DemoCrazy: The Abraham Lincoln Parody - Pope Jay

We all have our high moments; that particular point in time that just defines the rest of our lives. For Isaac Newton; it was watching that apple drop, for Franklin, it was that wet moment in the rain when the lightening flashed, Archimedes wasn’t even dressed in his moment, For Barack Obama; I think it was “The Speech That Made Obama President”. History lovers would agree that for Abraham Lincoln, it was that hot Thursday Afternoon in November 1863, yes; The Gettysburg Address! Apart from the fact that that speech went on to become one of the most famous in American history, I believe it also put Lincoln in the eternal hall of fame of democracy, a proof of this being the fact that the last words of the address are the most widely used to define the entire concept of “Democracy”. Sometimes I try to picture Lincoln giving that address; the confidence in his voice, his proud stance, the smirk on the corner of his face as he carved his words deep into time itself, if only Grandpa Abe knew that about Seven score and fourteen years after, in an academic estate somewhere in Central Africa on a cool Wednesday evening, a jester would make a mummer’s farce of the words he spoke.

Democracy, even beyond Lincoln, has gained a lot of popularity. As a system of government, it is perhaps the most popular in the world today. And apart from nations, many other institutions have tried to implement, or at least simulate, its workings to an extent. And just maybe to some reasonable extent, the system has succeeded. This is not to say that the system is without its flaws: As a matter of fact, many times the decision of the majority is not always the best but then again, doesn’t every good thing come with its sour side. Democracy is a system that aims to give every man an equal voice, irrespective of the diversities that seems to drive us as far apart. Democracy is not a respecter of skin colour or other physical properties, it doesn’t discriminate based on intellectual capabilities; a fool’s vote is worth the same as a sage’s vote (even though it is often difficult to decipher who is which). And as much as I don’t always agree with the outcomes of the democratic process, I believe it still remains the best system of governance for the mere reason that it keeps a society in check!

So the Electoral Commission of the Obafemi Awolowo University Students’ Union decided to allow only students that have attained a CGPA of 2.5 and above be officers of the Union and I found this quite interesting, for the mere reason that it apparently shatters the very building blocks of the democracy we seem to be quite passionate about. And almost all that have endorsed this stance has done so on the premise of the statement; “How would someone who has less than a 2.5 CGPA be able to cope with leading our Union?” and more than even the decision, I believe this statement to be comical. We might as well say people with less than 2.5 CGPA do not have the intellectual capability to vote and leave them out of the whole process. And as much as I agree that some minimum benchmarks be in place to set some standard, I do not believe threading the CGPA lines once again is the way out. If the University would still recognize students with less than 2.5 CGPAs as her students and the Union would still tax them as her members, it is definitely not democratic to say these students do not deserve a chance at the leadership of the Union. Who knows? The electorate might even find them more capable than the so-called CGPA Intellectuals. Sadly, I am but one of many and the best I can do is state my opinion and hope persons of like minds (whether contrary or similar opinions) can critic and share their opinions. Just maybe, we’d be able to work out something from this Academic Aristocracy or as I’ll like to call it; DemoCrazy.

"Man The Mic Is A Big Deal" - Timi Agbaje

  Timi Agbaje, a well known event compere, entrepreneur, and the organizer of the much anticipated oratory training event; "Man the Mic", in an interview session with OAU Peeps News Agency enlightened us about the aims and how much result he expects from the programme.

     In the interview, he stated how much he expects "Man The Mic" to be successful because of the huge efforts and resources put into it. According to the Compere, there are about fifty participants and this already meant success for the organizers. He was also certain of a ninety-percent impact if not hundred on the participants due to the fact that the facilitators were professionals in their line of work and that it wasn't only their lessons but also their lifestyle and achievements would go a long way to motivate the participants.

 With just a day to go, find the Press Release from the organizers below;

"Press Statement on Man The Mic

The programme MAN THE MIC holds tomorrow Friday at Moot Court in Faculty of Law, OAU .  The venue was shifted in order to accommodate the anticipated audience.

Then participants of Man The Mic are expected to arrive at 11am whilst the programme will start by 12pm. Prompt arrival is very important!

Facilitators are Nancy Isime of Hip Tv, Don Tee, Mc Simbal, Asiri, Ayo Atitebi, Biyi Ajayi, Mc Gollie. Features include

Networking sessions, certificates, questions and answers, insights etc

Forms are still available for sale!

History is about to be made in grand style. Don't miss this ever

Call 0813 114 5829 for details!"

Political Science Students Hold Round-Table Talk

The Obafemi Awolowo University chapter of the National Association of Political Science Students (NAPSS) on the noon of Wednesday, 25^th January 2017 held a political roundtable.



