OAU Students' Union Leaders 2014/2015 Inaugurated

A new tenure in the history of Student Unionism in the Obafemi Awolowo University officially began on Thursday, 28th May 2015 at the Oduduwa Hall where the newly elected officers of the OAU Student's Union were officially inaugurated. The program which started in the late hours of the morning was well attended despite the fact the stale students had not officially resumed.

 

 The program was well attended by other members of the University Community: Hall Wardens and Masters, Prof. Yinka Adesina who is the Vice Dean of Student Affairs, Dr. L. M. Durosinmi, the Dean of Division of Student Affairs and The Vice Chancellor who was represented by the Deputy Vice Chancellor Academics, Prof. Ayo Salami.

 The inauguration proper began with the Deputy Vice Chancellor swearing in the Speaker and Deputy Speaker elects of the Students Representative Council who upon receiving their constitutional powers then performed the rites for the members of the Central Executive Council, The Hall Executive Council and the other members of the Students Representative Council.

 The President then gave his inaugural speech which addressed a lot of issues in the union and the current stance of the Union in National and International issues (Click HERE to get full text). The Deputy Vice Chancellor then responded to the speech stating that he expected two major things from the event: a list of requests and a list of programs. He acknowledged the receipt of the former stating that he would present the requests before the management but he said that he was still expecting a list of programs.

 The Program ended with a short address from the Vice Dean of Division of Student Affairs, Prof. Yinka Adesina, who discouraged using the Social media to solve the union’s issues emphasizing the protection of the image and reputation of the school; a point earlier made by the Dean of Division of Student Affairs.

OAU SU Inauguration: Full Text Of TY's Presidential Address

SALUTATION
- The University Visitor
- The Chancellor
- The Pro Chancellor
- The Vice-Chancellor
- The Deputy Vice-Chancellor Academic
- The Deputy Vice-Chancellor Administration
- The Bursar
- The Librarian
- The Provost
- The Deans of Faculties
- The Directors of Centers
- Heads of Department
And to the major and number stakeholders on this campus the GREAT IFE STUDENTS
All other protocols as severally being enumerated duly observed.

OUR MANDATE AND THE DELAYED MANTLE
It is an historical privilege to stand here and address this gathering of dignitaries, academics, intelligentsia and progressive-minded students on this epoch-making occasion of my inauguration as president of Great Ife students' union and that of my highly supportive members of CEC, SRC and HEC. I see it as a great honor to serve the entirety of Great Ife Students.

It is indeed a life time opportunity to register a legacy and make mark of indelible impact.
The orientation of leadership that we carry is that of service and not privilege, that of responsibility and not opportunity, that of learning and not looting, that of conscientisation and not connections. Unfortunately, this generation sees leadership as a privilege to harness, acquire, and accrue ephemeral wealth and fame. In our time we see it as a God-given privilege to serve, love, and to leave a legacy.
On the 24th of March, 2015, Great Ife Students out of a longing for a pro-student Union went to the poll to make new political bounds with the new set of leaders they believe can give our union a new and befitting image.

Students have longed for genuine, progressive, radical and vibrant Students’ Union which have being in abeyance for a long time. The bond made on that faithful day is not based on the fancifulness of posters and banners, the political expenditure of candidates, or any form of oratory dexterity, that bond is genuinely formed on the basis of conviction that their new leaders will not betray their struggles, will champion their cause, will assert their needs, will not jettison their welfare challenges and will advance the rich traditions and values of our union. I am reiterating this so newly sworn-in union leaders and the management will understand why students gave us such a popular and protest vote.
In a nutshell, our mandate is based on the yearning not for a reactionary, pseudo-progressive, or management subservient union.

THE STATE OF OUR UNION
Our union though may share a similar organogram to that of a government but is ideological, constitutionally and historically a pressure group that has a sole obligation to advance the cause of its members. This fundamental rason de’tre of a student union, should I say Great Ife Union, must be entrenched into the consciousness of every union leader and the state (management and government) must accept this reality.

