The FATSSSAites Aspiring For Offices in The Coming Students Union Elections

 

INTERVIEW SESSION WITH MR. OLUWASEUN RICHARD, FATSSSAite aspiring for the post of the President of the Students Union

By Caleb and Fiyinfoluwa

PRESSMAN:  Good morning sir. My name is Caleb and with me, is Fiyin. We are correspondents for FATSSSA Press. Can we meet you? Kindly tell us your name, level, department, and any other thing we need to know about you.

MR RICHARD:  Good morning. My name is Oladeji Oluwaseun Richard, a student of the University of Ibadan, the first and the best university in the whole of Sub-Saharan Africa. I’m a 300 level student of Sociology department from the only faculty with the article “The”, the faculty of The Social Sciences. I’m the incumbent house secretary of the University of Ibadan Student Union.

PRESSMAN: We can see from the look of things that you are aspiring for the post of the union President. Can you please affirm this? How true is this?

MR RICHARD: OK, it is true. It is not a rumor anymore. I am officially contesting for the apex post as far as the student administrative union is concerned. I will be running for the post of the students’ union president. 

PRESSMAN: Alright, thank you very much. You are the incumbent house secretary, which is an executive post. So, being a member of the executive council as the house secretary, what have been your key roles and achievements so far in this current administration?

MR RICHARD: I think I would like to shed more light on what a house secretary does before I go into my achievements, because an average “UITE” might think it’s the clerk of the house or it is related to the legislature. The post of the house secretary is 3-in-1. The house secretary is the welfare officer, the financial secretary, and the manager (In the sense that you play the role of a landlord in the student union). The house secretary is the officer in charge of the welfare (the chairman of the union’s welfare committee), and the representative of the University’s inter-campus committee. The position of the house secretary helps to solve the problem of unnecessary duplication of offices- a demerit of democracy. Now, to my achievements as the house secretary. An achievement that I’m always proud of is the fact that in terms of medical welfare, I am very close to the university’s healthcare Centre (Jaja). I’ve had to sleep over in UCH (University College Hospital) in cases of emergency when a student, whose parents are far away, needs someone to stay with him/her. I would have to sleepover and miss classes. My CGPA is lower than it was when I was coming in as the house secretary due to missing because of having to combine my academics and office duties. However, till date, I have no regret. A week or two to exams, a lot of students fall sick and we would have to get them medical attention with the subsidized healthcare form (NHIS) which needs to be signed to reduce healthcare costs. I might be caught up in a long queue, trying to sign the NHIS form, while the sick student is left unattended to. I sometimes have to get into arguments with the officers in charge of this form to reduce the bureaucratic process, and get immediate medical attention for the student. This sometimes makes them tell us the University College Hospital is an independent body, and they can’t be hassled around. I’ve had to rush a student to the hospital in the midnight; we’ve had to get medical care for a student who was once mentally unstable and could require our attention at any time, without which she would not be calm. We have spent our energy, time, and money from our personal pockets getting them food and other items. However, these students are fine now, and I feel great joy when I see them with joy on their faces in school. We have distributed exam relief packages to students both on and off campus during our tenure. I am also in charge of the shops and buildings around the student union building, and I have made sure that 10 student-entrepreneurs from different faculties are a part of the SUB tenants’ forum. During COVID-19, we requested for palliatives for students from the Oyo State government, and it was granted. While campaigning back then, I promised to lobby with the school management to make sure that a good bridge is built over Zik River, and that has been done. I also promised to brighten the path from Idia to Awo at night. Even though the school could not afford to erect new streetlights, the existing ones were repaired and the Idia-Awo path looks like a small London at night. On the issue of transport, a student union complaints commission (SUCC) was created, comprising of the health sector, transport sector, off-campus sector, ABH sector, etc. We have a quality assurance team that goes around ensuring that the taste and price of food is of good quality. At the beginning of this session, this office championed the cause for bursaries for 25 indigent students through the welfare committee. I also promised the construction of a viewing center in the student union building. Although I will be leaving office honorably by 22nd September, 2021 (because I have to resign before contesting as president), the viewing center is already under construction. Even though, I didn’t mention the construction of a gaming center while campaigning, we now have one. The SUB library is opened 30-31 days a month, 7 days a week, and 24/7 with maximum security unlike other libraries. We’ve had a security breach and cases of theft before, but so far, we have tried to make sure that the lives and properties of the users of the library are safe. Our office organized a befitting Kunle Adepeju day that holds on every first of February with a public lecture on the day. We have pictorial evidences to back up these claims. There have been a lot of achievements for which I am very glad. These achievements regardless, I still haven’t been able to achieve some of my plans for the union due to reasons ranging from the COVID-19 pandemic to bureaucracy. However, at least 90% of the promises made to UI students have been fulfilled.

PRESSMAN: Thank you very much!

MR RICHARD: You’re welcome!

PRESSMAN: OK sir, what are the challenges you have encountered as the current house secretary and how have you been able to manage them?

