Zik Press Holds Dinner and Handover Night; Awards Outstanding Pressmen

 

By: Kolawole Oluwagbenga

The Nnamdi Azikwe Hall Press Organization (ZHPO), on Saturday, April 27, 2024, inducted a new editorial board at its annual press dinner. The event, which took place in the hall’s Junior Common Room (JCR), is a tradition within the organization to mark the transition between tenures and sessions.

 

The event began with a press prayer followed by an address by the outgoing Editor-in-Chief, Adewale Adegbite. The outgoing E-in-C as well as deputy Akinjide Adebowale encouraged Zikpressmen to be diligent in their duties.

 

The event also featured the presentation of certificates to exceptional pressmen, among them Olalekan Marvelous as Inductee of the Year, Akinjide Adebowale for Story of the Session, and also as Pressman of the Session. Members of the outgoing editorial board were also awarded for their contributions, after which the new editorial board was unveiled.

 

 

The newly inducted Editorial Board members include: Aduragbemi Joshua as the Editor-in-Chief; Oluwagbenga Kolawole as the Deputy Editor-in-Chief/Features Editor; Korede Teriba as the Managing Editor; Faith Adediran as the News/Politics Editor; Olalekan Marvelous as the Sports Editor; and Olasupo Taofeek as the Chief Correspondence Officer.

UI SRC Holds Legislative Summit

By Kolawole Oluwagbenga 

The University of Ibadan Student Representative Council today, 25th of April , 2024, organized a Legislative Summit in conjunction with the speaker of the Oyo State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Adebo Ogundoyin.

The summit  themed "Roles of quality legislation in nation building" had in attendance representatives from about 65 institutions from the Southwestern part of Nigeria and from Kwara state also had dignitaries like the governor of Oyo state, Seyi Makinde, the President of the 13th senate of the federal republic of Nigeria, Bukola Saraki, who was ably represented. 

Other dignitaries like the Federal minister of Youth (state), secretary to the Oyo State government, Professor Adeyemo, among other political personalities and members  of state houses of Assembly in the South western part of Nigeria were present at the event.

The event which was held at the International Conference Centre also featured technical paper presentations and panel discussions on various topics such as "Understanding the need for quality legislation", "Tools and impact of lawmakers in the society", among others.

Rt. Hon. Adebo Ogundoyin in his keynote address revealed that the purpose of the summit , to encourage student representatives and other students to critically analyse the impact of existing legislation and also to educate Students on the legislative process. 

The summit continues tomorrow, 25th of April, 2024.

UI'SU Congress Demands Suspension of Election

By Kolawole Oluwagbenga 

The University of Ibadan Student Union Congress have demanded for the suspension of  the upcoming Student Union Elections amidst reactions to probable hike in tuition fees.

This demand was made  reached at the Congress of the students union held at the SUB foyer on Tuesday evening. 

This decision was reached by a unanimous 'Yes' vote of the quorum of students present at the meeting.

The decision  to suspend the election is in reaction to and in protest of the increase in fees which has been observed on the incoming freshman payment plat forms.

The UI'SU election is originally scheduled to hold on Saturday, 20th of April.

UI'SU Congress Constitutes An Action Committee

By Gbenga Kolawole

As a reaction to recent increases in freshmen fees, the Congress of the University of Ibadan students on Tuesday, 16th of April, 2024 called for the organization of an action committee.

The action committee is to be in charge of campaigns for mobilization, sensitization and education of the UI student populace on the fee hike issues. 

This committee is structured by the Congress and is to be answerable to only the Congress.

The members of the action committee as nominated by the congress include Aduwo Ayodele, Linus Nice, Toba Akinte and two others.

It would be recalled, that there was news circulating about the probable increase in the price of tuition fee for next session. 

The increase in fee has caused major unrest among students which precipitated the need to call for a Congress to tackle the issue and look for a way forward.

UI'SRC CALLS FOR A STUDENT UNION CONGRESS.