The Great Ife Student Union used to have a sharp dissenting characteristic from that of NANS, our union is synonymous for its revolutionary struggles, national intervention, solidarity spirit and historically progressive stance. Nonetheless, in recent years, our image has been seriously soured for two reasons;

• Union Leaders are becoming partisan, greedy and disconnected from the tenets, principles and traditions of students’ unionism.
• The management undue interference, attack, proscription, victimization, criminalization of our struggles and other deliberate attempt to debilitate our Union and weaken the consciousness of our members in an attempt for us not to challenge their anti-student policies and agenda.
We are going to commit ourselves to the long term resuscitation of a vibrant student union with an ideological alignment to that of our founding fathers.

STUDENTS BODY: NANS
The Union is the fifth estate of the realm. The executive, the first, who have shown serious incompetence to execute, the legislators, the second, who loot money into their pockets, the third, the judiciary with bench full of justice that perpetrate injustice and the fourth, the media who have been seriously compromised with conscienceless pen.

For us at Ife we have two alternatives for NANS. First is to go back to NANS, and fractionalize out a progressive wing that will advance students interest. Second is to demand for proscription of NANS and formulate a new student body whose constituent will be matriculated student and not some ‘over-graduate’ called ‘irunmole-in-NANS’ otherwise known as stakeholders.
INDEPENDENT STUDENT UNION
Our struggle to earn the independence of our union has been deliberately sabotaged and misconstrued. Yes, no state or system can be independent. That the university management disburses funds to our union through government subventions (our parent tax payer money) and our students’ due is a valid argument to say the vice chancellor is not the sponsoring authority. For us, our autonomy is non-negotiable.

INCREMENT IN SCHOOL FEES
Let me be quick to admit that the Nigerian education sector is abysmally funded, the vision of the founding fathers of this prestigious University and their commitment to free qualitative education e.g. the 1955 Awolowo free education policy, is not in conformity and clearly deviate from that of the modern day government. The current leaders have no vision for the sector. The budgetary allocation to education in 2013 and 2015 are 8.4% and 10.1% respectively as against the recommended 25% for developing countries by UNESCO. However, no reputable public institution can survive without funding from external bodies. But whenever the university management claims to look inward they look into our parents’ pocket.

Our Students cannot continue to pay for the increment in school fees having not yielded any commensurate improvement in the welfare condition. This has made the increment itself questionable and unconscionable. The 2010/2011 obnoxious and preposterous increment in acceptance fee from N2,000 to N20,000 has not yielded any substantial achievement before we were inflicted with another in 2014. We have two problems with these:

1. The last increment has yielded nothing in terms of improved welfare
2. The student’s union was not duly consulted and if some executives were consulted and played the role of fifth columnists then that means the increment was not ratified by the congress.
We hereby demand for a committee of students and management to be called the School Fees Review Committee that will investigate the justification of last increment and analyze the university funding and expenditure. The committee will come out with a report to tell us if the university management is indeed broke and if they are, have they exhausted all other channels of generating funds? After their findings, they must initiate the procedure for a review.

DEMOCRATIC DECISION MAKING PROCESS
A democratic state should have all its parastatals epitomizing democracy. Nigeria being a democratic sovereign should ensure that all institutions follow suite.

By population, by essence, by importance and long term contributions (being the Alumni), the students are the major stakeholders in this institution, it therefore faults natural judgment and rationality if decisions and policies are made on their behalf in their absence. Students have deployed a high sense of ingenuity and fecundity to be given such a pivotal role. No doubt, some student leaders have abused every small opportunity for some pecuniary interest or displayed porous representation but this should not stop the proper student representation hence having a stake in decision making.

The appointment of Vice Chancellor, disbursement of funds, execution of major projects, construction of time table and expenditure profile and other salient decisions need student’s lion input.

We demand for the immediate students’ representation into the department board, faculty board, major committee, the senate up to the Governing council.

