SU Elections: “I Have Not Endorsed Any Candidate” – TY

By David Adetula

The Students’ Union President of Obafemi Awolowo University, Omotayo Akande a.k.a TY has thrown to the bin the speculations pervading some corners that he has anointed and endorsed some certain persons to vie for offices in the Students’ Union elections coming up later this semester.

In recent times, especially during the periods after the Harmattan semester examinations, some students who obviously wish to involve in the Students’ Union leadership have started their underground campaigns as they move from one room to another to seek support. Some of them in the course of convincing their electorates, they have stated that they have the backing of some of the current Students’ Union heavyweights.

Addressing journalists yesterday at the end of the 2015 Campus Editors’ Summit that held at Pit Theatre of the institution, the SU president said he will not be surprised if anyone goes to the public and uses his name to garner political support especially before the protagonists of this administration but however insisted that he has not endorsed any candidate at this moment.

“For now, TY has no candidate and I won’t be surprised if people start going around and start saying I am the TY-endorsed candidates. You know it is politics, when some people know you are a friend to TY and they want to campaign to you, they will say TY is endorsing me and when they know you are the ‘enemy’ of TY, they will tell you TY is not endorsing me and condemn TY. It is normal.” TY said.


The Union President further stated that it is however too early to start playing politics as the current administration still has a lot to achieve even though it has achieved majority of what is stated in its manifestoes. He said there are lots of administrative assignments before the administration that is not making it prioritize the Students’ Union elections for now.

It will be recalled that the previous Students’ Union administration was at the centre of a serious controversy as it was alleged to have endorsed a particularly presidential candidate which some political commentators have even described as a major role player in the eventual loss suffered by the candidate. If the current academic calendar for the Rain semester is anything to go by, the SU elections that will usher in a new set of leaders of the Union is expected to come up between January and February, 2016.

Meet OAU Graduate With Three First Class Degrees

On the 27th of June this year, Onoriode Reginald Aziza, a graduate from the prestigious Faculty of Law, Obafemi Awolowo University will be having his graduation ceremony from Cambridge University. Bellanaija profiles the outstanding excellence of Onoriode in an interview. Relax and read:

The star of today’s show is deserving of all the celebration we can muster because he has distinguished himself on three different levels of academic pursuit. Graduating from the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife , with a first class degree, he went on to achieve the same feat at the Nigerian Law School. In June 2015, Onoriode Reginald Aziza graduated from the Cambridge University with another first class degree.

Onoriode’s father is a retired civil servant, and his mother is a professor at the Delta State University. Talking about his parents, he says that his father counselled consistent hard work.

We love the raw honesty and brilliance of Onoriode’s story! “Although I had a penchant for childish excesses, good parental discipline and support from my siblings led me in the right path, and into starting my schooling at a tender age. I believe this gave me a spirit of extreme determination, a trait I believe, is my most distinct feature."

When you read the story, you’ll know why our excitement knows no bounds.

I Was Never a Genius
After strenuous struggles at the prestigious Kings College Lagos, I was admitted to study law in Obafemi Awolowo University at 15. Young, naïve and free-spirited, I took up the challenge of studying law – and a daunting challenge it was! My initial years were rough. I initially had a writing style used across all examinations, but wildly fluctuating grades quickly taught me to pick courses only after careful enquiry, and tailor examination answers to the tastes of the particular lecturers. After initial skirmishes with unpleasant grades, I later became consistent and my CGPA hovered around a 4.4 from the second semester of my third year until my very last result. The fact that I am the only first class graduate of the Faculty of Law in the last four years confirms the difficulty of the task.

The Daunting Feat of Law School
Proceeding to the Nigerian Law School at 20 presented even more challenges: I was forced to compete with my colleagues in the Yenagoa Campus and with the five other campuses of the Law School system; I was exposed to seminar-styled lectures sometimes running into six hours in length with only a thirty minute break, as opposed to the maximum of two-hours I was accustomed to in the university; I was compelled to challenge myself on a national scale against the best and brightest of students around Nigeria; and I was constantly reminded that as the best graduating law student from OAU, I had to replicate this excellence on a national scale. I had the benefit of fantastic lecturers at the Yenagoa Campus of the Law School who showed me the nuances of the system and how to make the most of it. After ceaseless hours of working through the year and during the externship programs, I sat the bar examinations and made my 2nd first-class and finished as the second best in Nigeria.