Faith Adediran

The University of Ibadan Students' Union's Students' Representatives Council held an emergency sitting on Friday, 12th of April 2024 to make resolutions in response to the recent increment of the Bundled Fees of the incoming fresh students of the university. 

In the sitting held at the SRC Chamber of the Students' Union Building that lasted for 5 hours, there were several suggestions on the way forward of the union in response to the increment. One of the major suggestions was made by Hon. Chris Aquah, a representative of Ayodele Falase Postgraduate Hall demanded that the action of the union against this increment should better be done through the congress and make effective decisions and actions. 

Also, Hon. Akinola Emmanuel, representing Nnamdi Azikiwe Hall demanded an adequate timing of the actions. "... to avoid the failure that came out of the last congress that was held after many students had paid the laboratory and studio fees, all our actions (call for congress, call for media presence, parents and alumni body) should be done before Monday because once the portal is opened on Monday, and a fresh student has made the payment, it will be difficult to proceed with our actions", he stated.

After suggestions back and forth on the agendum, Hon. Babatimehin Peace moved a motion for the call of congress on Saturday, 13th of April, 2024 (4pm) subject to the resolution of the council. Thereafter, the motion was put to vote behind a closed door (without the presence of the Press and observers). However, it was later confirmed by the Zikpress from the Clerk of the house, Hon. Odu Faith Eniola that the motion did not pass after it was put to vote by the council.  A new motion was then moved by Hon Afọlábi, a representative of Ransome Kuti Hall for the call of congress on Tuesday, 16th of April, 2024 and it was seconded by Hon Fabiyi Caleb from Nnamdi Azikiwe Hall. This motion was passed by a simple majority of the council.

When The 'Slow and Steady' is Underwhelming: A Review of Sloeman's Manifesto

By: Dynamite

Fair and accurate information dissemination and feedback mechanisms in an organized setting are functions that are not to be trifled with. This is because no organization can exist outside its proximity to its public, i.e., no organization can be separated from the people it exists to serve. This is why most organizations make provisions for public relations officers. But in Zik Hall, the job is larger than information, further evidenced by the fact that it is not just called the Information Ministry, but the office of the Information and Propaganda Minister. Much more than disseminating information, the IPM is the image maker of the hall. 

Aliru Suleiman, in his manifesto, recognized this. And in line with his constitutional duties, he further outlined four innovative plans in his manifesto that he aimed to implement in his office. However, with his tenure coming to an end, a surface as well as a critical evaluation of his performance show that in the execution of his constitutional duties, he has been found wanting, and the execution of his innovative plans has been a farce.

The man, Sloeman...

Using the past four sessions as context, Nnamdi Azikiwe Hall has enjoyed a range of vibrant, energetic individuals as its IPM. Starting from Waziri, straight to Morris, and then to Yamburger, these individuals, despite their respective failures in fulfilling their campaign promises, have set the model of vivaciousness that every Zikite should aspire, and  every successive IPM is expected to exemplify. However, Aliru Suleiman's IPM character is the polar opposite of the image his predecessors displayed. He was not as hype-happy as his predecessors. While he was present in some hall activities, he did not really own the IPM office like Yamburger.

Massive Failure In His Basic Duties

A random survey amongst random zikites shows that most Zikites feel the same way about the energy levels of Sloeman: they are very low. IPMs tend to be the most popular Zik executives by the fact that they are the ones who shove their faces most frequently to Zikites. During Yamburger's tenure, for instance, he was coming out to pass a message to the public almost every week. As a result, his image and popular appellation "five stars general of information and grand commander of propaganda" were eventually ingrained in every Zikites' memory, in the same way as Moriz's "poco a poco, Nnamdi Hall is moving forward" lingers on in Zikite's memory. 

As for Sloeman, he barely ever had any information to pass on to the Zikites. His call sign "001 of information" was barely known in Zik Hall. One can even daresay that there might be Zikites who do not even recognize him. However, it is important to reiterate that it is unwise to judge an elephant by its ability to climb a tree, but Sloeman, as point-man/IPM for the Team Sustainability administration, has widened the information gap between Zikites and the hall executives. During the various events and times of various issues that Zik Hall had during the course of the session, it was almost mostly silence, from his end. 

