As part of concerted efforts to provide credible reports and reviews on the candidates and the electoral process of the UI’SU, UCJ UI under its Election Watchroom Initiative reached out to UI’ SU General Secretary aspirant, Olowu ‘Atom’ Victor Segun. In this exclusive chat with UCJ correspondents, Victor discusses his plans for the Union and addresses a few questions concerning his candidacy.
UCJ: Good day everyone. welcome to this second interview of the UCJUI Election Watch Room interview session. Today, we have with us the General Secretary candidate, Mr. Olowu Victor Segun.
Olowu Victor: Thank you very much.
UCJ: So first and foremost, can you introduce yourself to our audience?.
Olowu Victor: My name is Olowu Segun Victor, a general secretary aspirant of the Students’ Union, a 300-level student of Political Science, and a resident of Nnamdi Azikwe Hall.
UCJ: Why are you running for the post of General Secretary of the UI Student Union?
Olowu Victor: The main reason why I’m running for the General Secretary of UI Student Union, was born out of passion, because I’ve had this passion to serve at the Union level since 100 level. I felt the General Secretary is the position in which my impact could be well felt, considering my experience because I’ve served as General Secretary in several committees in 100 level and 200 level. Also, in 300 level, I am the General Secretary of my department. So I feel my experience deals with the position I’m aspiring for.
UCJ: Is it just a matter of your experience? You have experience as a General Secretary, but there are the positions of Assistant General Secretary and House Secretary, and one could argue that those positions are equally as relevant. So why specifically that post?
Olowu Victor: As I said earlier, I have a passion to serve at the Students Union level right from my 100 level, but I didn’t know which position at the time. And since I have served as General Secretary in many capacities, I felt okay in this position I can go for and my impact can be felt.
UCJ: Can you tell us more about the office you are running for (the constitutional duties and the general requirements of the office)?
Olowu Victor: Okay. The General Secretary is the chief correspondence officer. That means he writes letters out, and he takes letters in. He takes the minutes. He takes the records. He reports on the activities of the Union’s Executives. He’s in charge of meetings. He calls for meetings with the direction of the president. He presents reports to the SRC based on the direction of the President also. He is the bridge between the clerical staff of the union and the executives.
UCJ: This administration, Team Amelioration, ignored some calls for Congress from the students and even from the SRC members. What do you think that says of the previous General Secretary? Don’t you think that’s a problem of poor communication?
Olowu Victor: Actually, I will say that is the problem of poor communication, but we don’t know what is happening in the team. Probably the team felt that was not the right time to call for a Congress. So I don’t know personally, but let’s just say, okay, it’s a problem of poor communication.
UCJ: Just to clarify, in that instance, the Congress in June, the president was supposedly not available and in Abuja, and he felt that was a sufficient reason not to have called for Congress. It’s not enough that the president thought that, but the General Secretary also agreed that was a justifiable reason and put out a letter to that effect. By your own assessment, is it justifiable if you were in those shoes?
Olowu Victor: Actually, to answer that question, it was not justifiable to not call for a Congress because the work of the Vice President is to fill in the role when the President is not around. So I feel the Vice President should act in place of the President, and the General Secretary should take up his role in the Congress.
UCJ: What’s the assurance that you would not also follow such footsteps if you are elected?
Olowu Victor: Based on my past records in my department, we’ve called for several Congresses, and I’ve acted up to the normal standard. I can assure you that if I win, I won’t be like the current General Secretary.
UCJ: Going back to the issue of your candidacy, was your decision to run for General Secretary influenced by the fact that Zik has also produced some Gen. Secs. in the past?
Olowu Victor: Yes, actually a lot, because when I entered in 100 level, the first person I was very close to was Bam T. That was the current General Secretary, then. And that was one of the reasons that even impacted me to go for the General Secretary, because I learnt a lot from him. But the one before Bam T, I didn’t know him personally even up to now. So I can say, okay, to an extent it affected [it].
UCJ: What are your plans if elected into office? Can you just walk us through and paint your visions?
Olowu Victor: My agenda, which is the Active Agenda, is based on five plans. So number one is getting equipment for the office of the General Secretary because when I spoke with the current General Secretary in person of Japheth, what he said was that the first problem is there were not enough resources to work as the General Secretary and to enhance professionalism. My first plan, if elected as General Secretary, is to get equipment, though I might not get everything actually, because we know the current economic situation of the country.
UCJ: What can you assure us that you will be able to get?
