Disquiet in AFAS as FLC Orders Executives to Halt Package Distribution

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Lawal Maruf

Like a fairly big stone dropped into a glassy calm lake, it must form ripples. So is the recent development that followed the inspection of the souvenirs for the AFAS Package by the AFAS FLC Investigative Probe Panel chaired by Hon. Olaleye Azeezat has sparked reactions from the committee.

According to the investigative committee in a release made available to AFAS Press, the assistant general Secretary had earlier sent a letter to the committee for the inspection of the souvenirs which the committee acknowledged and went for the inspection on Friday, January 17, 2025.

“In response to the letter sent out by the assistant general secretary of the Association to call the investigative committee of the House for inspection of the souvenirs of the Association, the members of the investigative committee responded and came around today, Friday, the 17th of January 2025, for the inspection.”

However, during the course of the inspection, the committee discovered some anomalies which are too obvious to be ignored. The group picture of principal members of the FLC or names of FLC members were nowhere to be found on the customized books, as obtainable in the past publications. Only the names of the principal officers are written in the notebook. This raises a serious concern on the rationale behind Adeniyi Olamilekan’s decision to scrap the traditions and change the status quo. Or could it be the printer’s fault to not include the picture of the FLC principal officers or the names of the honorable members?

“The souvenirs include cups and books. On the customized books, a number of organisations in the Association were included but the names of the FLC members of the Association were not included.”

(Rt) Hon Yeboah Daniel?

The committee also stated that Mojuba, in his president farewell speech addressed Hon Yeboah Daniel as Rt. Hon., a title constitutionally reserved for the speaker of the house. By this, it lends credence to the fact that Mojuba had already preempted the emergence of the leadership of the FLC to be his close ally, Hon Yeboah Daniel. Hence, his involvement in canvassing for the candidacy of Hon Yeboah to clinch the seat of the speaker. An action that cost the long-term honourable member his ambition.

Not only that, it is nothing but a slap on the hallow chamber as it shows a total disregard to the leadership of the FLC and flagrant distortion of the provisions of the constitution. How could a President be unaware of who to address as mere honourable and Rt. Honourable? This must be a slip of pen, right?

“In addition, in the presidential speech attached to one of the opening pages of the book, the President of the Association addressed an honourable from religious studies constituency, Hon. Yeboah Daniel, as Rt. honourable, a title meant specifically for the Speaker of the House. The house can only have a speaker and it is not in any way clear why the president of the Association fully aware of this decided to address another member of the FLC as the Rt. Honourable .”

Far-reaching Consequences

Perhaps, Mojuba is unaware of his act. For one, it would be misleading to Afasites, raising questions on when the baton of speakership of the FLC was handed over to Hon Yeboah Daniel, Mojuba’s acclaimed speaker. Only posterity will judge this unconscious but avoidable action.

No Distribution of AFAS Package Until Further Directive from the FLC

In light of these avoidable errors, the committee ordered the executive council to put aside the plan on the distribution of the souvenirs which had been scheduled to commence on Monday and wait for directives from the FLC.

“The inconsistencies in the customized books which as a souvenir are very glaring and cannot be simply overlooked. In light of this the executive Council should not go ahead with the distribution of the souvenirs on Monday, 20th of January as already planned. The executive Council should await further directives from the house before distributing the packages.”

President Reacts

In his response to the outcome of the inspection of the souvenirs by the Investigative Probe Panel, Mojuba showed his displeasure on the allegations, citing the findings as mere assumption.

Contained in a release signed by the AFAS President, Adeniyi Olamilekan, he denied that he addressed Honourable Yeboah Daniel as the speaker of FLC.

“Following the notification to hold on with the distribution of AFAS packages and alleged inconsistencies concerning the association notebooks, I would like to express my displeasure regarding the allegations made based on your assumption.”

“You assumed that, as President of the association I referred to an honourable member as Rt. Honourable of the association. I must categorically state that I have not in any way acknowledged Honourable Yeboah Daniel as the speaker of AFAS FLC.” the release read in part.

Also, while he faulted the speaker for not sending the picture, he argued that size of the notebooks do not give room for the names of all the FLC members to be written.

“Moving forward, traditionally or constitutionally, it is not mandatory to include the name of all honourable members in the association book. However, we would have considered doing so if the notebook’s size were larger. We also planned to include pictures of all the principal officers in the book, but the speaker failed to send their pictures, even after the deadline.”

In spite of the arguments of the investigative committee, Mojuba believed that this decision would smear the image of the department and slow the pace of development. “It is detrimental to the association’s image and the administration’s schedule to mandate the executive to hold on with the distribution of the packages.”

Mojuba also acknowledged the fact that the number of the approved souvenirs is yet to be completed by the producer. “While I believe you and your committee have acknowledged the quantity of packages, though the approved notebooks remains 38 pieces to complete which I will reach out back to the producer of the book.”

The Principal Officers Didn’t Have a Group Picture

Meanwhile, when contacted on the allegation that he “failed” to send the pictures of the principal officers of the FLC, the speaker, Rt. Hon. Olajide Miqdad, said that the principal officers do not have a group picture and the deadline given to them to send the picture was short.

“The Principal Officers didn’t have a group picture together so what was I supposed to Send ? Also the deadline given was short. Before we could respond we were informed that the books had been produced already.” Hon Miqdad explained.

For the love of AFAS or the lust for Personal Affairs

It is imperative that every action undertaken by student leaders is done with the consciousness of the ripple effects it may have on the students they lead. What we know is that past notebooks made by successive leadership of student’s associations always feature the arms of the association. Hence, the decision to publish the association’s book without the picture of a vital arm like the FLC is an aberration that requires being inquired into.

The notebook published under the leadership of Akinyoola Emmanuel, also known as ‘Akoem,’ and his Team Altruism, prominently featured the photographs of the FLC principal officers, alongside other organizations within the association. In contrast, the edition released by Olaniyi Esther and her Team Illumination did not include the images of the FLC principal officers. However, it did feature the names of the principal officers, committee chairpersons, honorable members, and their respective constituencies. While both approaches offer their own merits, we believe that either option could have been explored further to ensure a balance of representation, peace, and quicker access for AFASites to their packages. Including both photographs and names could have bring about a more comprehensive and accessible presentation for the entire association.

It should be borne in everyone’s mind that the FLC as a legislative body represents the collective interests of AFASites and any action(s) or reaction(s) of the FLC to the executive policies is a reflection of the concern of every AFASites.

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