For instance, when the hall experiences water scarcity, and water gets provided with a generator, mostly at A Block tanks, not even a word would be heard from Suleiman about such information. Even when he called to mobilize Zikites for support in various events, he only did as a point of duty, evident in his passive energy, rather than the passion his predecessors showed. Yamburger as the IPM, for instance, acted as the first member of Zik Hall Supporter's Club, transmitting the Baluba energy even to other Zikites. 

Furthermore, in his constitutional duty of organizing the Zik Hall orientation program for freshmen, Suleiman promised to take Zikites on a tour of major landmarks on the university campus. Majority of freshmen who attended the orientation all affirmed that no tour was mentioned to them. Even the members of his Aliru's publicity committee, whose names are withheld, had no idea that he promised to do that, as he didn't mention it to them.

Where is Baluba Radio and Zik's Two New Horn Speakers?

In his manifesto, Sloeman promised to get more horn speakers for the hall and place them in strategic places within the hall. Doing so would have made passing information to Zikites quite easy, especially during extreme weather. However, one interesting fact is that Sloeman's predecessor, Yamburger, also promised to do this. Yamburger's predecessor, Morris, also promised. Another consistent and blatant fact is that they have failed. Perhaps this is one feature Sloeman shares with his predecessor- identifying a problem, promising similar ways to fix it, and eventually failing to do so. Although, it is worthy to note that while the horn speakers functioned under Moriz's tenure, they did not function for long.

In the real sense, getting the speakers would have been a pain for Zikites; because even the handy public address system Sloeman currently uses to disseminate information has had some quarters complaining about noise  pollution. The horn speakers would have further amplified this problem. But then, if one looks on the brighter side, the horn speakers, which Sloeman did not get, could have added a new spark to life in Zik Hall. Even then, the horn speaker initiative was prone to not being well structured, which raises the question: if Sloeman had been able to get the horn speakers, would it have been a menace or source of intrigue to Zikites?

Failure to get more horn speakers or to get the two horn speakers in the hall to start working at all directly affected Sloeman's Baluba radio initiative. As a result, he failed to achieve his goal of integrating Zik Hall through information, entertainment, and education. He brought the dream of using this Baluba radio to train students in broadcasting and also to promote the social wellbeing of the Zik Hall community, and Zikites can only continue dreaming with his tenure winding down.

Zik Hall TV??

In a world where every Tom, Dick, and Harry were getting their own WhatsApp TV, Sloeman's plan to start a Zik Hall WhatsApp TV received some enthusiasm at first. The purpose which he listed for the TV made it something to look forward to. However, weeks after being inaugurated, weeks after the session began, no number was released for the Tv. And when a contact number was released, the TV spent weeks "under construction." This act in itself did not reflect the enthusiasm with which Sloeman announced the project during the manifesto night and in terms of expectations, it was underwhelming.

When the TV was eventually launched, it's online presence was erratic; it was not as stable as other WhatsApp TVs on campus (UI'SU TV, for instance). Although the TV's activities did graze some of the targets set for it, which is the provision of information on hall issues among others, the TV has been quite average.

However, one cannot be too hasty to criticize, given the amount of funds needed to run a WhatsApp TV effectively. There is a question of whether the hall executives have not been consistently allocating funds to run the TV. And this notion raises two concerns: firstly, the TV has not been profitable as Sloeman promised it would, having to still rely on the hall for funding. Secondly, with his antecedent of siphoning the hall's funds, which Sloeman has had in not being accountable with money entrusted with him, there's a lot of doubt surrounding whether he is not as siphoning money received from the TV as he is from banners pasted in the hall.

In all, Sloeman faced the issue that many other executives face: having to deliver on their poorly drawn out manifestoes. Even if looking away from his manifesto execution is something worth grappling with, given circumstances that may or may not be in his control, there has been obvious lapses and fall in standard in how Sloeman has handled his constitutional duty as IPM.

Zik Magazine...

