lasuconscience
After every examination, there’s one thing that’s always sure, a report card; maybe the LIDC that diligently scores you, highlights your strength and weaknesses is always dished out.
In this case, the 35th Lagos State University Students’ Union (LASUSU) administration, have successfully completed their one session examination, and the long awaited report card on their performances has been prepared to not just assess them, but also give students access to having a wide knowledge of the leaders who steered the ship of students unionism for a session.
Let’s go on this interesting journey together!
Comrade Joldie Ayomide Adebobobola
The 35th LASUSU President assumed office, and one thing many people couldn’t deny is his zeal and insistence for teamwork and projects. “Ijoba LASUSU” as he fondly emphasized, led the other Executives under his helm to host various programs, which not just showed the power of leadership, but commitment and teamwork. According to a student project manager who worked closely with the President, she said, “he was very clear in his vision; he knew what he wanted, and he sought for individuals who could bring his vision to life.”
One commendable aspect of the President was that while leading other Executives, some projects also came out of his office notably, but not limited to this are: the LASUSU Mindwave, which was a program curated to cater to the students mental health, and Ability Unleashed, which was directed at students with disabilities. This can only say one thing; the President thinks beyond just Alutaship but down to his very own people.
He also made sure that despite the school management’s insistence on closing the school fees portal and course registration portal early, the portal was opened severally to provide an avenue for students to register their courses or pay their school fees as the case may be.
As much as we can go on and on to commend the initiative of the President, we must not also forget that his administration was not all a bed of roses.
One of such evident errors was the President interfering or even almost assuming the duties of other Executives. This not-so-singular act is a great breach of his duty as the head of the Students Executive Council, and according to the LASUSU constitution which states that the President shall:
“coordinate and harmonize the activities of the SEC.” On several instances did the President either try to act outside his duty or interfere with the duty of other Executives. It almost felt like the President forgot that part of the Constitution.
One of such surprising instance was when the President released a Press release on behalf of the union, which has never been, and is not in line with his duty as stated in the constitution. This raised several eyebrow, and led to many questions rummaging in the minds of many. One would think that the sailor would focus on leading the ship to the destination, however our own “Ijoba LASUSU” begun contesting with other members of the crew, almost making us wonder if he wanted to actually show if he was working, or just needed the clout to make people praise him; whichever the case, that clearly put him in the wrong spotlight, sparking numerous debates among students on campus.
Another flaw on the part of the President was his willingness to reconstruct and repaint the pavilion in the Faculty of Education. This shouldn’t be an issue right? But as much as we’re aware that you have to give back to wherever you came from, you just remember that you’re a public servant, and not only your people’s servant, and this was what President Joldie showcased by only focusing on fixing the pavilion of his faculty, despite the numerous issues plaguing the pavilion in other faculties on campus.
This gives us the picture of Buhari whose main focus during his regime was just to build the north and only bring his people to power or Ambode who made sure Epe was transformed . Well, it could be two reasons, either the president only cared about his faculty, or was focused on the clout that trailed his not-so-good decision to fix something that no passerby can easily miss because it is something that can’t be unnoticed.
Comrade Ramon Rihanna
While praising and hailing the President for sailing the ship of the 35th LASUSU Executives, one cannot overlook the contributions and impact made by the Vice President.
The Vice President, according to the LASUSU constitution, shall, “assist the president in the performance of his/her duties.” This, the Vice President closely paid attention to, and ensured that there were events and programs from her office in order to complement the efforts of the President.
From hosting a commendable academic symposium which was a resounding success, to an academic webinar, which was aimed at focusing on how students can adequately prepare for examinations-then the CBT mock exam for 100 level students; the vice president showed that she was ready to work, and put in the action and efforts to make sure that she stood out while fulfilling her duties.
However, in spite of her good works, surprisingly, she became infamous for disrespecting the House. How did we get here? Who would have thought that a member of the Executive Council would, according to numerous reports, on several occasions, blatantly disregard the house?
Refreshing your memory, LASU Conscience reported that “The Vice President of the Lagos State University Students’ Union (LASUSU), Comrade Ramon Rihanat, was suspended by the Speaker of the Students’ Parliamentary Council (SPC) during the Budget Sitting held at the Hallowed Chambers, Students’ Arcade, on February 7, 2025.” You can read here. This news not only set tongues wagging, but sent shivers down the spine of many concerned students on what actually goes on during the meeting of the Student Executive Council, Student Parliamentary Council, and the Students Judicial Council.
