I was sworn in as the 2oth President of the Lagos State University Students' Union (LASUSU) on February 4th, 2011 having won the Presidential contest on 20th January, 2011. I spent eight months in office making my tenure the shortest in the history of the union. but within that short period, i was able to reposition the union, with the support of my fellow executives. I produce below an account of my stewardship which was delivered during the swearing-in ceremony for the 21st Executive Council on 28th September, 2011:
LAGOS STATE UNIVERSITY STUDENTS’ UNION
EXECUTIVE COUNCIL 2010/2011
FINAL ACCOUNT OF STEWARDSHIP
In the spirit of accountability and transparency, we have deemed it fit to present an account of our stewardship to thousands of LASUITES whose support and prayers have contributed to the success recorded so far in our 234 days in office as executives of the most vibrant students’ union in sub-Saharan Africa.
1. Orientation week: The Orientation Week was held between Tuesday, 3rd May and Friday, 6th May, 2011. The week featured a seminar themed “Its’ in You” , an Environmental Awareness Rally themed “Keep LASU Clean”, an Oratory Competition themed “The Youth as an agent of change in the 21st Century”, a Campus Tour, Novelty Match between LASUSU Executives and members of the Students’ Parliamentary Council and an Orientation Party. Stickers and files were issued to the freshmen as souvenirs during the orientation programme.
2. Forums: This is another initiative our leadership has brought on board as a basis to know the peculiar challenges faced by students and render regular account to student leaders. We have so far held forums with Faculty Presidents, Departmental Presidents, Heads of Classes (HOCs), Leaders of Muslim Students’ Society of Nigeria (MSSN-LASU) and LASU Christian Community (LCC). The resolutions reached at these forums have since been communicated to the university management for prompt consideration and implementation.
3. Courtesy Visits: In our bid to ensure that we achieve a strike-free and crisis-free academic session, we paid visits to the Principal Officers of the university and staff unions (SSANU, ASUU and NASU). We also paid visits to traditional rulers like the Olojo of Ojo and the Akran of Badagry.
4. Security: In a bid to ensure maximum security and safety of our students both on and off campus, we have paid courtesy visits to the Divisional Police Officers of Okokomaiko, Onireke, Ojo and Igando Police Divisions to solicit for their support and we have also been partnering with the campus marshals.
5. Social Events and Activities: We have transformed LASU into a university that is both academically vibrant and socially active through the execution of film shows like “Paradise Touch” and “Ghetto Dreamz, the Dagrin Story”, Trade Fairs, Orientation Party and Freshout Rave. The latter was held in conjunction with Kogbagidi Entertainment. We further ensured the participation of LASUITES in the 2011 edition of Lagos Carnival. We also secured sponsorship of the viewing of the stage play “Fela on the Broadway” for 200 LASUITES.
6. Interactive Session with Governorship Candidates: We availed Lagos state gubernatorial candidates the opportunity to interact with students and present their manifestoes but only the NCP gubernatorial candidate, Comrade Ayodele Akele took advantage of this opportunity.
7. Tunde Salau Remembrance: A procession was organized in remembrance of Late Comrade Tunde Salau, the 12th President of the students’ union on 14th February, 2011.
8. Renovation of Arcade: The Students’ Union Building (Arcade) has been given a facelift. The toilets have been refurbished with the replacement of the water closets, re-electrification of the building, refurbishment of the union offices, provision of water taps and procurement of security doors for union offices. Also, the renovation of the common room and conference room is in progress. In order to encourage students’ patronage of Arcade, we have banned the sales of alcoholic products and smoking of whatever nature in arcade. Sooner than later, the whole building will be repainted. We wish to acknowledge the support of the university management towards the renovation work done so far.
9. Political Education: Considering the spate of students’ involvement in electoral malpractices and violence and Nigeria’s drive for free, fair and credible elections, we organized a workshop themed “Students and the 2011 General Elections” to enlighten students on the roles expected of them towards attaining free, fair and credible elctions. The workshop was held on Tuesday, 31st March, 2011 at MBA Hall, LASU, Ojo and was facilitated by renowned scholars and activists like Prof. Abubakar Momoh, Comrades Abiodun Aremu and Segun Sango.
10. Repair of LASU Roads and Re-electrification of LASU: It was through our intervention that the repair of the roads on the main campus was hastily done. Also, our demand for the re-electrification of LASU with the provision of street lights on the main campus and Epe campus has since been met.
11. Extension of Registration and Release of Scholarship Funds: It was through our intervention that the registration portal was reopened on three different occasions before, during and after last semester examination owing to the fact that most students were yet to register. We wish to emphasis that the failure of some students to register on time is partly due to the late issuance of registration voucher and in order to forestall this situation, we advice that students should pay their school fees on time and registration vouchers should be issued at the point of payment in order to avoid unnecessary delay. Our intervention also brought about the release of scholarship funds to the university scholars for the 2008/2009 academic session.