I recall joking with my friends that whilst I do not have the dexterity of Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo on a football pitch, I may have the ability to score a hat-trick of first-class results. The Faculty of Law, University of Cambridge was the venue, the flagship Masters of Corporate Law (MCL) Degree was the target and I prepared myself for an epic battle of intellect.

Challenges!
Funding a Masters in Cambridge is a big issue. Prior to resumption, and facing the prospects of having my admission revoked, I wrote ceaselessly to prominent Nigerians, Senior Advocates, Governors, Ministers and Governments, requesting funds and promising to be bonded in service to them or to the country upon my return if granted the funds. As expected, my entreaties were met with a mixture of deafening silence and tenuous, pontifical excuses. Thankfully, I finally secured a scholarship just in time to commence the program.

Cambridge and the MCL brought competing to an entirely new level. The minimum eligibility requirement to take the MCL was a first class in the university, and the course admits a maximum of 25 students in the world. With an eventual cohort of 23 students spread through 16 countries and all continents, including students who had concluded doctoral programs, and students working in the Central Banks and Securities Commissions of their home countries, I had no doubt that around and beside me were some of the best and brightest brains in their respective countries. The prospect of learning with and competing against them was scary and refreshing in equal measure. Whilst realism told me it would be difficult, optimism told me it is possible.

Lionel Messi of Academic Excellence! Hello Hat-trick
From my first breath in Cambridge on September 29th 2014 to my final examination on June 5th 2015, I was motivated by a single goal: ensure the world knows that the best students in Nigeria can compete with, and excel against the best students in the world. I had no precedents to work with as none of my friends who had finished from Cambridge before me made a first-class. Fortunately, I was classmates with an amazing senior colleague of mine from OAU (who like me, also made the first class in Cambridge). His presence gave me a compass with which to navigate the academic seas of Cambridge amidst the tumultuous waves of a crashing Naira exchange rate, without sinking my boat.

Whilst ensuring a realistic sense of what was important, I ensured I made the most of Cambridge. I traveled, met new people, explored and experimented (sometimes determining not to eat the cuisine of one country more than once in a particular week)! I secured vacation placements with law-firms in London, attended balls, garden parties and formal dinners, undertook a pro-bono project with the Law Faculty, served food to the homeless on the streets of Cambridge, and locked myself in the library when needed. At the end of the second term, of my 4 courses, I had secured 3 first class results and 1 first class with distinction. Mathematically, even with a term left, the deal had been done, and nothing but an absolute shipwreck in my final term could deny me the hat-trick. The final term went just as well as the previous terms and finally, the results were officially released: I had my 3rd first-class in the bag, and I was just 23! The 1st first-class felt good, the 2nd first class felt great; the 3rd was outright emotional: saying I was on the Mt. Everest of ecstasy does not do justice to the feeling!
Keep Raising the Bar
Borrowing from the wisdom of an old English judge, it appears that those with a taste for fairytales seem to think that in some Aladdin’s cave, there is hidden a virtue variously called ‘natural talent’ or ‘genius’ and something in the art of reproduction confers it on some children and not on others, which makes them excel better than others. Whilst I cannot attest to the truthfulness of this claim in other disciplines, I know it is non-existent in law. I can attest to the fact that I was born with no knowledge of commercial law, civil litigation, or competition law: knowledge of the law resides in the pages of books. I thus believe, as did Justice Melville Fuller of the US Supreme Court, that “the world furnishes many examples of the superiority of the truly earnest and laborious mind over the merely intellectual.” Academic excellence therefore does not reside in in-born gifts but in unrepentant effort. Irrespective of your circumstances, I urge you to set the goal, raise the bar, and pursue. Dreams are neither too big nor goals too high, but minds are either too small to conceive them or arms too short to achieve them. Yes, you can!

Culled from Bellanaija

2014 OSCAR Award: Meet Oyagbile Peter, The Most Charismatic Student Leader

The historic Outstanding Students' Choice Awards of Recognition popular known as had come and is gone but it will never be forgotten so quick by the entire OAU community. Aside from being the very first of its kind in Obafemi Awolowo University with such huge popularity among staffs and students, its nomination and election fairness and credibility is a song that abounds in the mouth of many.

Today with us is one of the most celebrated personality on OAU campus and beyond, the OSCAR Most Charismatic Male Leader.

OAU Peeps: Congratulations on your award as the Most Charismatic Student Leader! Can you briefly tell us about yourself?
Petrus: Thanks. I am Peter Oyagbile, a graduate of Botany Department of Great Obafemi Awolowo University Ile-Ife, A Goal Getter, forward thinking person and always believing in possibility and execution of great ideas.