Olowu Victor: I can assure you I can get a Printer because I’ve asked for the price of the printer, and the person I asked said it is Hundred Thousand Naira plus. The price of a laptop is a lot. If I’m targeting a good working laptop, that’s a whole lot. And also staplers and other equipment. But I can guarantee the printer.
Also, the rest of my plans; The second one is providing a monthly bulletin, which will contain highlights of what was done by us, by our administration, if elected. So this will serve as a way of communicating with UItes. We even help you engage us because when they know what is currently happening in the union, they will be able to ask us questions or contribute to engaging us.
Also, another of my plans is orientation. I felt there is a declination in student participation in Union activities. So I plan on doing orientation for the students. The first strategy in achieving that is talking with the students during Freshers Welcome. I and some of the Executive officers will be talking to the student in a short session, probably 30 minutes or so, on Unionism. Also, I’ll be facilitating events that tally with leadership skills and probably unionism and community service. All those will enhance participation in unionism.
Another on my list is academic opportunities. Currently there are many first-class students, even eligible students who can apply for scholarships, internships, fellowships, and many other opportunities in academics, but they don’t know the process involved. So I felt that [Alumnus], present UItes, and people that know about this process, I can bring them on board to talk with Uites in a one-day session on how to apply, the process involved, how to craft a compelling application. The last on my list is digitalization of union documents. Most students normally need a release of the Union from like two months ago, and they don’t have access to it. So digitizing this will help us promote accessibility and also even secure your documents from theft, water, fire, and any other.
UCJ: Currently the releases of the union are digital. They are soft copy releases and pictures. Can you specify exactly what you intend to digitize?
Olowu Victor: It’s not only on the correspondence, also the minutes, and others. I’m putting this on Google Drive. So the link will be [sent] out. If, probably, you need a release after like two months, you can just go to the link and be able to access it.
UCJ: Where will you get funds for these plans?
Olowu Victor: For most of my plans, except the first one, which is getting equipment and the academic opportunities, I won’t be needing funds. I’m a member of Sigma Club, most of the committees I’ve worked with in Sigma Clubs, are Sponsorship Skill committees. I’m even part of the current Scholarship committee. And I have an active role in this committee. So I know a lot about getting sponsorship, and even Sigma Club gives us access to some kind of people that I know that can provide enough funds.
UCJ: Over the years, we’ve seen several student leaders say it with confidence that they can get sponsorship, only to get into office and start arguing with the Legislative Council over budget. How certain are you that your own administration will be different? Bear in mind that a few administrations ago, the Assistant General Secretary was fined for using more than was allocated.
Olowu Victor: Actually, on the issue of sponsorship seeking, as I said earlier, I don’t know what was wrong with others, why they were not able to provide their promises. But for me, I have enough experience to get that. And I’ve done that in Sigma Club, so why can’t I replicate it?
UCJ: Critically analyze the accomplishments and failures of the current general secretary.
Olowu Victor: I know him but I didn’t work with him closely, But from what I’ve seen, he organized some leadership summits, I think twice. And on his duties, he did what he was capable of. These are just what I know about.
UCJ: So you didn’t really observe some areas of some deficiencies, or you didn’t notice any spectacular accomplishments? When we say critically analyze, you should be able to list on your fingers like you did this.
Olowu Victor: Aside the equipment that I talked about, that was when I talked with him, he said he’s planning to get it, but up to now, he hasn’t gotten it. So aside from that, and maybe the issue of doing it during the protest and the rest, I don’t see any deficiency.
UCJ: Back to your own plans. Did you conduct feasibility studies on these plans? How certain are you that you can accomplish everything?
Olowu Victor: There are a series of stages in my manifesto because I had to draft a plan, and give it to people that are more experienced than me to check. You can achieve this. You cannot achieve this. This is feasible. This is not feasible. And I started [drafting the plans] during the first semester. So I think the feasibility of my plan is alright.
UCJ: Okay. In the past six months, there have been issues with electricity rationing in UI, and in ABH and Falase there is no electricity at all. What steps do you think could be explored in solving these issues, especially when it comes to rationing in UI?
Olowu Victor: Okay. On the ABH and UCH light issue. That was bad, actually. That’s bad because I went there and we first went to the Secretariat, the Oyo state Secretariat, they said the issue is not with them, that it’s with the Federal Secretariat. We went to the Federal Secretariat, and the man was just trying to cajole us. There was a recent release, I think, about the Federal Government having done its part and then the UI management. Am I right?