The talk which was held at the Social Sciences Lecture Theatre was centered on the theme; “Anti-Corruption War: Political, Legal and Economic Perspective” featured distinguished speakers which came with different approaches to the topic. Immanuel Faith, the Public Relations Officer of the Nigerian Economic Students Association (NESA), who represented the President of the department spoke on the Economic effects of the Anti-Corruption War, stating that the main purpose why corruption was a bad thing for any economy was that the money embezzled was often hidden out of the country and thus reduced the total amount of money in circulation. Ayogu Chinedu, however, approached the topic from a more practical perspective as he lauded the ongoing fight against corruption in the country by the President and Mr Salam Rasak also came to give his opinion which did not totally agree with the prior.

Mr Agunyai S., a lecturer in the department of Political Science however rounded off the debate as he clarified that President Muhammadu Buhari was not at all fighting corruption but was only facing a few corrupt politicians in the country and although, the President had a personal repute of truth and integrity, his approach to the said Anti-corruption fight might not be the most effective.

OAU: Electoral Committee Lifts Campaign Ban, Imposes CGPA Bench-mark

After weeks of waiting, several students of the Obafemi Awolowo University were quite shocked when the Electoral Commission sealed the inclusion of the 2.5 CGPA requirement in the electoral guidelines for the conduction of the Students’ Union elections for the 2016/2017 Academic Session.

In the congress which was the first of its kind since the suspension of the activities of the Obafemi Awolowo University  Students’ Union, the ban on campaigns was lifted and the guidelines were spelt out by the commission.

 The dates of the Elections were also announced at the floor of the congress.

However, things got rather comical when the Chairman of the Electoral Commission, Fadele Olusola, upon the declaration of the 2.5 CGPA requirement started to run out of the congress, whilst singing the Great Ife anthem. Certain persons have come out to claim that the actions of the chairman were to ensure his security, but then some other perspectives believe that the Chairman and his Committee might have had a personal agenda at the congress as the meeting did not, as a matter of fact, represent the true intentions of the Great Ife Students. 

 It is noteworthy to remember the 2.5 CGPA requirement was hotly debated at the last union elections as despite the fact that it disenfranchised certain candidates, several other candidates were allowed by the then Electoral Commission to contest. The controversy eventually led to the matter being taken to the Congress where it was resolved that the criteria being alien to the Union’s constitution be scrapped. Hopefully this time, the commission sticks to its word. More details on the guidelines and Calendar to be released in due course.

 

OAU Extends Elujoba’s Vice Chancellorship Tenure

The newly constituted Governing Council of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife has commenced the appointment process for a substantive Vice Chancellor for the university.

The Chairman of the Council, Dr. Yemi Ogunbiyi, made this known while addressing newsmen after inspecting some facilities in the university on his first assignment in the institution.

Among the facilities visited were post retirement lodge, hostels, Information Communication and Technology centre, new Senate building, Centre for Distance Learning and the university’s dam.

He said that the new governing council was ready to ensure rapid development of the OAU.

While stating that the appointment of the acting Vice-Chancellor of the OAU, Prof. Anthony Elujoba, has been extended, the Governing Council Chairman stated that the appointment process for a substantive Vice -Chancellor of the university has commenced.

He said, “We are going to do all that we can to bring all the unions together. We don’t belong to any group but we will ensure cooperation with all unions.

“The Senate in its wisdom unanimously recommended the acting Vice Chancellor tenure extension and it has been granted.

“However, the process of appointing an acting Vice Chancellor has begun. Very soon, the advertisement for submission of applications will be seen in newspapers.”

After the visit, he lamented that most infrastructures in the university were decaying.

“They (the infrastructures) are very urgent and need to be fixed as soon as possible. It is urgent, I have never seen them that bad. I do not know how students survive under this condition. It is not possible to learn and study well under the kind of decay we saw there,” he added.

He assured that a forensic audit of past administrations would be embarked upon to clarify allegations of misappropriation and mismanagement levelled against the past administration.

He promised to harmonise all the unions in the institution as a way of moving on to engender a peaceful calendar year for the students.


Credit: Channels Television

How To Organise And Execute Any Competition On OAU Campus - Gracious Egedegbe

By Gracious Egedegbe

Times are hard, really hard. In fact, it is so hard that many are taking the unfortunate travails of MMM to heart. However, as an OAU student, you cannot afford to remain broke; you have got to think of something real quick. One of the things you can do is to organise a competition, either a beauty pageant or a singing competition, anything!

The first thing you need to do is to get your reason right. This is very important because you don’t want to spend your time and resources on something that will not benefit you. Get this straight: the reason you’re organising this competition is because you need money. However, you cannot tell other this (unless they are broke niggers like yourself and are fully in support of your plans).

However, to your contestants and the general public, you must make them believe you are doing it for the public good. This can be done with the following statements: “we are set to groom young talents”, “the aim of this event is to give potential youths a showcasing platform” amongst others. The point is this: make sure that making money is all that you care about. You might want to make a name for yourself too but that ultimately ends in using that “name” to make money. You really don’t care if the contestants really develop during the course of the event.

