It is no news that the Association of Faculty of Arts Students (AFAS) currently solicits donations to give indigent students bursary awards. It is everywhere, on AFAS TV, on NASELS TV, and some group chats on WhatsApp. The students in the faculty are also aware that they are the targeted funds donors as the AFAS executives codenamed Team Illumination expected at least 50 students from each of the 12 departments in the faculty to support with #500 each.

The call for donations is commendable. This is a hard moment for Nigerians. The cost of living has skyrocketed. The prices of goods and services, in the last seven months, have drastically increased, thereby paralyzing the financial strength of the people. It is good that Team Illumination led by Olaniyi Esther Ayanfe is doing a great job. It shows that they have the interest of the “Indigent” students — so to say —- at heart.

However, in the AFAS, it seems as if such a donation calling is unprecedented. The biggest and best faculty in the University of Ibadan hardly solicits funds, let alone makes the struggling students the targeted donors, expecting a minimum whooping sum of #300, 000 from the student populace. The AFAS president in a brief mobilization on the National Association of Students of English and Literary Studies (NASELS) Family Page disclosed that the amount needed is #500, 000, in which they have got a sum of #150, 000.

Is it bad for the executives to make a call among the students to help their colleagues who have not paid their school fees? The answer is NO. Is it bad for the students to help their fellow? The answer is NO.

Nonetheless, it is safe to say that the current AFAS executives have little or no interest in the entire students at heart. No one needs a soothsayer to forecast that some students would not be able to pay their fees when the school fees were increased by the management immediately after the session began. It was evident that a good number of students would be incapacitated to pay the required fees of the institution. However, Team Illumination refused to take any action to salvage the situation. The executives were nonchalant about the plight of the students in the faculty by berating the augmentations openly and mobilizing the students to make peaceful demonstrations. Against the backdrop of their indifference towards the school fee increment, many students are unable to pay the fees. It is heartbroken that the chicken has come home to roost. Nevertheless, the indigent students are the recipients of the inactions of their leaders.

Being at the helm in tertiary institutions is about protecting the interest of the students — unionism. The welfare and well-being of all students should be the topmost priority of the student leaders. An executive council of a student body is expected to be proactive, have an eagle eye, and take drastic steps to avert any seeming crises or dangers against who they represent. This kind of situation could have been forestalled if the AFAS executives had decried the school fee increment. Succinctly put, the AFAS has never been in such a devastating state in this contemporary time. No doubt, this is worrisome. For how long will it last?

As the country plunges into rapid inflation, there is a need to assert that a quick measure should be taken to avoid subsequent quagmire. The executives should not put the cart after the horse. They should see a problem from afar and muster strength to rescue the situation, rather than ameliorating it. What the Ayanfe-led administration is doing presently is damage control. The ripple effects of their sitting on the fence will be a continuous bane for the indigent students for years to come. Prevention will always be better than cure.