must for students of the department. However, this year’s fieldwork was distinctively different from what it used to be even as decisions were made about the fieldwork while assessing the persistent Covid 19 pandemic and the high rate of insecurity that has increased overwhelmingly these last months.
Due to these two major dilemmas, the administrative body of the department had to have a round table on how to go about this year’s fieldwork in ways that would ensure that the students follow the Covid 19 preventive methods as well as ensuring the safety of all students. It was in line with this that it was concluded that the fieldwork was going to be carried out in selected Ibadan communities around the university of Ibadan. These communities included, Agbowo, Ajibode and Orogun communities. Apart from the general fact that students were not taken out of Ibadan metropolis to carry out the fieldwork like it was done in previous years, this year’s fieldwork was particularly different for the students of anthropology even as a new way of going about their fieldwork was introduced.
And so, instead of having major groups alone, these major groups were further divided into subgroups which were made up of 2/3 students per sub group. Not only this, instead of having just one topic as the topic for the whole group, each of these different sub groups had different topics to work on. What this meant for the students was that everybody was required to consciously put in individual efforts in carrying out their research. What this also meant for every student of anthropology was that it was every man for himself now as there was no opportunity for others to hide and depend on those who actually carry out the research just like when what existed was only major groups.
This new system of going about the fieldwork was introduced as a preventive measure against Covid 19. But apart from this, the decision was also made to ensure that every student at the end of the day gained certain anthropological skills themselves. I once read somewhere that about 70 percent of knowledge and skills acquired about a particular work is gotten from site. That is, more knowledge is acquired when the individuals carry out the practical aspects relating to that work. As such, it was very necessary for students to improve on their observational, qualitative and interviewing skills and it was even more important for them to do this on their own.
I also commend the effort of the department in terms of complying with the preventive directives against the Covid 19 by making provision of the nose masks for every student and the hand sanitizers for each of the major group. Although the efforts of the department can be commended to certain extents, we cannot neglect the fact that this fieldwork was not just IT for many of us. More than half of the blame should of course, be allocated to the University itself. This is because it was due to lack of proper planning by the university that we had students writing exams and at the same time having to report back to field after their exams. To be honest, it was not only tiring but frustrating too.
Although, I understand the fact that we couldn’t leave Ibadan for a new place due to the insecurity issues, I cannot but still acknowledge the fact that this field work would have been more delightful if it was done anywhere but Ibadan. I think for many of us, an exciting part of previous fieldwork was having to leave Ibadan for somewhere else and also having to live under the same roof with our mates.
One thing that I do believe would have made the fieldwork a lot easier for students of anthropology and archaeology was if the stipends had been released on time. That would have helped a lot of students in terms of feeding and transportation. But it is quite unfortunate that even at this moment I am putting this down nothing had been said about the stipend. 2 weeks after! This writer was also particularly shocked to hear of the release of the departmental timetable for a new semester 2 days to the end of the fieldwork and the only thing this writer could think of was, “se won fe pa wa ni?”
This writer suggests that there is a need for the university as a whole to take time out to plan for each semester properly and adhere strictly to what is planned! That is the most important part of it, adhering to what is planned so that we would not have a situation whereby students have to straddle exams with fieldwork again. I do hope that next year’s fieldwork comes with more sauce than this!
AASA PRESS UI 