What is more? According to other members of the house, the Vice President’s disregard for the house was already a pattern of disrespectful behavior, with a good number accusing her of “walking out of the sitting and refusing to return despite repeated calls from the speaker,” and this eventually led to her suspension for two-weeks.
In the midst of the storm and chaos between the House and the VP, LASU Conscience reached out to her to hear her side of the story, and surprisingly, our inquisitiveness was met with Silence.
More surprising is the fact that in the course of writing this report card, we also reached out to the VP, and once again, we were met with Silence.
This hereby leads us to the question that: Is the Vice President afraid of the SPC or are the allegations true?
On several instances has the media tried to get her own part of the story, but we’re always met with silence which shows a strong unwillingness to speak to the media, and the irony is that whenever the media gives its views on such matters, it always ends in the party trying to counter or guilt trip the media body.
Balogun Abdulrasaq aka Optimistic
What is a union without its welfare director, or should we say what is LASUSU without a good welfare? The 35th LASUSU welfare director, widely known as Optimistic took us on a rollercoaster ride during his tenure, and looking back at some of his initiatives, we can say that he knew what he was doing, albeit to an extent.
In an interview with the welfare director, he mentioned that, “my goal was to redefine welfarism,” and this he arguably did, by hosting and holding several events and projects to stamp his goal including:
Students Spectrum: Consisting of Health, Security and Housing; LASUSU Food Fest and Entrepreneurship Face-Off; Real Estate Training; LASUSU Ramadan lecture and Iftar; Virtual Mental health Discourse (Every fortnight Thursday);LASUSU Clean Up; LASUSU TRADE FAIR (The EKO IDUMOTA EDITION), andt the gratitude luncheon and book unveiling.
Additionally, in line with his duties, many students and even LASU Conscience can confirm that the welfare director also performed commendable acts such as “going to police stations, visiting hostels, settling disputes amongst students and students, students and landlords, students and community people.”
While, we can boldly say that the welfare director did his best to ensure that students welfarism was a top priority, he sadly didn’t cover the crucial aspect of Transportation. During the first semester, many students were faced with hike in transportation fees, scarcity of buses, which led to unplanned trekking on some days, and on other days-outrageous prices in transportation fares.
No one is perfect, but the fact still remains that the duty of the Welfare Director, as stated in the constitution or not, is to be adequately responsible for the welfare of the students within and outside the campus, and if a trivial issue like transportation could prove a hard nut to crack, then so many questions are left to be answered.
Still on the issue of transportation, one obvious mistake that not just the welfare director, although it’s his duty, but the Students’ Union at large failed to do was to try to checkmate what was going in the Iyana-Iba gate, but rather, their focus was on the LASU main gate, which leaves us to wonder if they were truly oblivious to the fact that many students were bemoaning issues of outrageous and unregulated prices imposed by the drivers of the buses and auto-rickshaw plying that axis. However, there was little-to-nothing done to address the issue, which eventually kept going on till the end of the 35th administration.
We hope that the 36th LASUSU welfare director, and the Students’ Union at large would do better.
Comrade Oluyepe Adetayo Sunday
The 35th LASUSU head administrative officer of the Student Executive Council, and the wielder of the pen, discharged his duties in line with the constitution.
One thing about the role of the General Secretary is that their efforts and works are not really obvious and evident to the eyes of the public or in this case, the students populace. However, for every meeting, he is in charge of taking the minutes; “receiving, treating, and sending correspondence on behalf of the SEC.”
While, many would argue that they cannot mention what the events or projects from the office of the General Secretary, it is important to reiterate that in line with the LASUSU constitution, the General Secretary is not saddled with the responsibility of hosting any program, however, when it comes to who works more behind the scenes, and the main main in the administration, we have no choice to give it to the General Secretary.
Comrade Odunsanya Damilare Ezekiel
The 35th LASUSU Assistant General Secretary was elected into office through a bye-election, and just like the General Secretary, he worked behind the scenes to ensure administrative duties were carried out effectively.
According to the LASUSU constitution, the Assistant General Secretary shall “ assist the General Secretary in the discharge of his duties,” and this did he do alongside the General Secretary in order to ensure smooth running of the administration.
This is not the end as there’s still more to be unraveled. To our beloved LASUSU executives and student populace. This is just the first chapter of our ‘not-so-critical account’. We have chosen to present our current administration with the benefits of doubts. We wish to let it known that we will keep to our ten toes henceforth. LASU Conscience is watching. The media is watching!
