Maintaining In Maintenance: Aunty Thelma

'No wonder...', Thelma hissed after her lengthy musing as she stared at the soapy lines almost drying on the plates that needed attention in rinsing.

'No wonder', Thelma hissed again, this time around, the hiss was long enough to spite the devil.

She rinsed the plates and went back to her phone to resume her Instagram session as she was not done snooping, or 'researching' as she called it.

First on the list to be 'observed' today, like every other day was Oyin, the natural enemy that lives next door. Though they had not shared more than the usual Maintenance 'hi' and 'hello', Oyin was what Thelma described as a thorn in the flesh.

For Thelma, it was not bad enough that Oyin rented a whole room in SHG to herself; or that she seemed to have contact lenses for every weather. What irritated her was how Oyin went about 'acting friendly'. To her, that was the greatest form of arrogance. She attributed Oyin's staying alone to the Maintenance unwritten law of 'mind your business' and yes, there was 'boyfriend intimidation' game which Thelma couldn't play because she broke up with her boyfriend. She recently saw a controversial snap where one of campus's biggest moneybags declared Oyin as his legit girlfriend.

Thelma whose registration and matriculation name was Nkiru found the need to 'step up', thereby digging up her baptismal name which she felt sounded smoother and more befitting for a Maintenance babe. Due to her almost-humble background, raising the money to get a bedspace was trying, but then she thought to herself "what's the point of staying in maintenance if I can't stay in one of the freshest hostels?"

Later that night, Thelma's sleep was cut in half by a distant commotion. She checked the time, it was 9:53pm. As she made to step out of her room, she nearly collided with her roommate, Success, who came running up to call Thelma. Downstairs, they met with Oyin, just alighting a bike, half naked and all blue from bruises. She ran past them towards her room. Everybody seemed to be talking at once, excitedly. It's not everyday a 'public figure' appears like that.

It wasn't until the next day that Thelma got the full gist from a male friend of hers who stays in the same hostel as Victor, Oyin's moneybag boyfriend. Oyin came visiting and met Jude, a friend of Victor's who was staying with him for the day. He had some foreign currency and original gold chains which Oyin felt obliged to steal from.

Jude was apparently a chill-less guy and Victor, not your regular boyfriend, for he watched on as Jude dealt a few slaps on Oyin after finding the money in the inner pocket of her blazers and the gold chains in her underwear. Victor who had already lit a smoke began to fume and rant about how he had been wasting money on a thief and put out the cigarette on her back. It was then her screams attracted neighbors who came and pleaded that she be let go while a good Samaritan helped get her on a bike.

"It's why I rarely get envious of what someone else has. I don't know the price they paid to get it nor the price they are paying to keep it", Success said to Thelma from the kitchen.

"Well, she wasn't worth the beef after all', Thelma replied, trying to act unconcerned but she couldn't help but feel angry at herself for the time wasted and needless efforts.

***
This is one of the the many tales unfolding in the high gardens called Maintenance. Like I always advise; stay in your lane, you'll do just fine there.

Meanwhile, I'll keep maintaining in Maintenance.

Nikhil Lagh

(Nikhil Lagh is a Student of Political Science at the Obafemi Awolowo University and a Member of the OAU Peeps Team.)

Professor Adegbehingbe Delivers Lecture, Recommends "Orogbo" For Better Vision

The 290th inaugural lecture series of the Obafemi Awolowo University held yesterday at Oduduwa Hall. The lecture was delivered by the current Dean of Clinical Sciences, Professor Bernice Adegbehingbe. The delivery of the lecture, which was titled 'That I May See' started at about 5pm and had in attendance notable personalities of the institution, including the Vice Chancellor.

While delivering the lecture, Adegbehingbe shared her clinical experiences and her various contributions to knowledge which include good research output, effective teaching and dedicated clinical services. She furthered by stating that her main objective is to prevent blindness and help find cures for other visual impairments.

She quoted a verse of the Bible verse, from where her topic was coined; Luke 18:4, thus her speech centred on facts about blindness and its causes. She gave facts, according to her researches, on some causes of blindness, using many clinical terminologies. Another high point of her lecture delivery was her recommendation of the use of Garcinia kola (Orogbo - Yoruba name) for clear vision.

Professor Adegbehingbe concluded her lecture by stating her many academic achievements, one of which was that she mentored and trained about fourteen Star Consultant Ophthalmologists. She later acknowledged her colleagues, her parents, in-laws , children and her loving husband and her many supporters that helped her career.

