Great Ife Students' Union Power Tussle: Students At The Receiving End

By Ayomide Emmanuel

The political atmosphere of the Great Ife Students' Union has been muddy and rough in the past few days as a result of power tussling among the union leaders. Hell was let loose and neither of the actors involved are ready to bend for their perceived opponents. 

Trouble started on Wednesday, 30 November 2022 at the congress which was held at Afrika Amphitheater presided over by the president of the Union, Comrade Olayiwola Folahan Festus "Reform" where the speaker of the Great Ife SRC was accused of misplaced priority and abuse of power as regards the allocation of the Students' Union Building Bar which was against the section 54 of the Great Ife Students' Union Sacrosanct constitution which states that "the union building shall be maintained by the Central Executive Council which shall make necessary allocations, partition and adornment when and where necessary" This section of the constitution was capitalized on as the speaker was said to be suspended. However, this didn't go well with some honourable members of the house as they were seen showing solidarity for the speaker. 

This power tussle has further extended to the leadership of the house as the deputy speaker of the house honourable Ganiyu Yussuf O "KOB" in a Press Release titled "Duty Calls, Therefore, I Answer" decided to abide by his oath of office as an honourable and a principal officer of the Parliament to defend the constitution of Great Ife and to respect the resolution of the congress, the highest making decision body of the Union. According to him, the suspension of the speaker by the congress must be respected and in line with section 11'subsection 11 of the constitution, he shall humbly act as the acting speaker of the Parliament. 

Barely 24 hours, the speaker of the Parliament, Rt. Hon Ajadi Toheeb Babatunde in a Press Release titled "The Sanity Of Our Union Must Be Preserved" said the congress which led to the suspension was filled with so many constitutional aberrations as the President himself singlehandedly declared the suspension based on the submission of a congressman without any motion raised to the effect of the submission.

 

In all this, there's a saying that a house divided against itself shall not stand.  While some Union leaders are claiming to be for Paul, some others claim to queue behind Apollos. But, can they be reminded that it is Paul that sowed the seed, Apollos watered the ground but God made the plant grow?

We need to ask ourselves if the Great Ife Union is for Students or Graduates. It's so disheartening to see people who are regarded as leaders being the major cause of trouble and chaos on campus. Some of these graduates were seen behaving in an uncultured manner at the recently held parliamentary sitting justifying their action based on the excuse that the speaker that has been suspended shouldn't preside over a sitting.  One needs to ask if this set of people has forgotten the motto of the university. 

Amidst all this, students are facing several issues ranging from the irregularities of prices of goods and services in butteries on campus, epileptic power and water supply, and exploitation of students by bike men who disregarded the pricelist set for them by the Union. While it is expected that the students Union Leaders should call them to order, they are busy wielding power amidst themselves, a show of who's more powerful. One must not forget that while all this goes on,  exams are fast approaching. How do students who can't read due to epileptic power supply survive or are they going to be filling out google forms every time?

 Truly, if the foundation is bad what can the righteous do?

Maybe someone should remind the Union leaders that beyond the newly renovated and beautiful Students' Union Building, Great Ife Students needs action that can be proactive and when tested through fire will still come out glowing.  Beyond the flying around of Press Release, can their proactive actions fly around the nook and corner of the OAU community and the ears of every student? 

Finally, an adage says; where two elephants fight, the grasses suffer the consequence. This is exactly the case on Great Ife Campus as the power tussle automatically places students at the receiving end while an average student on campus can't differentiate between when there was a Union and when there was none as the union expected to fight for students is fighting itself. The Union leaders forgot about the promises they made to the students during the electioneering process, promising heaven and earth.

 But is reform really reforming? and in all this, where Is the Salvation?