(… it all rises and falls on leadership…)

The matter of leadership, as appealing as it sounds, is not necessarily an appealing venture when the individual aspiring for this leadership position is oblivious to the realistic nature of leadership positions. Irrespective of what level of leadership the position may be, amongst other things that are inevitable in roles of leadership, is being responsible. 

Interestingly, true leadership is not just restricted to responsibilities, other vital points of leadership include; being sensitive and attentive to the plight of followers being led and also being committed to the followers and their well-being sincerely. Most importantly, someone like Myles Munroe believes that there is a spirit of leadership every leader must imbibe without debate. In Munroe’s opinion, the extent of the consciousness of a leader depends on how much the leader sees himself or herself as a leader indeed, hence, leadership is inherently a mentality. To this end, Myles Munroe gives an illustration of a lion’s cub a farmer accidentally happened upon in the forest. Out of compassion for the vulnerable tender-looking creature, the farmer took this cub to his farm where he raised this cub together with his flock of sheep. Soon, the cub grew to become a lion, and unfortunately, the lion believed he was a sheep. One day, a lion appeared from the woods, which made the flock of sheep scamper about, including the lion. However, as he sought where to hide, he caught a reflection of himself in the water and noticed the reflection in the water was alike the other beast (the lion from the wood). The lion saw this and realised that that was who he is, and followed the into the woods. Hence, Myles Munroe likens the reflection of the lion to the spirit of leadership. However, the leadership spirit is not peculiar to anyone, as it is built consciously and deliberately. Myles Munroe further believes emphatically that an army of sheep led by a lion will surely defeat an army of lions led by a sheep. 

Everything rises and falls on leadership, and this has been very evident in the case of the matter going on in the University of Ibadan at the moment. As much as the followers have their input, and part to play, eventually, the leadership roles determine the degree of success. The entirety of the University of Ibadan students’ populace has been in a struggle against arbitrary increment and addition or duplication of fees since the last Student Union’s Executive Council’s tenure, that is the Host-led administration. This struggle raged so much, that it had a significant impact on the election process at that time. However, almost nothing was done to salvage the situation at that time, the fees that caused the struggle then, the introduction of studio/lab fees, and the increment of school fees for the new in-take who were virtual members of the school at that time. The struggle under the Host-led regime amounted to almost nothing, as a lot of students still had to pay these fees unwillingly, that is, the lab/studio fee. It is worthy of note, that these fees in themselves were not the issue, but the justification of these fees stood in every questionable light. It was more like what would be described as “broad-day robbery”. Some of the things paid for were either non-existence, something that has never been used or mentioned before, or better still, things that are best described as myths. For example, what would the faculty of law have to do with paying for studio fees? Departments like Classics, History, or even the Faculty of The Social Sciences, what justifications do the school management have for charging students in these places for these fees? In some cases like that of the Department of English, the reality of a Studio or phonetics lab remains at best a popular myth. 

Now, all these struggles were ongoing during the host-led regime, while the election that would usher in the next regime was ongoing equally, side by side. Interestingly, the struggle’s impact was so much on the election process to the point of putting the election on hold during a Congress, where the Congress expressed gross dissatisfaction against how the Host-led regime handled the negotiation process of the fees issues with the school management. Furthermore, the Congress also believed it could not trust the crop of individuals vying for the leadership post that would become vacant as a result of the expiration of office and regime. This is to point to the fact that, before and during the campaign period, the current Student Union President, Bolaji Aweda (Oloye), is fully aware of the struggle on ground, not only the Union’s President, but also all other individuals contesting for one leadership post or the other in the Union, were also very aware and beyond acquainted of the struggles on ground, and issues that needed to be dealt with. The reality of these struggles is completely infallible, as the inauguration ceremony of Bolaji Aweda (Oloye), as the President of the Union, will forever be marked by the incident of the struggle. That is, the first peaceful protest after the Ojo-Aderemi’s protest, was on Monday, May 13, 2024, the same day Bolaji Aweda (Oloye) was being inaugurated, the venue of the peaceful protest and inauguration ceremony being the same place, Trenchard Hall. This peaceful action led to the arrest of Ayodele Aduwo, Nice Linus, and Mide Gbadegesin, who were students of the University of Ibadan, by the school’s security, Abefele, on the Vice Chancellor’s order, and handed over to the Nigerian Army, Operation Burst, for protesting against fee hike in public institution. Interestingly, the placards for protesting were raised as soon as Bolaji Aweda (Oloye) mounted the podium to give his inauguration speech, and after these students were arrested, till they were released from custody, the Student Union’s President, Bolaji Aweda (Oloyer), never showed his face for their release, instead, he went for his inaugural party. Although, it is a sorry case that the President attempted to take the glory to have a hand in the release of these students. If the President is a students’ plight-sensitive leader, as he is expected to be by constitutional and societal obligations, he would and should have been prepared for the struggle ahead, and made effective plans on how best he ensure that the students’ populace come out victorious in this struggle. 

