A Steady Watchdog: Fadaca’s Hall Secretariat

By Maestro

“if elected, I will solicit for sponsorship from former Hall Secretaries and former Hall Chairmen or any other alumni or individuals to get solar-powered light bulbs into our reading rooms, this will make reading easier when there is no power.”

Mr. Oluwadamilare, Hall Secretary, Zik Hall

The office of the Hall Secretary holds a position of prominence within Zik Hall’s Executive Council. The Zik Hall Constitution confers the elements of this prominence by subsuming under the office of the Hall Secretary the administration of Zik Hall’s academic support programmes and other extra-curricular associated with the mantra of Zik’s tradition of excellence.

Today, the Hall Secretary position is held by Mr. Fadare Oluwadamilare Caleb, popularly known as Fadaca, now a 300 level student of the Department of Environmental Health Sciences. While Fadaca is expected to duly discharge the functions of his office, the promises confidently expressed in his manifesto constitute the accountability points of his tenure. This piece evaluates the degree to which the Hall Secretary’s manifesto has been implemented.

TUTORIALS, TUTORIALS, TUTORIALS!

The manifesto states: “In accordance with Chapter 5, section 24, subsection 6 of the Nnamdi Azikwe Hall constitution. The Hall Secretary shall be in charge of the Hall’s Academic Committee”.

One of the major duties of the Hall’s Academic Committee is to organize tutorials, most especially for 100-level students. Till the moment of this publication, the 9th week of the academic session, there are yet to be tutorials organized in Zik Hall.

Fadaca explained the reason for the delay of the tutorial thus, “There haven’t been weekly tutorials and the reason for that was the delay in the approval of the academic committee budget and other budgets by the Legislative Council. The Academic Committee just got funds last week and arrangements are being made to start tutorials this weekend”.

Upon further interaction, Fadaca confirmed that the budget of the Academic Committee had been approved by the Hall warden. He said, “Yes, he approved some. Though not everything (he didn’t approve money for graphics design and some others) But we are just going to find a way around the ones he didn’t approve of.”  Fadaca further gave reasons for the downscale of the budget by the Hall Warden in not approving graphics design and other items. He said, “He assumed it wasn’t necessary and we couldn’t change his mind”.

On this claim, ZHPO interviewed Zikites to find out whether they know about any tutorials being organized for them in Zik. One of them who is a Direct Entry student of the Electrical Engineering department, Rotimi Efunsile, claims he does not have an idea of any tutorials being held in the Hall. Another Lawal Abdul Qayyum of the department of English stated, “I don’t think they organize tutorials. I have never heard of it” He also claimed to be on the Zik Hall freshmen’ WhatsApp group but has never heard of any tutorials.

“SOLAR-POWERED LIGHT BULBS IN OUR READING ROOMS”

Fadaca proceeded in his manifesto, “if elected, I will solicit for sponsorship from former Hall Secretaries and former Hall Chairmen or any other alumni or individuals to get solar-powered light bulbs into our reading rooms, this will make reading easier when there is no power.”

ZHPO asked Fadaca about the state of this project and he responded simply, “It has not been achieved but the work is in progress”. When asked to comment on the level of progress, or whether he has reached out to sponsors as past Hall Secretaries or former executive council members, Fadaca said, “They are not my first options. I have not reached out to anyone for sponsorships yet. There are a lot of pressing issues I am dealing with. I am taking it one step at a time.”

PROMOTION OF ZIKISM

Another promise that the Hall Secretary made in his manifesto is how he will work with the IPM to release Zikism insights every week. According to him, these ‘Zikism insights’ are “publications that are aimed at enlightening Zikites on what Zikism entails.” The Hall Secretary said he has spoken to the IPM about the publication of Zikism insights but that he is yet to get a response from the IPM and his committee.

Another plan in his manifesto that looks like the above is the production and distribution of a Zikism pamphlet: a written documentation of the traditions of the Hall. He promised to work along with the past Hall Secretary, who had commenced the production of the pamphlet. As at the time of making this report, Fadaca is yet to reach out to the past Hall Secretary, Mr. Oloyede Samson, on the Zikism pamphlet.

Understandably, every administration needs time to execute their plans, but it is also poor implementation that tutorials are yet to kick-start as at the ninth week of the academic calendar. The delay in budget approval which has stalled the commencement of tutorials shows the effect bureaucratic dillydallies can have on the discharge of executive duties. The freshers whom the tutorials are particularly targeted at have most probably explored alternative academic aids, especially as the school is in the period of continuous assessments. If tutorials are not yet organized at this point, then it is probably advisable that it is done away with totally.

The plan to publish Zikism Insights weekly is not a novelty. The previous administration did something similar, and it would not be out of place to rebroadcast the old graphics, especially if budget cuts is going to impede the plan.

Similarly, the plan to publish the Zikism Pamphlet is inevitably dependent on the contribution of Mr. Oloyede Samson. While this may potentially hamper the feasibility of the plan, the hesitance of the Hall Secretary in approaching his predecessor may altogether put paid to it. The overbearing significance of the pieces of information the pamphlet will convey to freshmen should impress on the mind of the Hall Secretary the expediency of its publication.

Zikites are studious. At least, we deduced this from the manner in which the reading rooms are always crowded. The Hall Secretary promised to get sponsorships to get solar bulbs into our reading rooms, but presently the unreliable electric power supply is all Zikites depend on. At a time when Zikites would have appreciated an alternative source of power supply, especially for studying, by the Hall Secretary, Fadaca’s promise still remains on paper.