By Adebayo AbdulRahman
On the thirteenth day of September, 2021, students of Nigeria’s Premier University were preparing to retire to the various corners of their rooms after another routine day of attending lectures when the ban on electoral activities at the Students’ Union level of the institution was officially lifted.
Twenty-seven days after, various individuals interested in the various seats set to become vacant at the Kunle Adepeju building have exhausted their airtime trying to convince every UItes why they deserve their vote — something former US President, Theodore Roosevelt once described as a rifle.
From sharing unsolicited broadcast messages on WhatsApp — and other social media platforms — to adorning every spot in the institution, including storage tanks, with posters, these aspirants have made their intention clear: they all want to win.
The Next Landlord
Even though all executive seats being jostled for are equally important, however, as in almost every situation, the seat of the President has attracted more attention.
The contest for who becomes the next President is between Oladeji Richard, a third-year student of Sociology who resigned his position as the Union’s House Secretary to join the race, and Adewole Yinka, a fourth-year student of Veterinary medicine who was until recently a member of the institution’s Students’ Representative Council.
***
The election is barely twenty-four hours away but as Oluwafemi Ikotun walks through the corridors of the Faculty of Social Science building, it was evident that the four tags attached to his cloth meant a lot to him — they were all strategically positioned.
The first of the four tags had a picture of Adewole Yinka, one of the two Presidential aspirants, the other three tags communicated a similar message for aspirants jostling for other positions.
“I am supporting Adewole Yinka (Mascot) for the Post of Presidency because I have weighed his experience, person,” Oluwafemi Ikotun, a student of the institution who resides in Mellanby Hall, began when he finally spoke with this reporter later in the day with the election just a night rest away.
Ikotun, who is a penultimate student, explained that he decided to throw his full weight behind the candidacy of Mascot, as the candidate is popularly known, because of the things he has involved himself in, the places he has been, people that has recommended him, organizations he has worked for, and seminars he has attended.
He maintained that after weighing Mascot’s antecedents against that of his opponent, he found him to be far more qualified not only to be the President but one that can achieve things.
“There are people that are even more popular than him that have not even achieved half of what he has achieved entrepreneurially, socially, academically, basically in every facet of student life, I believe he is better than his opponent Richard,” he noted.
Like Ikotun, Olumide Omotayo has spent a good part of the last few days with a similar tag attached to his breast pocket. But for a different candidate: Richard Oladeji.
For Olumide, his support for Richard’s candidacy primarily stems from two reasons.
“I am supporting Richard simply because he is from my Faculty. Another thing is that the guy is very nice, kind and humble,” he said.
Olumide also opined that the campaign for this year’s election has been interesting noting that the fact that some halls are just declaring support for some candidates is spicing up the race.
“I think Richard is going to win this election because he has more students that are supporting him than Mascot. I believe the election would be free and fair and there won’t be anything like rigging since it is virtual,” he added.
Recent Controversies
Despite being home to some of the most brilliant minds in the country, the various politicking leading up to the election set to go down today has been shrouded with a handful of controversies.
Perhaps the most extensive was a report by UCJUI that unravelled a deliberate attempt by one of the two Presidential aspirants, Richard, to mislead students of the institution by claiming achievements that were not his as that of his office while he served as the House Secretary of the Students’ Union.
Findings in the report revealed that even though the achievements released by the former House Secretary were recorded by the current administration, they were deliberately written to appear as achievements of his office alone, an action that was clearly misleading.
When contacted for clarifications after the findings, the aspirant confirmed that the flier omitted clauses that would have shown the achievements were not his only.
“In the list of my achievements, a clause was missing there which would have helped any reader. The clause missing is that as the House Secretary and with the help of the integration team, we were able to achieve the following.” Richard told UCJUI at the time.
Another controversial occurrence in the build-up today’s election was an allegation by Richard that his opponent, Mascot, was the brain behind an alleged assault and attempted kidnap of his campaign manager, Akinola Olamide.
“This incident was initiated by my opponent (Mascot) and I hope justice would be served,” Richard alleged while speaking with UCJUI.
Reacting to the allegation, Mascot denied any knowledge of such occurrence.
Few days after, while responding to questions from newsmen during a Press night organized for all aspirants, Richard stated that he had no evidence to back up his allegation against his opponent.