UCJ: The UI management has done its part, it’s UCH that hasn’t [done it’s part].
Olowu Victor: There’s a protest on Friday. Let’s see.
UCJ: How about light rationing?
Olowu Victor: On the rationing issue on campus. Actually, that is not under my office, actually. But what I can say is that considering what student welfarism is, that is bad. Actually, that’s bad because even if there is light rationing, the light should be available during the right hours that students even need it, probably at night or when they want to read. Even during this current exam period, that is when the light should be very stable, actually.
UCJ: Okay. Thank you very much. What is your take on the issue of littering or defacement with posters, banners, stickers, and flyers.
Olowu Victor: Actually, defacement is bad.
UCJ: Walking here from the Students’ Union Building to Zik Hall, we can’t count the number of your posters that have been placed on the floor, on some walls, and on some other parts of the school property. What can you say about that?
Olowu Victor: Probably the first posters were pasted on walls, and that was not done by me because we have a team working on the posters. But after the first one, I warned them now to post on the walls again because we are not on the same routes. Some went to different locations. So after that, all my posters have been on the floor. I don’t think a floor is a defacement, actually.
UCJ: Just to clarify. You can’t say you are not in control of the first set. It’s your team. But more importantly, what do you mean by the floor not being defacement? We’re talking about walkways? How exactly is that not defacement?
Olowu Victor: Probably pasting on the floors is defacement, I didn’t know that earlier, but I feel pasting on the floor eventually with time won’t be there anymore. I don’t know.
UCJ: Last week the Students’ Union put out a release condemning the pasting of flyers and defacement of the Students’ Union Building, right? Students have been complaining as far back as November last year about the rate of defacement ongoing on campus. And there were no responses from the Union that is meant to enforce the measures to curtail this. As an aspirant, you have already contravened this rule. What is to assure UItes that if you are elected, you will not also permit others to do the same?
Olowu Victor: Actually, on the issue of release on Defacements, I think that’s under the House Secretary to do that, that doesn’t [fall under my office].
UCJ: Even though it is directly under the Office of the House Secretary, enforcement still has to do with the Executive Council as a whole.
Olowu Victor: On the defacements, I can say now I know better. Let’s just see what we can do.
UCJ: The position you are running for is a very crucial one. What leadership qualities do you have that you think can help you maneuver your responsibilities in this post?
Olowu Victor: As I’ve said earlier, most of the positions I have held are as General Secretary, even in committees. And currently I’m the General Secretary of my department, which is Political Science. I’ve done a lot. For example, I compiled 20 pages of reports. This is like a bulletin that I’m planning to do if I’m elected. So I’ve done that before. I’ll provide a 20 page report of what we’ve done as an administration to the students. That was the first type of report in the department.
Also I, and the President personally championed our [NAPSS] place in the National association. Political science as a department in University of Ibadan, are the creators of the national association. We are the first members of the National Association. During the past, I think five or four years, we have not been participating in national association activities. So during our tenure, myself and the president, with our money, we attended the conference. We did a lot just to take our role back in the National Association, and also we did a lot as members.
UCJ: Stakeholder meetings and congresses are some of the tools for deciding the next courses of action in our Students’ Union. Which one do you think is more preferable?
Olowu Victor :The Congress actually, because the people come and say their mind and what they want for themselves. So, I prefer the Congress.
UCJ: What is your take on the methods of Team amelioration in trying to solve the problems of the students in their own tenure? And if you are elected, how do you intend to make it better?
Olowu Victor: Actually, to tell the truth. I don’t really know much about the internal issues, but from the outside, they were slow on their decisions. And me coming in as the General Secretary, I can’t decide for the old members. But I’m sure of what I can do.
UCJ:. In your declaration of intent, you said you believe the secretary should be a driving force in making our student body run smoothly? If you are elected, what is that thing you can show us that you would have done that would be impactful in your first hundred days in office?
Olowu Victor : First of all, as I said earlier, I will be releasing a bulletin and I think 100 days should be around three months. That means three bulletins should be out. So by doing that, that will even bring students on board more to know more about the Union as a way to engage us. so that will bridge the communication gap that the current union has been little deficient about. That will serve as a way of improvement. Also, on the orientation, I said Freshers’ Welcome. Freshers’ Welcome is actually the first three weeks or first five weeks. So I think I should have done that also.
UCJ: All right, thank you for your time.
• This interview is part of a special series on the dynamics of the 2025 Students’ Union Election by the Union of Campus Journalists under its Election Watch Room Initiative.