WELFARE:
The welfare of the people is the ultimate and prime consideration.
Despite the much promised improved welfare out of the increment, after the increment, the welfare condition on this campus is 'animalistic', horrendous and not palatable for human survival. The disguised renovation by the University management is laughable. After fumigation and some superficial land clearing, they declared resumption. While the slum-like, dilapidated structures, decayed toilets are left untouched. The congested rooms due to the lackadaisical gesture to build more hostels for students have registered no attention. Water is a colorless, odorless, tasteless solvent, an amphoteric oxide with two lone pairs of electrons in a molecule. The water supplied in our halls of residence is uncharacteristic of the above features. The health center has a constantly long queue and apparently short-staff with very poor human relations of the few ones present.

For a 21st century University, alternative power supply should not be a challenge for the professors in elect-elect to put together while the management provides the necessary fund. OAU should generate its own power and even supply for the immediate community, not now to depend on the mainstream Nigeria sector.

One thing I can assure the management is that this administration will not condone the welfare of our student taken with levity. We will not succumb to learning under inhabitable condition. We hereby give the management an ultimatum of 3months to provide new generators to each Hall of residence, expansion of the water dam and the laying of the foundation of new hostels within the campus.

SECURITY
I personally want to commend the security unit for their collaborative effort with that of the students’ union. I want to say they remain the most student approachable unit and I appreciate the special support of Mr. Paul Ogidi, the C.S.O.

On this campus, security is a collective responsibility. The autonomy of the student security committee must not be disrespected. We understand the importance of teamwork and intelligence information in which we will not hesitate to collaborate with the University management.
To the students, we will not stop the flushing of some neo-fascist elements. Some of them we have identified, some we have followed and we have surveillance on them. July 10, 1999, while we cry we manage to see. This administration will do everything to deal with culprit of theft case.
To the cultists, we are giving you a 2 week ultimatum; a book will be open at SUB for you to renounce your membership. Some of you were forcefully initiated when there was no Union or from other higher institutions. The number one Alero, Aye and Eye we know you all and this administration will not condone your actions. OAU is not a fertile ground for cult activities as our zero tolerance on cultism stand vehemently.

REINSTATEMENT
Suspended students should rise and keep standing.

These people are not rapists, they are not cultist, they have not committed any form of examination malpractice, to us, they are comrade that fought for a just cause. Their parents are expecting them to come back home with a B.Sc. The management should certify them with certificate of merit for their courage. We beseech the management to ensure that these ones do not spend an additional session outside campus because their genuine cause was criminalized and they were consequently victimized. The tailored case of abduction is very unfair and easily refutable. They have spent more than one session and we want you to help bring them back as we begin the 2014/2015 session. We will do everything diplomatically to gain their reinstatement and when diplomacy fails we are ready to go confrontational though we do not pray it leads to that.

THE SUB
The Ken Saro Wiwa building is a very sacred place to us as a Union. The encroachment of CARTREC undermines our authority to manage, organize and control price of products and services at SUB. Though the former union leaders might have mismanaged and over allocated the building making it unkempt. The management of the building by CARTREC has not brought any improvement.

We hereby demand for the immediate renovation and takeover of the Students’ Union Building by students who are the original tenants.
MASS FAILURE
The outdated academic syllabus needs urgent review and we call on ASUU, NUC and the University Senate for immediate upgrade of the syllabus. The syllabus is outdated, un-holistic, and anachronistic and cannot help our student compete the 21st century job market.

Lecturers’ ineptitude and intransigent have to be seriously checked. We commend the University for the Lecturer Assessment Questionnaire on the e-portal but we demand that the result of such assessment should be public to expose the incompetence of some lecturers. We request for the pasting of result break down as e-portal enhance the clandestine atrocity of mass failure by some lectures.
Students should be free to assess marking guide to enhance grade transparency. Indiscriminate grading of scores will never be tolerated any more. Our administration will ensure we expose such indolence and stringent measures will be taken.

EXPLOITATION
This exploitation tendency of the university management has to be seriously addressed. That of school fee increment has been earlier addressed. There are three types of exploitation; Exploitation from above in term of increment in school fee by the university management, exploitation from within in terms of exorbitance annual due across faculties and departments and exploitation from below which comes from transport and buttery operators. The administration will checkmate all these forms of exploitation scrupulously.

