EARLY THOUGHTS ON AFAS POLITICS
By The PreacherMan
Before you read any further, let me specially welcome you to another semester with AFAS Press political desk. This particular column would have been nothing without you reading it. On that note, you are specially thanked and we appreciate your comments on our previous articles.
From last semester till today many things have happened in AFAS politics. The highlight of which was the suspension and reinstatement of Tijani Selim; the General Secretary of the association. Like it was said before, his inability to write letter and improper use of the English language laid at the heart of the suspension. However, Tijani Selim is not the only member of the executive with this fault. Madam Vice-president is not left out of this inability. According to a report submitted to the Faculty Legislative Council, she called this current session 2018/2019 session. To further show she is no different from Tijani Selim, she referred to Isaac Lijadu as the president of the association of AFAS. Other grammatical errors abound in the report, but they are not the purpose of this piece. Inasmuch as this could be blamed on typographical errors, one would wonder why no eyebrow was raised on the floor of the house now that importance is being placed on the use of English. Again, much will be said about the fairness of the honourable members in the coming days.
WHAT HAPPENED WHILE WE WERE AWAY?
AFAS politics is already brewing up as we get closer to the time the ban on electoral activities would be lifted and election date would be announced. People are already coming out to signify their intentions. This is also true of the election at the hallowed chamber. Election on the floor of the house is always a hot one, but more attention is paid to the election of the executive members.
The usual game of endorsement has started with the Students Historical Society of Nigeria (SHSN). While we were away, it was said that SHSN endorsed Ayinde Wasiu for the post of AFAS president. The implication of this is that Miss Faramade who had earlier declared her intention to run for the same post did not have the popular support of her fellow historians.
As it had always been when reasons were always attributed for the choice of Ayinde Wasiu over Faramade, many things have been said chief of which was their gender difference. If it was true that the endorsement toed that line, it might not be unconnected to the fact that it is not easy for anybody from the womenfolk to emerge as AFAS president. Of course, it is not because our ladies have proven to be incompetent but because of the lack of support they always get from their fellow women. The election between Shola Ojikutu and Purpose Ajimati is a recent case in point, one in which ladies like her campaigned against her for no obvious reason but rather to resonate male dominance over female.
Whichever way we might want to look at it, suitability for any post is not based on gender. Of course, when it comes to the matter of putting one person before another in positions of public responsibility, what counts is not the gender, but the actual ability of the individual. Without doubt, the choice of Ayinde Wasiu is political than it is on ability because the two of them have not occupied any position of public responsibility in the faculty before and none of them could not be said to be better than the other.
Miss Faramade is hereby enjoined to pursue her ambition if she is convinced she has the wherewithal to deliver more than anybody going against her. Endorsement does not mean you are not good and that should not deter you if you are sure of yourself.
A SHORT NOTE TO THE DIRECTOR OF INFORMATION
In recent times, questions have been raised about the competence of AFAS Director of Information, Marvelous Gbadegesin, especially in the wake of the poor publicity that greeted the Super 4 Competition late last semester. This was after he had doctored a broadcast message by the Director of Information of the Faculty of Science Students Association (FASSA) to bring information to AFASites. I will not dwell much on this because the honourable members have taken over from where I am going to stop in this piece.
As far as can be gathered, nothing has been said about the publication of Image Magazine, an annual publication of this association. The last time it was published was under the watch of Dominic Omakoro who was the Director of Information during the 2014/2015 session. During the time of Chidi Akabueze in 2015/2016 session, he delivered AFAS Review which was a collection of poems, short stories and essays. Bayo Badmus could not deliver either the magazine or a replica of AFAS Review because of the embattled time he had in office. Before he was eventually impeached, he spent over half of his days as the Director of Information under suspension.
Dear Director of Information, questions are hereby asked about the production of Image magazine or any publication to substitute for it. Many people have been questioning your competence already. Failure to deliver this magazine would put a big question mark on your ability for as the constitution says you are to be the chairman of the publication committee which shall be responsible for the publication of the association’s annual magazine and other periodicals. A successful tenure will not be recorded for anybody occupying the position you are holding without the publication of the Image magazine. Meanwhile, I can only pray that you have an itch-free outing with the FLC when you will be called upon to give an account of your stewardship thus far. Should in case you come back without being hurt, note that you need to be careful and do your work with due diligence.
To other members of the executive, they should be reminded that we are on course to see them fulfill the promises they made to us while hustling for vote. It is not enough to say, we must do, thus says the maxim. Since they were not forced to make those promises, they should not be forced to fulfill them either for to whom much is given, much is expected. Peace shall be yours if you heed these things. Shalom!