MR RICHARD: Hmmn, challenges! Well, one of the major challenges I have faced is the absence of a predecessor. There was nobody to put us through the process of running this administration. There have been times we would do things ourselves and discover we had gone wrong in a way. So, there was no file, nothing to check on. We had to be rushing after people; we had to be gather experiences. Another challenge is managing people. With me being the landlord of the whole of SUB, I have to manage the occupants of the building. I have had different people coming to tell me how to run things, trying to capitalize on the fact that we do not have experience (because before the suspension of the student Union, I had not been admitted into UI then). Another challenge I have mentioned before is bureaucracy. Also the COVID-19 pandemic, which has been a challenge to every sector of the world, is still a challenge to my office as far as I am concerned.  Managing students has also been a challenge. (We declared that a piece of meat should not cost more than fifty naira. I was sitting in Zik one day when I overheard a student asking the food vendor if she cannot be selling a piece of meat that costs five hundred naira. The woman gave me an “I told you so” look. However, we have to harmonize the interests of the student in such a way that a student’s interest will not surpass that of the majority. There was a time when the quality, quantity, price, and cost of transportation of sachet water produced outside were much better than the one produced in school, and there were various agitations. Therefore, managing the management, students, and my integrity has been quite challenging because it is not easy to fight for people. I have even made enemies of some people just to make sure the interests of the students that put me here are protected.

PRESSMAN: Thank you very much!

MR RICHARD: You are welcome!

PRESSMAN: So, moving further, what has been your motive behind your decision to become the president of the next administration? With the challenges you have faced as house secretary, one would take you might want a break from the student union government; however, you have decided to take it a step higher. Why? 

MR RICHARD: Hmmn. What has been the driving force? You know leadership position at times is very tasking and demanding. But from a very young age, I’ve loved helping people (Helping people in the sense that I love representing people, like in the old Greek city which I am not a member of (chuckles)). I love fighting for people. I was initially not planning to run for president as I planned to leave office when my tenure expires. However, during the process of running the administration of the association and with the relationship the union is maintaining with the management, my morale was boosted to contest again. Our union is still very fresh as we just got it back; therefore, I wouldn’t want us to make the mistake of giving it out to someone that will get things scattered and cause us to lose our union again. My readiness to serve is my driving force.

PRESSMAN: Thank you sir. I want to believe that you already have your manifesto and aims for this new post you are running for. Can you briefly tell us the central idea?

MR RICHARD: I have a five point agenda named WASBA. It stands for Welfare, Academic, Skill Acquisition, Bursaries, and Accessibility.

PRESSMAN: Accessibility in terms of?

MR RICHARD: To be accessible. One might be of the notion that why could I not have achieved this agenda as the house secretary. We have achievements on this agenda as the house secretary. However, I am very sure that with my administration on board if I eventually become the president; we would do 100% of whatever would have been 50%. I believe this because we are already in the system, and we know how it works, our mistakes, and we know our strengths. Putting and harmonizing all these things together would enable us do times two of whatever we have done in this administration. This is my agenda. I cannot promise to build new faculties or introduce new courses. However, this five point agenda is realistic, we are going to work with it and produce results.

PRESSMAN: Thank you very much. We want to believe that you know Mr. Jesugbemi, who is aspiring for the position of the house secretary. He is also a social scientist, and we want to believe he is your friend. So, do you think he is capable of taking this post, knowing him, his ideologies, his strengths, and the challenges you have faced in this office. Do you feel he has what he takes to fill your shoes?

MR RICHARD: Yes, I know him. He is my friend. Well, if you are to talk about experience, he has experience. He is the current deputy speaker of the UI-SRC. And since the first day in this office, Jesugbemi has been working closely with me.  If we are to be here at 12, Jesugbemi will walk in before 12; not even knowing that he will be contesting for house secretary. He has been working closely with me so he should be able to handle the position excellently.

PRESSMAN: Alright, thank you sir. Have you ever held any presidential post whether at faculty or departmental level before?

MR RICHARD: Inside UI? I have not held any presidential post.

PRESSMAN: OK, outside UI?

MR RICHARD: Okay, outside UI, presently, I am the National President of the National association of Oke-ogun students. Oke-ogun is among the five geo-political zones we have in Oyo state. The association has more than more than 70,000 students which is twice or thrice the total number of UI students, and I am their president. 70,000 students scattered across the globe. This is where the issue of experience comes in.  Apart from being the President of the National association of Oke-ogun students, I have held numerous leadership positions in UI. Back in my hall, Ransome Kuti Hall, I am a full time member of the Students’ representative council. I was once the chairman of the Kuti hall’s price monitoring committee. Also, I was once a member of Kuti hall’s finance committee in the SRC. I have held numerous posts inside and even outside UI. I have gathered momentum and experiences because it is not possible for me to build Rome in a day. I am very confident that they make me capable of running the activities of the Union.

PRESSMAN: To an extent, you have answered my next question so I would just like you to answer “yes” or “no”. Do you think these experiences are enough to help you perform the role of the president of the student union?

MR RICHARD: Yes, I am confident. I am a member of this team, working directly with the president every day, so I know. And to be sincere (not because I’m a part of the team), Akeju’s performance is top-notch. He is a good team leader that wants every member of his team to grow. He is a transitional leader. 

PRESSMAN: Sir, have you received any official endorsement from anyone who holds a political position whether at the faculty or departmental level or even in the halls of residence? Or are you expecting one?

MR RICHARD: Okay, so basically, I have been endorsed by the Ransome Kuti hall, my home. But the official declaration will be coming soon. We are trying to play our cards right with other halls and faculties and we hope that we would get the best results.

PRESSMAN: Thank you very much for your time, sir. We wish you good luck in your endeavours.

MR RICHARD: Amen!