OF AFAS HALLOWED CHAMBER AND THE POLITICS OF LIES

Some notable members of the House of Representative and Senate did not turn to national money loafers overnight; neither can we solely conclude that the position of power and weighty allowances received by others have over time shapened their state of mind to become prolific money-mongers. For some, this overzealous act of greediness and power lust all began in a small setting like our faculty, where a group of students try to assert a good use of office in the public eye but go behind close-doors to become vampires that prey on innocent minds in order to make mischievous moves.
Misappropriation of the faculty funds runs down the spine of certain individuals who over time have done a good job to make their deeds well hidden, while some, not so much. Following the footpath of these individuals who have done a great job at not being caught, others come up to live up to this habit. Kim Stanley could never have been more correct when he says habits begin to form at the very first repetition because the patterns involved are defenses, it bulwarks against time and despair. So what phase are we with recents happenings in the association?
PETER OLAGUNJU’S RESIGNATION LETTER
“I write to inform you, sir, that I must tender my resignation as the speaker of the faculty Legislative Council of the Association of the Faculty (FLC) of the association of faculty of Arts Students (AFAS). As I am no longer able to lead the FLC in checking the flagrant disregard for the laws stated in the constitution by another arm of the association. I consider it honourable to tender my resignation.
While I regret that I am no longer able to represent my constituents and superintendent the affairs of the FLC, I do look forward to contributing to the progress of the faculty”.
Thank you sir.
Yours sincerely,
Peter Olagunju
Finally, the hallowed chambered and the press got a copy of the former speaker’s resignation letter. One is, however, compelled to look inwardly at some lines addressing his actual reason for resignation. In the past few weeks, we had tied Olanguju’s resignation and that of other honourables to the N25, 000 naira advanced budget saga. The conclusion, nothwithstanding, was that it was a plot to rob the faculty of that particular amount and the Speaker, Peter Olagunju, who is the ring leader, had done so well to exclude himself from the face of investigation. Most certainly, seeking for the truth and lending a ear to all involved parties beckons on the journalist. Issues can at best be objectively analysed or interpreted having heard from both bodies, Team Olumide and Olagunju. In the words of the Olanguju, the running of the faculty is not a personal affair and therefore he has no issues with the current speaker of the house. Past events has, however, made us make some deductions. Perhaps the move by Olumide to polarize the house in the previous semester had ticked him off from Peter’s team of confidante. It would only be natural that the best person a Speaker can carry along in the scheme of the house (even before any other person gets to know about it in actual sitting) should be his Deputy Speaker. The impeachment of Hon. Olumide when he was the deputy speaker, no doubts, may have soiled the relationship between both. Instead of an awkward revelation issuing between Hon. Olumide and the president association of the faculty, Mr. Daniel Anagwanoye, Olumide would have allowed his emotional intelligence to guide him to demand rightful answers from Olagunju and then proceed to sit together in the house to account for his actions and apologise for it. It must have been the juiciest news to Hon. Olumide ears to finally catch a dent in his partner’s outfit and wasted no time in informing the rest of the house. Not a wrong move to be made especially if Olagunju had refused to give the house an answer or if it was a confirmed case of financial misappropriation, but the narratives could have logically been different.
However, as stipulated in the letter, Peter made no attachment to the funds that was unofficially withdrawn but seem to mirror his resignation on some other arms of the association who disregard the constitution. Could he have possibly been referring to the constitutional Council of Presidents and Secretaries (CPS) or the Executives who if they had their way, would dismiss the legislative council? He had apparently made no sheer effort to copy both arms in his letter, perhaps to drive home his point that both arms had over time been flagrantly disregarding the constitution of the association and can no longer be the same boat with them. A true courage of a leader is tested when he is faced with unpleasant situations and happenings around him. He is best seen as a symbol of weakness when he cannot take the heat and do what is expected of him. Peter , to his best knowledge does not see his resignation as a sign of weakness but one that pervades him from being in the clique of money loafers and constitution overrulers. Driving his thoughts back to the N25, 000 that was withdrawn based on his order by the former Deputy Clerk and Clerk of the house, he attributed that the money was essentially meant to carry out an event for the house. It is quite puzzling as some members of the house can’t remember when such an idea was conceived and discussed. Even Peter, at the point of being interviewed could not state in clear terms what event was planned and have to get back to the interviewee on the actual content of the event. If we begin to look at more potholes, we might also want to ask where and when it was suddenly decided that the total sum of N25, 000 could cater for the event. Perhaps, we may just want to take the former speaker of the house by his word given if he had said the event was a workshop for members of the house. What may remain unseen by a larger member of the association is that some honourables in the house need to undergo some training before they can be “honoured”. Even after being in the chamber relatively for four semesters, some of them do not understand the workings of the house, other arms of the association and the faculty at large and hence, they are prune to talk gibberingly or give illogical perspectives to issues being addressed. With that being said, the former speaker of the house has to come up with a better alibi for the supposed “event” even if at the end of the day he forgot about the money and it eventually had to into other expenses.
The spokesperson, Micheal Itiolu, on the other hand in his resignation letter seems to share the same line of thought with the former speaker of the house. According to his letter, “his decision to resign from the house only came because the values he stand for, which has also shaped his personality as an individual, have been threatened on several occasions by the activities of another arm of the association. The question on who is threatening who surfaces here. As it stands, other organs of the association, the press exclusive are not independent bodies— they are the three arms of the association that must unanimously work together for a better AFAS. Whatever threats the spokesperson must have been open to has not yet been questioned but it is just mind-puzzling how such a trajectory, in figurative terms, had elapse.
With certain resignation, comes pronouncement of fraudulent activities and conspiracy in the association. Of course,when the dog has been set on a leash, it barks without control. We honestly cannot wait to see and confirm the actual financial status of the faculty and what whooping of the association’s fund had gone down into frivolities or mischievous deeds.