Probably, the best excuse Oloye would have been able to give for what has happened so far is that he was not aware of such problems and struggles, hence, he would have prepared for it during his campaign, but now, it has caught him unawares. Although this would have been a very lame excuse that would have only attracted a “Jewish judgement”, stoning, it might have been something, although still untellable. Oloye knew about this problem of fee hikes and arbitrary addition of fees all along, being a Tedderite too, he was also aware of the conditions and states of the hall of residence, and he was also aware of the state of students’ livelihood when it comes to academic convenience, utilities, and facilities, simply put, he is not an alien to all the issues an average University of Ibadan student faces. However, it seems he has forgotten, or better still, he never knew, that being a student leader has more to do than just being a decorative feather on his hat. And the same goes for all other executives of the Union. For example now, right from the Congress held on Saturday, August 17, 2024, the Vice President, Boluwatife Aboderin, in her case, showed an utter disregard for the Congress, as she sat leisurely on a desk in front of the Congress as it proceeded, fiddling with her phone with earphone in her ear, before disappearing from the venue. The problem is not the sitting down, but the attitude and disposition. It is quite pathetic when these crops of individuals behave so nonchalantly, as against the show of their hypocrisy during their campaigns of desperation.

The issue of leadership is not by force, when we talk of leadership, especially in a public school like the University of Ibadan, it should be understood that the lives of real human beings are at stake, and whatever they do or refuse to do or neglect to do while in office will definitely have impact on students’ lives. A live example now is the fact that the completion of this session by February, realistically speaking, is not certain, it is terribly hanging on cords of uncertainty. Just because the President has allowed things to drag until the 11th week. Furthermore, another annoying aspect of this whole narrative is that, besides the President of the Union, there are 7 other members of the Executive Council plus an army of student representatives at the SRC level. It becomes a very disturbing thing when in a plenary session at an SRC sitting, resolutions of a Congress cannot be easily verified because more than half of the Honourables present during that sitting did not attend the Congress. As it has been earlier stated in the opening sentence of this paragraph, leadership position is not a do-or-die affair, after all, it is not what any parent has sent anyone to school to do. If you know you have health issues that will inhibit you from meeting up with expected expectations as a matter of obligation, just face your academic life and take care of your health, as leadership demands, emphasis on the word ‘demand’, your commitment, and being responsible, unconditioned. Being transparent, accountable, committed, and responsible should not become a luxury you sparingly dispense as a token of benevolent privilege to the Student Union body after your campaign and being inaugurated. 

In all, being a student leader means, cultivating your spirit of leadership, so you can stand firm where and when you need to, and not scamper about like a member of a flock of sheep. Being a member of the Student Union Executive Council is not a call to be cruising with the Union’s bus with your clicks like children who have found a new toy. Being a student leader is not a call to enjoy exclusive rights to air-conditioned chambers, where you invite your inner clicks almost exclusively. When the ubiquitous (that is, found everywhere) aspirant who first reaches out to students during the campaign has won the election, they become rare gems not to be easily reached after inauguration ceremonies. From the Executive Council to every single member of the Student Representative Council, are all aware of the struggle against fee hikes and arbitrary addition of fees, allowing it to drag into what it is today, which has only proven one thing, the sense of true leadership is scarce indeed.