OAU Peeps: Wow. Tell us how growing up was like with you? Will you say life has been fair to you?

Petrus: Growing up was cool. Life has been good and still very good, thanks to God for the free gift of nature giving us opportunities for great exploits. Though I was not born with a silver spoon in my mouth, I am the fourth of six children with lovely parents who could afford us the privilege of good education.  I was able to identify the importance of life and being relevant in life early enough which prompted in me the thought for greatness and significance.

OAU Peeps: Can you tell us about the leadership positions you have held before now?
Petrus:  I was a Labour Prefect during my primary school education, then I was the Senior Prefect Boy during my secondary school education and then the class rep in my first year in OAU with excellent success recorded and great accountability. My tenure as the President of NABOS ended some months back.

OAU Peeps: Now to the Award that exposed you, how did you feel when you found out you had won the award the other day?

Petrus:  I was excited.

OAU Peeps: Was there a lot of suspense leading up to the decision and did you think you might win or will you call it a total surprise?
Petrus: The suspense was not much, I expected it because I am the optimistic type. Though, I doubted it at a point.

OAU Peeps: That category of the Awards was obviously very tight and competitive with popular nominees like Iyeku Akinwale Tansi(IFUMSA President), Ifeanyi Emegwa(Equity) and some others. What made the difference?
Petrus:  I cannot really figure out the difference, but I think it was a great privilege to have been awarded and to have gotten such a great feedback from the teaming population of OAU students for their honest nomination.

OAU Peeps: Something that caught many people's attention was that your Association, NABOS had the highest popular nomination and eventual awards. How did you go about this?
Petrus: Smiles... It is not that we knew the awards would be coming our way, but we were just been diligent in getting our goals fulfilled. And the successes we had steered up possibilities in us.

OAU Peeps: So far so good, has the Award affected you in any way?
Petrus: Yes.

OAU Peeps: How?
Petrus:  It has been an encouragement and a stimulant to be more diligent and to take up more leadership responsibilities.

OAU Peeps: During your tenure as the President of National Association of Botany Students'(NABOS), your administration obviously witnessed unprecedented success. What was the secret?
Petrus: Thanks to God for the success achieved and also to my Mentor in leadership, Prof. Greg Erhabor who has made me to see the need to be committed to the pursuit of excellence. A set of wonderful Executive Team with excellent team spirit and the cooperation received from my teaming followers made a whole lot of difference.

OAU Peeps: 'BOTANISCA 2014' was a buzz on campus, how did you achieve this?
Petrus: As an Executive Body, we understood the purpose of the event, and we were able to communicate it rightly to great NABOS which earned us their cooperation and contributions.

OAU Peeps: In your speech in the BOTANISCA Magazine, Maiden Edition, you mentioned, "We all should be able to ask ourselves 'Why Botany?' because until you answer the question why, you may never understand the how of life knowing fully well that we are big as the dream we set out in our mind." So why Botany for you?
Petrus: It is a unique Basic Science that has given me the platform for my desired profession and to become a dream weaver in the science World.

OAU Peeps: How will you rate the OSCAR event?
Petrus:  It was excellent! because it was an idea of some set of students like every other student on campus which was eventually executed.

OAU Peeps: What were the major challenges you had leading your department?
Petrus: (i) Bringing about change was initially difficult. (ii) Insufficient funds in the execution of goals and vision was another challenge.

OAU Peeps: As a student leader, what are the major lessons you have learnt from your followers?
Petrus: Accepting people the way they are especially at their different levels of understanding and reasoning, Decision is hard work which requires high level of wisdom when it comes to people’s opinion and lastly, Success determinant depend much on the cooperation from followers.

OAU Peeps: Combining Academics with Campus Politics, how did you strike balance?

Petrus: I had to let go of some conveniences so as to be committed in order to strike balance.

OAU Peeps: Any regret in life so far?
Petrus: None

OAU Peeps: Are you in any relationship?
Petrus: No

OAU Peeps: Where do you see yourself in the next 5-10 years?
Petrus: Impacting and influencing lives with a more higher leadership responsibility, married and a consultant in Research and Development.

OAU Peeps: Is there anything you will like to share with our readers?
Petrus: Let us keep discovering and exploring our capabilities in order to be a perfect match with opportunity.