12. Officers’ Trainng Programme (OTS): In a bid to equip student leaders with leadership skills and make them responsive to the needs of their immediate constituencies, we partnered with the Junior Chambers International (JCI-LASU) in organizing a leadership training programme on Saturday, 4th June, 2011.
13. Image Laundering: In order to retain the lost glory of our great union and project the image of our great citadel of learning, we held a Press Conference at Adebola Adegunwa School of Communication, Ojuelegba on Wednesday, 9th March, 2011. The Press Conference was also used make some demands on the state government, introduce the new executives and denounce those illegally parading themselves as executives.
14. Effective Communication: We have embraced the use of ICT in disseminating information to thousands of LASUITES. The print and electronic media, public advertisement, bulk SMS, FaceBook etc. have also been used as effective means of communication and information dissemination. Our students are implored to join “Lasusu Secretariat” on FaceBook.
15. Female Hostel: Our attention has been drawn to the poor state of facilities at the female hostel. This coupled with the selfishness of the university management in increasing the 6 per room ratio to 10 per room ration has made the living conditions of the occupants worsened. We have had several meetings with the occupants and the resolutions reached have been passed to the University Management for prompt implementation.
16. Improved Transport System: The union executives have held several meetings with the campus shuttle drivers on how the on-campus shuttle system can be improved. These meetings have led to the inflow of more and better buses. We are also working on securing the services of BRT buses to convey our students to and fro their different places of abode. Already, we have secured the services of LARUTI Tricycles to ease the movement of students particularly the female hostel occupants but this effort was scuttled by the university management’s anti-tricycle policy.
17. Publication of Financial Accounts: In fulfillment of our promise of promoting accountability and transparency in the corridors of students’ unionism, we have deemed it fit to publish the financial statements of the union on monthly basis. This can be accessed on notice boards and copies are available at the office of the Financial Secretary.
18. LASUSU Water: We have resuscitated LASUSU water. The sachet water is presently on sale all over campus and we enjoin students to patronize it.
19. Refurbishment of Marcopolo Buses: On assumption of office, we refurbished the two union marcopolo buses.
20. New Union Bus: We acquired a new Coaster Bus for the Union on October 31st, 2011.
21. 1st LASUSU Annual Essay Competition: We executed the 1st LASUSU Annual Essay Competition from August to September, 2011. The competition was won by Mr. Thomas Israel, a 300level Economics student and was awarded a laptop computer, N50,000 and plaque.
22. 1st LASU Free Health Week: We executed the 1st LASU Free Health Week featuring Health Seminar, Voluntary Blood Donation Exercise, Free Medical Check-up, 2nd Keep LASU Clean Campaign and HIV/AIDS Awareness Symposium from 22nd to 26th August, 2011.
23. Lateef Jakande 82nd Birthday Lecture: We executed a Birthday Lecture in honour of the former Governor of Lagos State, Alhaji Lateef Jakande on 25th July, 2011 at the MBA Hall, LASU, Ojo.
24. Union Week: We executed the 2011 edition of the Students’ Union Week from 12th-18th September, 2011 featuring Thanksgiving Service, Political Lecture, Rag Day, Staff versus Students’ Novelty Football Match, Award Dinner etc.
25. Students’ Union Website: We launched the Students’ Union Website (www.lasusu.org) on 12th September, 2011.
26. 1st LASUSU Champions League: We executed the 1st LASUSU Champions League (an inter-faculty football competition) which was won by the Faculty of Social Science from August to September, 2011.
27. Youth Leadership and Empowerment Conference: We executed a 2-day Youth Leadership and Empowerment Conference themed “Take The Lead” in conjunction with World Changers International from 27th to 28th August, 2011.
28. Drama Documentary: We executed a Drama Documentary titled “One Small Step” in conjunction with Orderly Society Trust (OST) on 18th August, 2011.
29. LASU BRT Scheme: We have acquired a BRT Scheme for staff and students of Lagos State University with the support of the Lagos State Government. The scheme will commence as soon as the bus park is constructed by the University Management.
30. New Students’ Union Building: We have procured the support of the Lagos State Government in constructing a new Students’ Union Building. The building plan has since been submitted to the University Management.
31. Welcome bill boards: We have constructed two big welcome bill boards on the main campus, Ojo.
32. Provision of DSTV and LCD television for the students’ common room, Epe campus.
33. Provision of two podiums, notice boards and library cabinet at School of Communications, Ojuelegba.
APPRECIATION
Finally, we owe a debt of gratitude to all LASUITES whose support and cooperation contributed to our success story. We appreciate the support of all staff unions and principal officers of Lagos State University, the Lagos State Government and the general public.