SISTER UNIONS
We appreciate your solidarity in our past struggles. We also want to acknowledge the role you are currently playing as regard the reinstatement of our comrades. We will continue to extend our hand of co-operation. We have common challenge and common enemies, if we come together in the spirit of oneness we can conquer the state.

NATIONAL ISSUE

ON THE DELAYED OF WORKERS PAYMENT
For the past 7 months, workers in some states, State of Osun for instance, have been exploited in terms of labour without payment of their salary. We give a 7days ultimatum for the immediate payment of all unpaid workers. We have issued out press statement to this effect and we will always be together in struggle.

ON BUHARI’S EMERGENCE
We must congratulate General Mohammed Buhari and his epoch-making electoral victory, we must say we are impressed with some of his intended plans such as collapsing the number of ministries from 31 to 19 to cut down government expenses. However, we are not carried away with the euphoria of change. We demand for:
- The immediate review of the Nigeria education constitution……
- The funding of the education sector up to 26% UNESCO recommendation.
- The immediate review of allowance and payment of public office holder in the three tiers of government.
- The probing of all government official from 1999 to 2014 including presidents, ministers, governors, senators and even Vice Chancellors.
- The tackling of the Boko Haram issue and guarantee of a safe Nigeria state.

THE DIASPORA
- We condemn Xenophobia and killing in South Africa and demand for immediate evacuation of all Nigeria by the Nigeria government. However we dissociate from the NANS press release declaring South Africa students persona non grata.

OUR PROGRAMS:
1. IMPROVED GENERAL STUDENTS’ WELFARE
2. HUMAN CAPITAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMMES
3. RESUSCITATE POLITICAL CONSCIOUSNESS AND INTERVENTION
4. CAPITAL PROJECT
5. REINSTATEMENT
I want to enjoin Great Ife student to give us a benefit of doubt. We are here to epitomize astute leadership and make indelible impact. Thus, we will not fail to address welfare issue, ensuring not to compromise our struggles. We believe we have inherited a new responsibility as a 21st century students union in a developing country where unemployment is a challenge. We want to add value of human capital, we want to give our students a competitive edge,

APPRECIATION
I will thank God Almighty for the opportunity to serve and will be indebted to Great Ife students for bestowing on me their mandate. I specially appreciate all members of TEAM TY, friends of TY both in Nigeria and the diaspora who practically supported my campaign without making me spend much. You did this because you believe in me. I promise not to betray that trust. I want to appreciate members of Sanctuary of Hope Church for their awesome support. My class mates, department colleagues and everybody that played an impressive role that saw my emergence.
There are two kinds of people in the world: those who make History and those who watch History being made.
Today, Great Ife made history and we will ensure to continue in the history making. Thank you for your audience.

God bless. you all.

Omotayo Oluwadamilare Akande (TY)

PART V Chemical Engineering Department
OAU Students' Union President

Photo Credit: Lukmon Fasasi

Freshers ICT Training Holds Today

This is to inform all the fresh students that the freshers ICT training will be holding today starting from 8am depending on your faculty.

Below is the time table for the training.
Time/Venue
8 am-10 am: Administration(Hall A) - Clinical Sciences(Hall B) Sciences(Cloud Computing)
10 am -12 noon: Arts(Hall A) - Arts(Hall B) Agriculture(Cloud Computing)
1 pm – 3pm: Law(Hall A) - Dentistry, Pharmacy & Basic medical(Hall B) Technology(Cloud Computing)
3 pm – 5pm: EDM(Hall A) - Social Sciences(Hall B) Education(Cloud Computing)

President Buhari’s Inaugural Speech (Full Text)

Inaugural speech by His Excellency, President Muhammadu Buhari following his swearing-in as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on 29th May, 2015

I am immensely grateful to God Who Has preserved us to witness this day and this occasion. Today marks a triumph for Nigeria and an occasion to celebrate her freedom and cherish her democracy. Nigerians have shown their commitment to democracy and are determined to entrench its culture. Our journey has not been easy but thanks to the determination of our people and strong support from friends abroad we have today a truly democratically elected government in place.

