Yamburger's Manifesto: Progress and Reconsiderations

By Faith Ẹdun

The office of the Minister for Information and Propaganda of Nnamdi Azikiwe Hall as constituted in the Nnamdi Azikiwe Hall constitution (Chapter 5 and Section 26 of the constitution) is responsible for the public relations and dissemination of information in the hall. The office was also empowered with the functioning and maintenance of the Public Address System in the hall.

Having occupied office for over 2 months, a correspondent of ZHPO recently met with Mr. Adeniji Uthman a.k.a Yamburger to inquire about the execution of his plans for Zikites as stated in his manifesto.

Mr. Adeniji had included in his manifesto his plan to procure cones for the PAS in Zik hall. When asked about the progress of this plan he answered that he had started working on it by inviting an engineer to check out the faulty cones, assess the cost and get them repaired. “Yes, I included it in my manifesto and we have been working on it. I have already invited the engineer to check the faulty cones because that is the reason I have been using the portable P.A. system. But process has begun on the repair of other cones though it was not included in my budget due to the cost of the project and the financial status of the hall but I have gotten a sponsor for it. The next agenda is for the engineer to come and check it this weekend if the electricity is regular and once that is done, we will send the budget quotation to the sponsor”, he said.

Also, the “creation of Baluba Radio”, as was noted in the IPM’s manifesto, was also inquired to which he replied that the shortage of cones is the reason for the delay in the creation of Baluba Radio but that a virtual program of its kind is being held on the Twitter handle of the hall. According to him, “On the Baluba Radio, we have not been able to start it because of the shortage cones that will be used to broadcast the program. Although, we have started a virtual program of its kind on our Twitter handle where we always hold a Twitter space every Saturday to discuss interesting issues in Zik Hall but the publicity has not been really wide.”

Relatively speaking, he also addressed how he intends to involve each Zikite in the program (Baluba Radio) by planning to sample Zikites’ opinion through a referendum on their preferred means of broadcasting the program either physically or virtually. “I have reconsidered how we can involve everyone in this program through engagement of some Zikites on whether we should make it virtual or physical and there have been different views by everybody. While some supported the physical arrangements, others condemned it that it might be disturbing some people reading and the likes. But my resolution now is that when the program is about to start, a referendum will be conducted on the preferred means of holding the it through Google Form. Personally, I will prefer the virtual form, so that everyone listening in that Twitter space can be able to participate by requesting for microphone and give his contribution. Also, if there is a low number of turn up by the people towards this virtual space, that is where I come in with propaganda that will ignite the ability to turn up everybody whether they want or not”, he explained.

In his manifesto, the IPM had constitute a council of course reps and PROs to aid in the dissemination of information. However, he explained the necessity of reviewing the plan. He said, “Before the strike, I created several WhatsApp groups for Zik Hall’s market space, Twitter raid, Instagram raid and so was the publicity team’s group. I also added all faculty and departmental P.R.O.s and we were about 30 in the group but the activeness and commitment of the members was not encouraging. Anytime I called for meeting, they did not turn up and it was becoming as if I’m begging them to be in the team which resulted into its ineffectiveness. Then, I had a second thought and decided to dissolve the team. After that I handpicked some tested and trusted individuals in the hall, about 12 of us and since then, I can tell you that the work has been very effective ever after. In fact, we have a secretary, P.R.O. and 2 different graphics designers who have been exercising their duties wholeheartedly because they want to work for the progress of the hall.”