It is also Suleiman's constitutional duty to produce a Zik magazine in conjunction with Zik Press, but the feasibility of producing a magazine with few days to go is very infeasible. As of press time, Sloeman has not reached out to the press's editorial board to produce the magazine.

What's more, findings revealed that freshers were mandated to a thousand Naira pay for the magazine. With this in mind, the hall's legislative body must see to it that the last penny paid for magazine be refunded to the owner, and failure to do this would be an extortion; a crime that is punishable under many grounds.

THE POROUS STATE OF ZIKHALL'S DEFENSE: A Look Into The Sojourn Of Zikhall's Defense Minister And His Struggle To Maintain Security In The Hall.

By Sailor

In every thriving society 'Security' is a premium requirement. It entails taking preventive measures to reduce vulnerabilities, minimizing risk and taking remedial actions where prevention fails. 

Security measures enhance safety, prevent incidents, protect property, and contribute to the overall well-being of individuals and communities. Without proper security measures in place, businesses risk losing their valuable assets to theft or damage and this has been a reoccurring case in Nnamdi Azikiwe Hall of residence.

The Weakness of the Defense Team

In Zikhall, the onus of security lies on the doorstep of the Defense council to provide a modicum of security and protection around the hall, bringing a sense of safety for the members of the hall. But it must be said the efforts of the Defense team led by the Defense minister, in the person of Eda Oluwaferanmi has left so much to be desired, with the porous state of security and policing within the hall.

The post of the Defense Minister is not really by Democratic practice, but rather by 'Appointment', as most of, if not all the past Defense Ministers were selected from the Defense organization of the hall, with the election process being a mere formality and rubber-stamp of the whole program. The case of Oluwaferanmi Eda, is no different, as he was hand picked by the Defense council to stand as the next man up for the job. 

Although it is a common practice in Zikhall that the Defense Minister be a member of the Defense team and he can only be chosen by the members of the team, it begs the question, why do we need their names on the ballot box?, as they're constantly handpicked and running unopposed. Which makes it difficult to gauge their popularity among Zikites and lend little credence to the practice. That is a discussion for another day.  Today we focus on the tenure of Oluwaferanmi, so far as the defense minister, the promises he churned out during his manifesto and how far he has gone to accomplish his planned out objectives.

Failure to Actualize Constitutional Duties

Firstly, a look at the Zikhall constitution gives us an insight into the roles and duty of the Defense Minister. Like it is stated in the constitution, the Minister of Defense shall be in charge of all security affairs, he shall be the Chief Investigative Officer of the Hall and he shall be a member or has been a member of the military, paramilitary or a vigilante group. Although it is not known that Mr. Eda is a part of the military or any Paramilitary group, but as a part of the Zikhall Defense team, he qualifies as a member of a Vigilante group. 

In Terms of the hall's security affairs, it must be said that Feranmi performance has not really lived up to expectation considering the fact that there was very little expectations coming from this side. This session has highlighted a great lapse or lack of security and vigilant monitoring of the hall by the defense team, with so many theft being reported with the stealing of the solar power and panels installed in the halls reading rooms standing as a major example.

 Earlier at the start of the first semester, a few days into the resumption of the new session, it was reported that the Solar light and panel installed in reading rooms by the previous administration in blocks B and C have been stolen and vandalized by unsuspecting assailants. This highlighted the first breach in the security of the hall, as a project which was actualized a few weeks to the end of the previous administration was easily lost to theft and there was no Intel or information on how it happened. That should have been an eye opener for the Defense Minister and his team of Defense council, and spur up proper security to monitor and stop events like this from happening in future, but alas that would prove to only be tip of the iceberg.

Another incident that highlights the poor security in the hall is the regular theft of electricity cables in the hall. From the pumping machine cable that was stolen from D block at the start of the second semester, to the constant electric cable theft in the hall, resulting in constant lack of electricity on these floors.

It was no surprise, when the Hall warden earlier in the year, on the 12th of January, 2024, had to share a broadcast to the hall's groups, galvanizing the students to be more security conscious about the constant case of cable theft that had become prevalent in the hall. 