I would like to thank President Goodluck Jonathan for his display of statesmanship in setting a precedent for us that has now made our people proud to be Nigerians wherever they are. With the support and cooperation he has given to the transition process, he has made it possible for us to show the world that despite the perceived tension in the land we can be a united people capable of doing what is right for our nation. Together we co-operated to surprise the world that had come to expect only the worst from Nigeria. I hope this act of graciously accepting defeat by the outgoing President will become the standard of political conduct in the country.

I would like to thank the millions of our supporters who believed in us even when the cause seemed hopeless. I salute their resolve in waiting long hours in rain and hot sunshine to register and cast their votes and stay all night if necessary to protect and ensure their votes count and were counted. I thank those who tirelessly carried the campaign on the social media. At the same time, I thank our other countrymen and women who did not vote for us but contributed to make our democratic culture truly competitive, strong and definitive.

I thank all of you.

Having just a few minutes ago sworn on the Holy Book, I intend to keep my oath and serve as President to all Nigerians.

I belong to everybody and I belong to nobody.

A few people have privately voiced fears that on coming back to office I shall go after them. These fears are groundless. There will be no paying off old scores. The past is prologue.

Our neighbours in the Sub-region and our African brethenen should rest assured that Nigeria under our administration will be ready to play any leadership role that Africa expects of it. Here I would like to thank the governments and people of Cameroon, Chad and Niger for committing their armed forces to fight Boko Haram in Nigeria.
I also wish to assure the wider international community of our readiness to cooperate and help to combat threats of cross-border terrorism, sea piracy, refugees and boat people, financial crime, cyber crime, climate change, the spread of communicable diseases and other challenges of the 21st century.

At home we face enormous challenges. Insecurity, pervasive corruption, the hitherto unending and seemingly impossible fuel and power shortages are the immediate concerns. We are going to tackle them head on. Nigerians will not regret that they have entrusted national responsibility to us. We must not succumb to hopelessness and defeatism. We can fix our problems.


In recent times Nigerian leaders appear to have misread our mission. Our founding fathers, Mr Herbert Macauley, Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Alhaji Ahmadu Bello, the Sardauna of Sokoto, Alhaji Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, Malam Aminu Kano, Chief J.S. Tarka, Mr Eyo Ita, Chief Denis Osadeby, Chief Ladoke Akintola and their colleagues worked to establish certain standards of governance. They might have differed in their methods or tactics or details, but they were united in establishing a viable and progressive country. Some of their successors behaved like spoilt children breaking everything and bringing disorder to the house.

Furthermore, we as Nigerians must remind ourselves that we are heirs to great civilizations: Shehu Othman Dan fodio’s caliphate, the Kanem Borno Empire, the Oyo Empire, the Benin Empire and King Jaja’s formidable domain. The blood of those great ancestors flow in our veins. What is now required is to build on these legacies, to modernize and uplift Nigeria.


Daunting as the task may be it is by no means insurmountable. There is now a national consensus that our chosen route to national development is democracy. To achieve our objectives we must consciously work the democratic system. The Federal Executive under my watch will not seek to encroach on the duties and functions of the Legislative and Judicial arms of government. The law enforcing authorities will be charged to operate within the Constitution. We shall rebuild and reform the public service to become more effective and more serviceable. We shall charge them to apply themselves with integrity to stabilize the system.

For their part the legislative arm must keep to their brief of making laws, carrying out over-sight functions and doing so expeditiously. The judicial system needs reform to cleanse itself from its immediate past. The country now expects the judiciary to act with dispatch on all cases especially on corruption, serious financial crimes or abuse of office. It is only when the three arms act constitutionally that government will be enabled to serve the country optimally and avoid the confusion all too often bedeviling governance today.

Elsewhere relations between Abuja and the States have to be clarified if we are to serve the country better. Constitutionally there are limits to powers of each of the three tiers of government but that should not mean the Federal Government should fold its arms and close its eyes to what is going on in the states and local governments. Not least the operations of the Local Government Joint Account. While the Federal Government can not interfere in the details of its operations it will ensure that the gross corruption at the local level is checked. As far as the constitution allows me I will try to ensure that there is responsible and accountable governance at all levels of government in the country. For I will not have kept my own trust with the Nigerian people if I allow others abuse theirs under my watch.

