Beyond Soundbites: Did Erstwhile President Reform live up to Promise?
Numerous events occurred before and throughout the campaign in 2021, leading to the development of his objectives. He did, in fact, complete some of the most concerned students' welfare agenda. However, in his inaugural speech, he quoted a prominent Political Philosopher, Frantz Oman Fanon, who in his book, 'The Wretched of the Earth', wrote: 'Each Generation must, out of its obscurity, discover its mission, fulfill it or betray it'. Of course, as a member of his Generation, he has contributed to the aim of ensuring the survival of a dynamic Students' Union. The emphasis should be on either betraying or fulfilling the assignment. Olayiwola Folahan, Reform, did he fulfill the mission he promised? What has hampered the implementation of the Seven Reformation Agenda?
To begin, in an interview with ACJOAU, he was questioned if there would be a problem among the CEC and SRC leadership because he hugged the Speaker, Ajadi Toheeb wholeheartedly during the inauguration. However, he was serious in his response to the question when he stated that it is expected that conflicts between the two leaders will always exist in some form or another, but that they should be resolved if feasible. Nobody will argue that it was the Union Bar's foundation that sparked the crisis between them. What comes next? The next step was to work out their differences amicably, but a congress decided to suspend Mr. Speaker of the SRC. Then Mr. Speaker began sprinting helter-skelter to the Students' Union Judicial Council for reinstatement. Of course, Olayiwola Folahan wasn't expecting it to come true, but it appears that the ACJOAU delegates foresaw the future. And it happened.
After a while, Olayiwola Folahan forgot about his manifestos and focused on the goal of not enabling the Suspended Speaker to lead the SRC. No one would have guessed, based on his manifesto, the Reformation Manifesto, that he would abruptly reverse the course of his scheme, because the Manifesto was excellent enough to reform the Union to its former culture. He appeared to have betrayed, as he stated during the interview. Let's look at some of the promises he made during his inaugural address, as well as what he did as president.
TRANSPORTATION: The problem with transportation during his time was the constant rise in transportation prices caused by the rise in the cost of fuel. The Reform administration, in collaboration with the Transportation Management Committee chaired by Sir Tee, attempted to ensure that the price is not raised much beyond the capabilities of students. He also vowed that the leadership of the Students' Union under his administration will make sure to put pressure on the University's administration for reconstruction of Road 7. However, it has always been an unpaved road, making it considerably more difficult to travel during the rainy season.
ACADEMIC WELFARE: Given what transpired during the session, the Union made every effort to ensure Academic Welfare. Indeed, the officer in charge went so far as to ensure that there were free tutorials for students in Part 1 so that many of them could succeed in their studies. Most would argue that certain laboratories still lack sufficient apparatuses and chemicals for practicals. Is OAU's late release of results over? Students are constantly concerned that when they eventually see these results, it will be a failure.
HEALTH CENTER: There has always been the issue of students going to the school's health center for treatment only to find themselves standing for hours. Was it halted? Most students now even prefer to remain in their various rooms while self-medicating to get well or even going to the pharmacy to buy drugs. Some people prefer to visit their parents in order to receive adequate treatment.
SECURITY: The OAU campus has traditionally been known as a secure place to spend the night, with people walking around at night to lecture theaters, libraries, and other locations. Suddenly, fear grips students as a female student is attacked in the middle of the night by a thief with a knife. That should teach us a lesson about being prepared by taking precautions to deal with potentially dangerous situations.
SEXUAL HARRASSMENT AND ASSAULT: We frequently ask why there was no mention of sexual harassment. Do they bury the one that is available? Assault? Students who should be pushing for 'No Assault' are really endorsing it. We've all heard of at least one of them.
A student activist, from the Department of Political Science, named Oladepo Joshua reiterated in an interview that not a single manifesto was taken into consideration when Reform was in charge of the Students' Union. "The last Great Ife administration is worst," he declared during the interview. He added that the administration's system is autocratic and not democratic in its dispensation.
The performance of the previous administration was further questioned in his additional inquiries. "How do you expect us to rate an administration that called congress once during its time, and that was even to remove the speaker? How do I even rate an administration that had its welfare director to slap a student at the level of Students' Union Building? How should we rate an administration that came to the protest we're doing under the aegis of Concerned Great IFE Students, disrupt it, and betray the struggle?'
Comments
Post a Comment