One thing you must be ready to do is to spend some money. Think about all the sensible money making ventures in the world like MMM and iCharity, they all need money to make more money. You need money to print a couple of posters and pay people to paste it around campus. (if you are really broke, you and your other broke friends can paste them instead.) The money in question can be your school fees, house rent or even borrowed! What matters is that you have money to spend. For those of you who want shows that are organised as platforms for development and not mere money making ventures, you should understand that when someone pumps in so much money, the only thing that matters is generating cool profit (soft work!)

Once you have gotten some money, you can now begin publicity. In order not to waste resources, you must target your publicity at part one students who are eager to “dash” you their money without reading the fine print. These gullible students will later come back to grumble but don’t bother about them. The reason to target part one students is simple: most advanced students will do the maths and realise that you do not have the complete money to run the entire program. They will know you have some sleazy moves underway. (Although one or two may be gullible too.)

You need to know that organisation matters; you cannot afford to be sloppy. You need very cool designs for posters and WhatsApp BCs, a team of broke niggers like yourself and most importantly a tiny handful of people who actually care about grooming young talents. The need for such handful to give the event a good “dress”. Remember the proverbs, “the way you dress is the way you will be addressed”; in that same line, you must give your organisation a good dress.

When you have got gullible students for contestants (who have also paid some cash for application forms), you begin to print tickets (with the change left from printing posters). This stage is very important. In fact, it is so important that if you mess up at this point, you may consider the entire business a waste of time. I’m sure you are wondering who has the money to buy tickets in these hard times. Well, the trick is simple: distribute these tickets amongst the contestants and tell them the higher their sales, the higher the chances of winning. Simple!

Some people may begin to grumble at this point. However, just draw their attention to three facts. First, no one was forced to do anything. I mean, these contestants came on their own. Moreover, if they don’t want to sell tickets, no problem – just that it affects their chances of winning.

Second, you need money to run the program. Or did they think you had solved the problem of funds before you began the program? So they expect you to use your personal money to develop young talents? Even you ‘gan’, you are looking for who will develop your talent. It’s from the ticket money you pay the prizes and do other things. It’s like all the contestants are doing MMM. Some will get 100%, some 30%, other will lose. It’s normal!

Third, you need publicity for your program. Imagine you are walking on the street and no one is saying anything about your program as if it does not exist. God forbid! I reject it for you. But we both know you can’t afford a large scale advertisement. Therefore, the best thing is to use your contestants for publicity. Let them look for people who will come to the show to cheer them up. Simple, free and effective!

At this point, you must step aside and allow the tiny handful I talked about take charge. But you are like every other human being, you just cannot let things be. So even among the judges, you should put one or two of your guys. At this point, you must have gathered enough money. Immediately the program ends, you must go into oblivion. What I mean is no one should hear anything about you or follow up plans for grooming young talents.

You want my advice? Well, you can throw a big party for your guys, buy gadgets for yourself, an iPhone 7 for your girlfriend and use the rest to do MMM. Don’t forget to send me some change though…. Things are also hard for writers.

Cheers!

(Egbedegbe Gracious is a student of the Faculty of Arts, Obafemi Awolowo University and a member of the OAU Peeps Team. He tweets at @IamTheGray)

JCIN OAU To Host Entrepreneurship-Leadership And Leadership Summit

Have you ever had this experience?

You are travelling in a new city but you don't have a clear picture  of your destination.
You decided to use your GPS to find your destination but the route does not seem to match reality.
Suddenly, you are in a strange place with cars buzzing by and no clarity about where to turn next._

The FUTURE seems blurry.
The "supposed route" takes the form of a LABYRINTH.

Wait

On the 18th of February, 2017,
Oduduwa Hall will be filled with students from OAU & other tertiary institutions for the LEADERSHIP and ENTREPRENEURSHIP SUMMIT  organized by

Junior Chamber International (JCI), Nigeria, Obafemi Awolowo University as renowned figures from diverse fields will be sharing their thoughts on the

Theme- "The Future Seen Half-Naked."

Game-changing Keynotes and Open Mic Panel Discussions with prominent personalities such as:

Jumoke Adenowo (CEO, AD CONSULTING)
Chude Jideonwo (Founder, RED MEDIA)
Seun Onigbinde (CEO, BUDGIT)
Yemi Adamolekun (Chief Executive Director, EIE Nigeria)
AUDU MAIKORI (Founder Chocolate City)


What to expect

-A Mentor-Mentee scheme for a particular set of students.
-Opportunity to win awesome prizes via the best Business plan competition.
-Free CV review for participants
- Massive Networking platforms for the attendees.

To register, simply click on the link below.
http://tiny.cc/summit2017

PS: Airtel-sponsored gifts to be won by those who register on or before January 21.

Do not miss this opportunity...

To get your tickets and other enquiries, kindly contact:
Damilare - 09035030367
Bablo - 08097081728
Kolawolu - 07035926903
Tolu - 07063704281
Temitope - 08153393211

Or pick it up at Kay's at Amphitheatre

Ticket goes for N500 only

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JCI Nigeria, OAU