However, no matter how well organized the governments of the federation are they can not succeed without the support, understanding and cooperation of labour unions, organized private sector, the press and civil society organizations. I appeal to employers and workers alike to unite in raising productivity so that everybody will have the opportunity to share in increased prosperity. The Nigerian press is the most vibrant in Africa. My appeal to the media today – and this includes the social media – is to exercise its considerable powers with responsibility and patriotism.

My appeal for unity is predicated on the seriousness of the legacy we are getting into. With depleted foreign reserves, falling oil prices, leakages and debts the Nigerian economy is in deep trouble and will require careful management to bring it round and to tackle the immediate challenges confronting us, namely; Boko Haram, the Niger Delta situation, the power shortages and unemployment especially among young people. For the longer term we have to improve the standards of our education. We have to look at the whole field of medicare. We have to upgrade our dilapidated physical infrastructure.

The most immediate is Boko Haram’s insurgency. Progress has been made in recent weeks by our security forces but victory can not be achieved by basing the Command and Control Centre in Abuja. The command centre will be relocated to Maiduguri and remain until Boko Haram is completely subdued. But we can not claim to have defeated Boko Haram without rescuing the Chibok girls and all other innocent persons held hostage by insurgents.

This government will do all it can to rescue them alive. Boko Haram is a typical example of small fires causing large fires. An eccentric and unorthodox preacher with a tiny following was given posthumous fame and following by his extra judicial murder at the hands of the police. Since then through official bungling, negligence, complacency or collusion Boko Haram became a terrifying force taking tens of thousands of lives and capturing several towns and villages covering swathes of Nigerian sovereign territory.

Boko Haram is a mindless, godless group who are as far away from Islam as one can think of. At the end of the hostilities when the group is subdued the Government intends to commission a sociological study to determine its origins, remote and immediate causes of the movement, its sponsors, the international connexions to ensure that measures are taken to prevent a reccurrence of this evil. For now the Armed Forces will be fully charged with prosecuting the fight against Boko haram. We shall overhaul the rules of engagement to avoid human rights violations in operations. We shall improve operational and legal mechanisms so that disciplinary steps are taken against proven human right violations by the Armed Forces.

Boko Haram is not only the security issue bedeviling our country. The spate of kidnappings, armed robberies, herdsmen/farmers clashes, cattle rustlings all help to add to the general air of insecurity in our land. We are going to erect and maintain an efficient, disciplined people – friendly and well – compensated security forces within an over – all security architecture.

The amnesty programme in the Niger Delta is due to end in December, but the Government intends to invest heavily in the projects, and programmes currently in place. I call on the leadership and people in these areas to cooperate with the State and Federal Government in the rehabilitation programmes which will be streamlined and made more effective. As ever, I am ready to listen to grievances of my fellow Nigerians. I extend my hand of fellowship to them so that we can bring peace and build prosperity for our people.

No single cause can be identified to explain Nigerian’s poor economic performance over the years than the power situation. It is a national shame that an economy of 180 million generates only 4,000MW, and distributes even less. Continuous tinkering with the structures of power supply and distribution and close on $20b expanded since 1999 have only brought darkness, frustration, misery, and resignation among Nigerians. We will not allow this to go on. Careful studies are under way during this transition to identify the quickest, safest and most cost-effective way to bring light and relief to Nigerians.

Unemployment, notably youth un-employment features strongly in our Party’s Manifesto. We intend to attack the problem frontally through revival of agriculture, solid minerals mining as well as credits to small and medium size businesses to kick – start these enterprises. We shall quickly examine the best way to revive major industries and accelerate the revival and development of our railways, roads and general infrastructure.

Your Excellencies, My fellow Nigerians I can not recall when Nigeria enjoyed so much goodwill abroad as now. The messages I received from East and West, from powerful and small countries are indicative of international expectations on us. At home the newly elected government is basking in a reservoir of goodwill and high expectations. Nigeria therefore has a window of opportunity to fulfill our long – standing potential of pulling ourselves together and realizing our mission as a great nation.