In his words

"...I need to inform us of the need for us to be more security conscious in the hall. There have been cases of theft in the recent time. Cables were stolen and pump wires were cut at some points.

This morning, I was in front of D block around some minutes past 8 and I saw one person with our ladder coming from Independence hall. And fortunately one of the supervisors met him in front of my office, dropping the ladder. He challenged him, asking him who authorised him to carry the ladder, he began to stammer that he went to use it somewhere. Before we know it he started to run away, eventually students ran after him but he escaped through the Bush at the back of C block.

I also heard that a surface pump and wires were stolen in Independence hall.

With this, if you see a strange person, challenge him or call the supervisor around. Let us protect our property

Thank you."

Just recently, last week thursday to be precise, The Hall warden had to come out again to post a special announcement to the Hall groups, regarding another case of theft of two circuit breakers in the box that  feeds C Block's extension causing the affected rooms not to have electricity, until the box is fixed, and with the stolen items replaced. 

This and many more have been the  case of multiple reported cases of theft and thieves moving freely around the hall with little or no proactive measures taken by the Defense Minister and his team to rectify this situation. It begs the question, what is the job and main prerogative of the defense team? Is it only to raid for hot plates, like they did at the close end of last semester? or to try and provide a solid security vigilant network that should stop the constant theft of the hall's resources and structures which eventually affects the effective running of the hall as a whole?

Manifesto Promises and Failures

Most times politicians just put what will sway the populace in their manifesto, and not what is actually viable and can be actualized. Such is the case of Mr. Eda, who even his manifesto did not contain more than two objectives, failed to actualize none of it.

Oluwaferanmi, in his manifesto, reiterated his desire to build upon the existing structures and procedures that we have within the Zik Hall defense team to see to the effective and timely policing of the hall by the Zik hall defense team. But that is still up for discussion as there has been little in terms of policing and security within the hall. He also alluded to having at least three members of the defense team on each floor for effective policing and security has achieved little to no result, with the result up to the jury.

His second objective as read on his manifesto, says "To work together with the incoming administration to help tighten the security within the hall by pushing for the installation of catchers and Internal locks within all rooms in the hall. It is better to have structures in place that further help secure properties within each room, as prevention we know is better than cure." This has been an absolute hoax as most of the rooms in the hall are left with no catchers or lock to safeguard these rooms. Most students have to fend for themselves in these areas to provide this basic security for themselves. This is just another case of promising what you can't achieve just to sway the people.

He also pointed out his plans to train the defense team by the UI Man O' war group, another plan subject to scrutiny as there had been no such programme organized for the Zikhall Defense team at the time of writing this report.

In a simple conclusion, It must be said that apart from his constitutional duties where he came up short, Oluwaferanmi's innovative intervention to curb the ills of the hall, such as smoking, vandalism and theft — that have become rampant within the hall in recent times, have showcased the incapability of him and his team to arrest the situation, leading to a failed and lackluster tenure as the Defense Minister and chief security officer of Nnamdi Azikiwe hall. And it must be said that many might view the role of the Defense Minister as a minimal part of the Executive body, but it plays vital role in actualization a thorough process of administrative function of the hall, and so a failure in this part of the executive body will only spell doom for the society as a whole, as it has been with the case of the Zikhall. It is no gain saying that security should be placed at the top of priority in every administration in order to have a smooth management of the hall as a whole.

Mosope, Zik Hall Finance Minister's Tenure of Plenty Promises, Zero Implementation

By: Akinjide Adebowale

It is a culture in U.I that the office of the Finance Minister, Treasurer, Financial Secretary or whatever name of its equivalents, has always been a free-ride office for different reasons: electorates only expect the barest minimum from them asides their constitutional duty, and that their tenure go with barely zero accountability on their campaign promises. However, when you finally get to see a Finance Minister's campaign promises, most of them are always similar to what its equivalents would avow. If they are not promising to form a partnership with a fintech, they are swearing to organize a finance seminar. But because of people's barest expectations, eyes barely torchlight their campaign promises. 