OAU Peeps: What message do you have for your fellow students and youths out there?
Petrus: It is important for us to know that we are as big as the dream we ever set out in our minds. Therefore, let us not stop dreaming; let us not forget our driving force of always becoming the best in whatsoever we do. No matter how the past has been, we can always do better and we can always go for the best. Let’s dare to go extra miles in achieving the unusual excellence, opening up our minds to generating insights into what the future holds for us as great intellectuals.

OAU Peeps: Thank you for your time Mr Oyagbile Peter. Your shout out to the OAU Peeps Crew?
Petrus:  It’s a privilege been here. Thanks! My Shout out goes to the OAU Peeps Crew, you guys are doing such a great work… keep it up!

Archive: Oyeyiola Segun, A Student Of OAU Builds A Solar-powered Car

Like I have always said, Nigerian students are no dull brains, they are only handicapped by the non-working atmosphere and condition created for them. Here is a solar-powered vehicle built by Oyeyiola Segun, a Part 5 student of the Electronic and Electrical Department of Obafemi Awolowo University.

In an exclusive interview with OAU Peeps News Agency, he explained how the car came into existence and the motivations behind it.

OAU Peeps: Can we meet you sir?

Segun: Okay, I am Oyeyiola Segun, a part 5 student of Elect-Elect., OAU

OAU Peeps: We learnt you built this lovely car. Was it a joint project or you did it yourself?

Segun: I did it only. This is not a day’s job, I have been working on it for some months now.

OAU Peeps: So how does the car work?

Segun: Basically it depends on Wind and Solar energy. All the energy derived for these two sources were converted to run the simple car. There are different means of obtaining energy from these two sources but I picked the one that is cool for my car.

OAU Peeps: From what you just said, you can either use the Wind or Solar Energy to power the car’s engine?
Segun: Not either energy, rather both energies are used to power the car.

OAU Peeps: Cool… that differentiates your production from the usual vehicles we see around us I suppose?

Segun: Yes, you are very correct.

OAU Peeps: Could you share with us what actually provoked your innovation? I mean what you thought before coming up with this lovely engine?

Segun: Basically, it is because of the climate change we experience due to the combustion of fuel and you know cars also contribute to that change. So I thought of running a car that will not use fuel for its locomotion. After series of thinking and research work, I came up with the simple method that gave birth to this. So that is the basic reason for the car. Another concern of mine is to produce a car that will function effectively at a reduced cost of maintenance. I believe you know the price of fuel in this country is almost going beyond the reach of a common man?

OAU Peeps: Yes, you are right. Is there any other peculiarity of the car that you will like to share apart from the once you have mentioned?

Segun: Of course yes. Another thing that distinguishes my car from the common ones you see around is that you can know the state of the car through your mobile phones. I wrote a software that you can install which will give you the basic information about the car while in your room.

OAU Peeps: What do you mean by the State of the car?

Segun: I mean the functionality of the car, like the battery level, the weather conditions, the distance you can cover during different weather conditions. In case you have a bad weather. The car also has a GPS in it that helps to know the location of the car. These and many other features embedded in it.

OAU Peeps: Wow! this is very lovely. Do you have plans replicating this nice work in the future?

Segun: The work has come to stay, but I need to keep improving it for now.

OAU Peeps: It took you how many years to put this together?

Segun: That your question can be phased into two categories, do you mean mentally or physically?

OAU Peeps: Lol… you are right. Let us talk about the Physical aspect of it now.
Segun: Okay. We all know how our country is, I mean to get money is not easy but I pray that God will make it easy for everyone of us. The truth is, I cannot really say how long because I started using my personal little money to get the materials together. Let me just say about twelve(12) months.

OAU Peeps: Did you encounter any major challenge during this project?

Segun: Yes, Money. Even at the moment, I still need funds to get some others materials which are in my original paper design which I have not implemented on the car.

OAU Peeps: What will be the summarized cost of this car when fully ready?

Segun: There are lots of things that will lead to summary cost of production, so for now I cannot specifically state the cost but with all the materials that I will be needing since I am not producing in large quantities, its close to a million Naira. Now quantifying my effect and others on foreseen cases.

OAU Peeps: Finally, your message to fellow Nigerian students?

Segun: My message to my fellow students is that Rome was not built in a day. It is better to start anything you want to do now and don’t never, I repeat, never expect someone to believe in your dreams because they may not understand it as you do. Endeavor to follow your heart and do what will make you happy and that which will not affect your fellow being negatively. May God help and bless us all.

OAU Peeps: Amen. Thank you so much Engineer, we are indeed proud of you.

Segun: You are welcome and May God help OAU Peeps News Agency too.