Our situation somehow reminds one of a passage in Shakespeare’s Julius Ceasar
There is a tide in the affairs of men which,
taken at the flood, leads on to fortune;
Omitted, all the voyage of their life,
Is bound in shallows and miseries.

We have an opportunity. Let us take it.

Thank you


Muhammadu Buhari
President Federal Republic of NIGERIA
and
Commander in-chief-of the Armed forces

Threatening The Headlines- Pope Jay

"Journalism is printing what someone else does not want printed. Everything else is Public Relations"

George Orwell

For those following political events in OAU, the recent petition filed by the runner-up of the office of the Secretary General, Awotiwon Ibiyemi, in the last Students’ Union Elections would be old news. The petition followed the release of a document online by an unidentified source and it claimed that Hon Seun, the winner of the election, was not eligible to contest as he had not met the CGPA requirements involved. The news upon its first arrival on the Great Ife Students Union facebook Page went viral almost immediately featuring on popular news platforms on the Campus and is said to have even featured in the  Punch newspaper of the 18^th May 2015. However, threats were flying around in the political community most especially by the agents of Hon. Seun who claimed that the news was generated by pressmen and the first runner up, Ibiyemi.

 

  Journalism is simply defined as news gathering, editing and reporting and news is simply recent information or previously unknown information. Journalism has gained a strong presence in the society;most especially the democratic society and right from the Acta Diurna of Ancient Rome to the New York Times and BBC to The Punch Newspaper and Channels TV; the “Gentlemen of the Press” have always been a voice to listen to. The likes of Dele Momodu, Dele Giwa and a lot of other great journalists have shown the checkmating power that the press possess over the government even at a period in Nigerian history when Autocracy was at its peak.

 They say Words are like eggs, Once dropped cannot be recovered. I would therefore like to appeal to the entirety of the Great Ife Students to display the intellectuality that is a trademark of our Union and not allow sentiments and nepotistic emotions influence our actions and speech because who knows? They might be tomorrows headline. I would also like to send a message to people who have threatened or is planning to threaten any journalist whether he is from Punch or The Insider; You can’t threaten the News!

Pope Jay

 

The Agbalagbas Make Mistakes Too -Pope Jay

I am a Yoruba boy and from my conception till now, I have been in an environment that has instilled in me moral, physical and a lot of other values that depict this fact: the bitter herbal native concoctions my mother drank that almost made me rethink my coming to the world, the variety of slaps I received when I gave an elder something with my left hand, the beautiful headwear popularly called the ‘fila’ in the native tongue that a man was to carefully bend towards the right and its feminine version known as the “gele” with which ladies do a lot of tricks to their head, I have to mention the sweat of satisfaction that oozes from your body after a meal of hot Amala with Gbegiri and Ewedu soup (popularly and politically known as abula) or the heavy satisfaction you experience from Iya Ekiti’s Pounded yam and Egusi. These are but a few perks of this Culture. So YES! The Yoruba Culture of Nigeria is a beautiful and well loaded one.

 

However just like every other good thing, it has its Shortcomings. One of these Shortcomings is the incorrect portrayal of the Elder as perfect. In the Yoruba and most of the other tribes in Nigeria, a man is expected to learn from his day to day experiences and use these lessons to guide the younger ones in order to avoid his mistakes and improve on his achievements and so it is therefore expected of a child not just to respect someone older than him/her but to also obey without question their instruction. But every once in a while, the elder forgets that he himself is still in the learning process and lets himself get corrupted by unnecessary pride that comes with being in a position of power.

 Another beautiful part of my culture and most of the diverse cultures in Nigeria is our variety of Proverbs which are mostly composed and used by the elders. Perhaps these wise men noticed that even the elders are not immune to mistakes and the Children are not always wrong as they noted this in one of their proverbs; “Omode gbon, Agba gbon lafi da ile ife” which means that it is the joint mental contribution of both adults and the younger ones that makes any society grow. I would then love to tell that mother who wrongly punished Junior that it is not a taboo to apologize and that Baba that he should listen to what that omo kekere has to say sometimes.

Pope Jay