Professor Bernice O. Adegbehingbe is the current Dean of Clinical Sciences, the first ever from the Department of Ophthalmology. She is also an alumnus of OAU and had her Bc Hons in Health Sciences in 1985 and her MBCHB in 1988, before she went to Ireland to further her studies. She has contributed so much to her profession. This she said was spurred by her desire to be a professor, ever since her teenage years. She also stated that her quest for research and academic excellence was borne out of her exposure during her MSc programme.

We at OAU Peeps congratulate Professor Bernice Adegbehingbe on her appointment as a professor, and wish her greater heights of success.
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Power Blackout Stalls Activities In EDM, Agric Faculties

For more than 6 days now, the Faculty of Environmental Design and Management (EDM) and Faculty of Agriculture in Obafemi Awolowo University, have been thrown into darkness, as a result of power black out.

The lack of power supply in these faculties has stalled several activities including laboratory works that requires power, and some other academic activities.

Understanding that the school's WiFi network runs on power, some lecturers in the affected two faculties have also blamed the power supply outage for their inability to process the results of their graduating students, since they cannot be connected. This could result in some departments not able to meet up with today's university Senate meeting where such results are expected to be ratified.

The students of the faculties and those from outside the faculties too have their own share of the repercussion of the blackout; many students who use classrooms in the faculties to read at night have now been denied, due to lack of light. This is not the first time these areas will be disconnected from the other part of the university power-wise, we hope the relevant authorities will of help look into the issue and find a lasting solution to it.

Concerned Student Laments Over Improper Use of Pit Theatre

The "Pit Theatre" is no stranger to majority of Great Ife students. It is the spacious auditorium present in the building housing the Dramatic Arts Department. The original purpose of the auditorium is to serve as a place where students of the department can engage in the practical aspects of their studies.

However, Pit Theatre has gone beyond being used just for studying.  It has over the years served as a hotbed for several occasions.  Events such as various department's freshers' party, dinners and even variety nights has been hosted there. Fellowships and churches on campus have also used the venue for various religious programs.  Nevertheless, all these are not really the fundamental reasons why the auditorium was created.

Recently, voices have been raised over the continues abuse of the same auditorium by its users. Such alleged abuses include non-tidiness of the place after use, improper handling of the facilities present and usage at odd hours.

Pouring his mind, a concerned student of the Department of Dramatic Arts lamented, "I can't believe this is Pit Theatre. Although I'm not against renting it out to be used but it should be properly cleaned."  Another member of the Department also complained of the incessant damages of facilities in the theatre, which has always forced the department to foot the bills for repairs from their own pocket.

Pit Theatre is a place known for expression of creativity, and a structure that serves as a practical venue, a laboratory for all the students of the department.  These are its primary roles. It is worthy to note, however, that the secondary roles the theatre is serving shouldn't on the long run hinder its primary functioning.

We hope the concerned parties will look into this and make the necessary amendments before the prestigious Pit Theatre would be turned into a "Pit".

NASELS OAU Treats Freshmen To Warm Welcome

Miss NASELS 2016

NASELS Freshers Mountaineering

Tiamiyu Daniel, Mr NASELS 2016

The National Association of Students of English and Literary Studies (NASELS), OAU chapter, welcomed her Freshmen last week.

The 2015/2016 executive council of the association called the Altruist team integrated the freshmen by organising a week-long activity.

The Freshers' week commenced on Monday, 22nd August with an interactive session with lecturers from the department. On Tuesday, a seminar was held on how to be a better student alongside Ladies' talk; where the female newbies met with a Senior lecturer of the department, Dr. Folashade Hunsu. A career talk with Mr Andy Akhigbe, a recipient of Wizard Academy Prize for change in Texas, USA in 2007 took place on Wednesday morning,24th August. In the evening, there was a football match between the male fresh students and the stalites. However, the stalites hit them hard with two goals to nothing. A Spelling Bee, Debate and Quiz Contest held on the fourth day of the programme and later that day, several other talents were showcased by the freshmen during the variety night.

In an interview with the NASELS' President, Mr. Afeez Gbadamosi aka Afeez Gba, stated at the variety night that creativity was the selling point of NASELS students and since they have beautiful talents embedded in them, a variety night had to be included in the programme.

On Saturday, 27th August, the final day, a mountaineering exercise took place in the morning. The day was perhaps the best for most of the students as the leadership of the association had organised what many still term as one of the best freshers' parties on campus. The party took place on Saturday evening. It featured performances from several artistes and the annual Mr and Miss NASELS Contest where Mr Tiamiyu Daniel and Miss Toluhi Oreoluwa emerged winners respectively. In an exclusive interview with our correspondents, the Director of Socials, Mr Samwise and the Public Relations Officer of the association, Mr Ogunlana Micheal, gave all thanks to God, the Altruist team and every member of the association that made the week a success.
  