For Mosope Ogunkeye, Zik Hall's Finance Minister, his whole manifesto did not state any different, and like most cases, nothing of his manifesto has yet seen the light of the day. From the beginning of the session that Mosope has emerged as the hall's Finance Minister, all his plans only remain in the realm of imagination.

Failed Skill Acquisition and Financial Empowerment Program  

Mosope started with claiming that being an entrepreneur, he has strong inclination towards empowerment. While cognizant of the UI's eleven weeks' calendar, Mosope promised to bring experts to the hall in empowering Zikites on soft skills like "graphics design, forex trading and copywriting." He figured the importance of these empowerments in preparing Zikites for the "evolving job market." 

To do the above, Mosope promised to collaborate with Microsoft Learning Students Ambassador (MLSA) to organize webinars or seminars. But this promise was not even worth more than a mere electioneering promise that dies in the tongues and never comes to fruition.

For somebody who has such a plan, it is expected, to say the very least, that there would be a data-gathering process to know the figure of those who have these skills in the hall, a liaison with them, then the program proper. None of these did Mosope do, and it will, therefore not be wrong that this was never a real plan from the get-go. And like every other Mosope's manifesto, this too, was dead from the day Zikites first heard it.

Absent Accountability and Digital Documentation Promise  

One of the plans that would at least, be expected to be relatively achievable is this. Here, the Finance Minister assured Zikites that he would create a digital financial documentation system to foster accountability and easy access to financial records. 

Further, Mosope pledged that a digital documentation system will enable "regular financial audit" to be conducted, and this exactly casts a doubt on Mosope's knowledge on financial auditing as the Finance Minister, as the responsibility of auditing belongs solely, not to Mosope himself, but to the Legislative council's audit and budget committee. So, what how does this find its way into Mosope's manifesto in the first place?

Apart from the fact Zik still runs a traditional financial documentation system, from findings through members of the Zik legislative council, the finance Minister has been requested of the hall's account statement running into month's now which he has not provided till this moment.

Judging by what the Finance Minister himself had said in his manifesto and from his unresponsiveness to the House's request of his office, it would not be misplacement of words if the office of the Finance minister is deemed not to have run on utmost accountability.

Financial Literacy...(Sorry), Illiteracy

Sigh. How many more can be said? 

In Mosope's further tapestry and trajectory of ideas, he also avowed in his manifesto to establish relationships with CFOs (Chief Financial Officers) of financial institutions. However, with what is, it's either Mosope has established that relationship for himself alone or that he has failed to even establish it at all. From all that cannot ascertained, what can be ascertained is that the end to which Mosope owes this means has not been achieved.

Through his relationships with CFOs, the Finance Minister intended to bring about savings guide, investments guides and other financial guides to boost Zikites' financial literacy. He promised to work with the IPM to post nuggets on the hall's notice board and Zik Hall WhatsApp groups. How more can this promise be adjudged to be a failed one than the fact that there's been no single posting of financial tips on various hall groups or the fact that the notice board has barely been put to use, at least, not by the Finance Minister himself, for any purpose whatsoever. 

Unseen Financial and Scholarship Updates

Here, Mosope promised the littlest- to create a WhatsApp or Telegram group where scholarship updates will be shared, to the benefit of Zikites. But as effortless as its execution is, Mosope neither created a group nor he did he drop any updates on the existing ones. As a matter of fact, Mosope is barely active on WhatsApp himself. 

Although, the Executive Council were able to raise funds for Bursaries which quite a number of Zikites benefitted from. An achievement, which Mosope promised to do in conjunction with other excos, and which it is worth, taken-for-grantedly, giving him big-ups for. But for all the other numerous promises Mosope vowed to do alone, none is yet, and will definitely see the light of the day. At least, not when the current tenure winds down in a matter of days. 

Like his predecessors, Mosope successfully made numerous promises to get votes, but unlike them, he is not going without a proper scrutiny of his campaign promises, which he brilliantly, has failed in.