THE 35TH LASUSU SPC AND THE SJC REPORT CARD

In the 35th Lagos State University Students’ Union (LASUSU) administration, beyond the Students’ Executive Council which involves the President and so on, the administration involves other arms which collectively contribute to the decision making process of the students’ union as a whole.

These other arms are known as the STUDENTS’ PARLIAMENTARY COUNCIL (SPC) and the STUDENTS’ JUDICIAL COUNCIL (SJC).

Let’s dive into their contributions to the 35th LASUSU administration.

THE 35TH LASUSU SPC

The 35th LASUSU SPC, according to the LASUSU constitution shall, “serve as checks and balances on the SEC on all union matters.” The legislative arm of the Student’s union consists of the Speaker, who is the head of the SPC, the Deputy speaker, the clerk, the chief whip, the under secretary, and the sergeant at arms. In an interview with the clerk of the SPC, Mulikat Abass, she highlighted some of the major achievements of the 35th SPC including, “hosting the first ever clerical conference, the yearly National Parliamentary Summit, plenary sessions, and the inaugural lecture.” This is quite commendable, as many students are used to the SPC suspending members of the Executive Council, however the 35th SPC didn’t come to play, as they ensured there were programs and initiatives to show for their tenure, albeit to a level.

While many would agree that the suspension of members of the Executive Council which the SPC has been well-known for, we cannot deny that there was so much that the SPC could have done and should have done to make the impact of their lawmaking duty felt and beneficial to LASUites at large.

Right from primary school up to the secondary school level, everyone was informed that the Legislative arm of government’s primary duty is to make laws, but unsurprisingly, our 35th SPC could not boast of any notable law or bill that was passed into motion throughout its tenure, alarming!

To further validate our bemusement, the clerk of the house, while being interviewed by LASU CONSCIENCE on some of the bills and motions that was passed during the 35th administration, she said, “firstly, we passed the bill of the creation of a swift response team, a bill of having a students’ cadet is on its way, amongst others.” Out of curiosity, our team further asked if the creation of a swift response team was the only bill passed during the 35th administration, and our question was answered with, “No, it wasn’t. We had a lot of bills that were supposed to be passed, but they couldn’t get to the final stage.”

Were we surprised? Not really, but we were shocked as to what a whole legislative arm spent late hours doing during sittings for a whole session, yet no particular bill was passed to either address several issues facing LASUites, or provide beneficial opportunities for students. What we mostly knew the SPC for, was beginning a budget sitting or any sitting later than the earlier scheduled time, which wasn’t just alarming, but a sign of negligence of duty on their parts.

Interestingly, like their predecessors, one thing the 35th SPC didn’t fail to do was to suspend members of the Executive Council, although on a lower scale than their predecessors. The SPC notably suspended the Vice President, Comrade Rihanat due to repeated instances of gross misconduct, disregard, and disrespect for the house. Surprisingly, another suspension from the SPC that broke the camel’s back was the suspension of the Legal Director, Comrade Alimi Toheeb, due to dishonesty, misrepresentation, and misuse of office. This particular case against the legal director opened up so many worms, as the court’s ruling in favour of the Legal Director confirmed that his suspension was largely born out of “spite and political shenanigans.”

A candid advice for the incoming 36th SPC is to ensure to read the constitution properly, digest it, and start mapping out plans to set bills and motions in place to address key issues, bring about sustainable initiatives, and finally reduce the act of suspending members of the SEC, and rather channel their energy into working adequately.

THE 35TH LASUSU SJC

The 35th LASUSU STUDENTS’ JUDICIAL COUNCIL, SJC, under the leadership of Hon. Justice Haddy Adekunke Makanjuola, assumed office, and began performing their duties in line with the constitution which states that the SJC shall, “regulate all judicial activities of the union.” In an interview with the President of the 35th LASUSU Court of Appeal and Head of the Judiciary, Justice Haddy, highlighted the major achievements of the SJC including, “Judicial activity and mentorship-which saw the High Court sit on four distinct matters, with one being appealed and adjudicated upon by the Court of Appeal; Judicial training and mentorship-which saw all members of the judiciary under the guidance of Hon. Justice A.G. Balogun, judge of the high court of Lagos State-an initiative that exposed council members to practical courtroom procedures, ethical standards, and judicial discipline; Judicial rule reforms-which saw the amendment of both the High court and Court of Appeal rules to align them with contemporary students unionism, and lastly modern judicial infrastructure.”

While we must commend the SJC for their efforts, including, “promoting awareness and educating students on their rights and responsibilities,” we strongly believe that they could have done more to enlighten students about their rights, and how to utilize the power of the court on matters pertaining to them. Going through the SJC’s official social pages would and cannot provide any lame man with the knowledge of their activities, apart from the birth date of some of its members. This is something the 35th SPC should have greatly worked on through providing various legal nuggets and facts about the constitution, which would have greatly educated students of their rights adequately.

Interestingly, LASU CONSCIENCE, wrote an article about students’ rights and sent it to the SJC, which highlighted so many rights that benefits LASUites, however, the SJC, sadly failed to build on our initiative by building more awareness in students. There are so many cases of injustice meted out to students by their fellow students, Head of course (HOCS), and even members of LASUSU, yet many students are not well educated that they can take these cases to the court, and eventually get justice.

Not taking away anything from the 35th LASUSU SJC, they truly worked in their own right, however, their major error was lack of publicity which almost overshadowed their good works.

Our advice to the incoming 36th LASUSU SJC is that they should come up with initiatives that would properly educate students of their rights, also work on their social media presence by putting out cases, lawsuits, and so on, so that everyone can be well-informed.

Having written a comprehensive report of the 35th Lagos State University Students’ Union (LASUSU) Administration, we have been able to highlight key areas, achievements, and commended their efforts. However, we still had to point out some things they could have done better to ensure a better administration.This Editorial is to send a message to the incoming 36th LASUSU administration to not just see the media as a watchdog, but rather a means to amplify their efforts to the students populace, while also keeping it in mind that the media is still very aware of its duties.