Editorial: Truth Be Told, OAU Belongs To Nobody & Belongs To Everybody

The recent trend in Nigeria's foremost institution, Obafemi Awolowo University seems to portray the Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU) and Senior Staff Association of Nigeria Universities (SSANU) as monopolizing the institution's control in their hands. If this situation is not immediately checked, it could mean OAU taking one step forward and two steps backward. Most importantly, the silence of students who are the suffering grass should not be misconstrued for stupidity or gullibility.

Today, some members of NASU and SSANU reportedly stormed the Senate building to protest and demand for their unpaid allowances, a situation which allegedly deteriorated the security condition at the institution's administrative block. In fact, some reports even have it that the Universe's Registrar and Bursar did not have it all to be a rosy day. The reason for their protest has been the same reason given for the incarceration of students 3 months ago. That period remains an unforgettable moment where students were subjected to emotional and psychological trauma for about 100 days; a condition that was eventually prevailed upon by President Muhammadu's approval of Professor Anthony Elujoba as the varsity's acting Vice Chancellor last month, after a vigorous #ReOpenOAU campaign.

The students, who still await their promised meeting with Elujoba seem to have their wings currently clipped, since their right to associate as a Union was seized towards the unpopular end of the former Vice Chancellor, Bamitale Omole's administration. Or maybe, students prefer to watch from the sideline for the mean time; a well calculated grace period to trust the new administration of the university to restore its glory as promised. If the major victims of these untold academic fluctuations are giving the leadership of the varsity a benefit of doubt to act, should NASU and co now turn OAU to their secretariats where they can choose to close down whenever they deem fit?

Where is ASUU? Its silence at the moment is not unexpected though, considering the alleged role a section of the Union played in the botched selection process of a Vice Chancellor for the institution. Perhaps, the 'superior' Union is still taking time to recover from the shock that came with President Buhari's intervention. Whatever the case may be, it is very important that Odewunmi-led NASU and his counterpart in SSANU know that enough is enough, and at same time understand that the future of innocent OAU students is already bleeding in their hands. Elujoba's time as the head of the institution looks promising and that is why the students are keeping their cool. OAU is neither NASU's property nor SSANU's property because it belongs to nobody and it belongs to everybody.

It is definitely not time for stories that touch yet, nevertheless, it is imperative to note that if the University is shut down once again as a result of the manner in which these staff demand for their entitlements, it won't be surprising to see students mount a formidable resistance in self defence against the deliberate bastardisation of their future with unnecessary breaks. Remember, a law of motion says "for every action, there is always an equal and opposite reaction." We are all watching!

Campus Journalists Uphold Decision To Avoid Department, Faculty Politics

Journalists of the Obafemi Awolowo University under the auspices of the Association Campus of Campus Journalists (ACJ), OAU, reaffirmed an earlier decision by the association disallowing its members from contesting in Departmental and Faculty elections. The decision, which had raised some dust both within and outside the association, was passed last session and was called for review by the Guild of Editors of the Association. The law was then brought up for review at the Association's general meeting on Saturday, 27th August 2016.

However, despite arguments from some parties that, considering current realities, especially on the OAU campus, Campus Journalists should not be totally barred from contesting at Departmental and Faculty levels but some modalities be set in place to guide instances like this thus helping to retain some sanity to the fourth estate.
After several arguments, the topic was then put to vote and majority of the campus journalists voted that Journalists not be allowed to contest in Departmental and Faculty elections, upholding the resolution reached last session.

The release of Association's Public Relations Officer;

RESOLUTION OF ASSOCIATION OF CAMPUS JOURNALISTS OAU GENERAL MEETING HELD ON 27TH DAY OF AUGUST 2016


The Association of campus Journalists OAU at her general meeting held at BOOC on the above stated date made the following Resolutions

👉�No Journalist on OAU campus should contest for leadership position at the Departmental,Faculty and Students Union level in the University

👉�Induction would hold on September 9th & 10th,2016

👉�Registration Deadline for News Agencies /Journalists has been extended till September 7,2016

👉�All Journalists would work with more unity and ensure that information dissemination is efficient on campus

👉�Committees were formed and heads were appointed for each committee

The General meeting had in attendance Journalists cut across various news agencies and was presided over by the President of the Association.


It was agreed that all Politicians who are journalists be asked to resign their political position and all resolutions takes effect immediately.



Signed
Abegunde Cephas
ACJOAU, PRO