By Tobi Idowu
Twice he served us with a brimful cup of agenda/promises, twice he was waived back. He contended that he spiced it with the Revolutionary punch, some listened, some promised to listened; but when it came to the time to get down to real business, another servers got the mandates. Bitten twice, K.cent has korrectly etched his name in the annals of history of the Students’ Union as the first two times loser of the Presidential election. He gallantly achieved this feat on a back-to-back yearly train. Pathetic a feat, perhaps; to wear such a jinxed ribbon emblazoned with unenviablerecord; it is an abject streak for a hapless fellow.
But why always him? For someone who at both times of contesting the election was out on the campaign field earlier, it beats one’s imagination that twice he got clawed back by his rivals.
To put it into perspective, it could be said that his two arch-rivals at both polls were later known ‘seriously considered’ challenge for him;for at the pre-lifting of the electoral bans of both elections, K-cent always seemed to have the momentum seriously swung to him. The juicy votes of the greenhorned fresh students always looked like his secured booty; moreover, him being a part of the cent-brother had initial X-factors, but like a built-up snow, his momentum always gradually diminished as the election activities kicked off… and finally crashed on the election day!
Perhaps K-cent failed to realise that fresh students’ electoral loyalties are easily buffeted by whimsical choices and capricious alignment. You can have a very loyal fresh student in your camp in the morning, and by afternoon he becomes a rigid stalwart of your main opponent. So, reliance on their votes presupposes committed and persevered persuasion till election is over!
Winning any election requires tact, guile and some down-the-line compromises. Tact is required to tread the ego-ridden path of alliances, associations, deals et al that are the major staples of election period.
Whatever your perception of them, perceived heavyweights and big guns, whether they are in or out of the union, must be treated with careful wisdom. Whether one likes it or not, they represent some interests and exercise considerable influence. These are the stakeholders whose stakes you need to stake your claim to the coveted seat. Before and after the both elections, there were insinuations that K-cent was out of tune with many of these purported big-weights, and they therefore worked against him. It must be noted that most times, elections on campus are not objectively won. Not your programmes, however good; nor your ideas, however fecund, it is often the flimsy glossy things that decide the election: how handsome you look on your poster, how catchy your slogan is, how noisy and boisterous is your campaign team, and importantly disturbing how close you are to the stakeholders across the halls, faculties, fellowships, organisations etc. Many of these said stakeholders saw K-cent as independent-minded and untameable; therefore a risky candidate for them, so they would rather not work with him.
Moreover,election’s period is a very sensitive one. Everything counts. Anything counts. The kind of persons a candidate has as stalwarts largely are responsible for much of the opinion would-be voters will have about such candidate. In this regard, K-cent scored a low mark. There were complains and grumblings concerning the conducts of many of his supporters. A particular female student was all angst as she lamented the uncivil conduct of K-cent’s political stalwarts towards her and her friends in the name of trying to court their supports. ‘How do they expect me to vote for him when they couldn’t behave themselves?’This and many unsavoury comments were ready fodder for K-cent’s opponents. Unfortunately, it was the same pitfall during his first outing. He definitely was not shy after being bitten at the first time…
In conclusion, an election has come and gone. Just like the last one, the presidential race was competitively contested. It was a good show from K-cent once again. Once again, his good show will not be enough. Better luck next time in another platform that will surely not be the Students’ Union Presidential post.
