By Etsekhumhe Samson, Olusola Rahmatullah and Seyi Adedokun

It is an uncontestable fact that the crop of student leadership we parade in the Premier Fount is not something entirely worth to mail home about. Right here in this community, we have had numerous cases of mismanagement, misappropriation, exclusive governance, nonchalance, ineptitude, misplacement of priorities, mandate betrayal, administrative deceit and even embezzlement from the so called ‘leaders of tomorrow’ who cannot even demonstrate the slightest trait of leadership today. The visionless trend in student leadership has reached a point where it is now the general rule, a point when you only expect anyone contesting for any student leadership position to be a mediocre, and nothing more, may be less anyway.

However, the thing with all general rules is that there’s always an exception, no matter how remote and unfeasible. No matter what, this exceptional few will always be truthful to their words and most importantly are always committed almost totally to their mandate leadership responsibilities. These exceptions are the only reason it would amount to injustice to say “All student leaders are the same – clueless”.  And one of such very few exceptions is this young man from the Sultan Bello Hall Executive leadership.

His name is Tiamiyu  Habeebullahi Adetunji

His name is Tiamiyu  Habeebullahi Adetunji, a final year student from the department of Guidance and Counseling (G&C), Faculty of education. He hails from Ibadan, Oyo State. He is currently the Defence Minister of Sultan Bello Hall, University of Ibadan. He attended a military school and received core military education in Command Children School at Mokola Barracks, Oyo state, after which he proceeded to Ansar-ud-deen High School, where he eventually got an ‘O’-Level certificate. As someone with passion for education, his next step in life was to acquire knowledge and learn how to disseminate it to the younger generation. That became another driving force to attaining an NCE certificate. Today, he can say that he is a proud teacher. In his words, he affirms: “I grew up in the barracks where I had the opportunity of mingling and working with some military personalities though I wasn’t a military man. I was trained by a military man and I was a member of the Oyo state Peace Guard Organisation”.

On his nickname, ‘Auxiliary’, he revealed that he got it during his NCE days in the Oyo state College of Education now Emmanuel Alayande College of Education when he was a member of a para-military organisation and he had to chose a nickname for himself, so he decided to settle for ‘Auxiliary’ since it means ‘helping, giving assistance or support’, he is also ready to help in securing lives and properties.

IN NEED OF A MESSIAH…

Having a background in military, and working on the Defence Committee of the previous administration, Mr. Habeebullahi, popularly known as ‘auxiliary’, felt it was time to take the bull by the horn and tackle the insecurity issues in Sultan Bello Hall once and for all. This he could not have done alone, being just a member of the committee, hence, he ran for the post of the Defence Minister of Sultan Bello hall in the 2015/2016 elections Sultan Bello Hall Elections.

It is important to note that prior to the time he emerged as the Defence Minister of Sultan Bello Hall, many theft cum burglary cases had been recorded, and ‘Bellites’ as the residents of Sultan Bello Hall are popularly called, were agitating for measures to be taken to stop this menace that was rapping the reputation of the Hall. As surprising as it may seem, the election that brought ‘Auxiliary’ into power as the Defence Minister of Sultan Bello Hall of Residence, have barely spent a year yet testimonies of his good deeds is painting the atmosphere of the university.

THIS IS NOT HIS FIRST TIME…

When asked what his motivating factor was before going for the position, he said that his drive towards contesting was basically foresight. His drive generally was the appalling state of theft cases that was robbing Sultan Bello Hall off her reputation. He realized that there was the need to curb this menace, hence the need for him to act. He knew the only way out is to seek a position among the executive arm. Again, he has always been in the picture of all happenings even before he assumed office. He was a friend with Opara Chukwu Joshua,a onetime Defence Minister of the hall, and another student named Abdulkareem Abdulkareem from the Department of Philosophy who preceded him as the Defence Minister. According to Mr. Auxiliary, working with Adulkareem was as tasking as anyone would expect his job. Cases of burgled rooms, theft and the likes were just pouring in from different students and unfortunately Kareem could not solve most of them. Mr Habeebullahi took that opportunity to discharge the duty by helping Kareem the best way he could. This of course would not be done successfully without criticisms.

“Security is God’s. I am just a mere mortal”

For sure, criticisms started coming from students.  Questions like, “Why you dey drink panadol for another man headache?”, though, some others commended his effort as a member of the committee. At this juncture Mr. Auxiliary affirms: “I knew it was time to be the captain of the ship, because I have gotten the full knowledge of sailing it”. What marveled everyone are the feasible strategies Mr Habeebullahi put in place as soon as he was elected as the Sultan Bello Hall Internal Affairs and Defense Minister. These measures were to tackle issues of burglary, theft, and other anomalies in the hall. In his words, he avers “to begin with, I must state it clear that security is God’s. I am just a mere mortal, but I believe God does not come down to earth rather he uses man to secure man”. His manifesto according to him was the number one weapon. It was a sort of map that guided his voyage. Mr. Habeebullahi set up a Defence Committee that was known for its viability and vibrancy and also included the porters and the Hall Warden in his plans. He also printed safety and security tips for individual rooms, personal use, and for various blocks in the hall of residence. Taking his duty further, he always patrolled like a flower that is nocturnal in the night and diurnal in the day

“If you want to go fast, go alone and if you want to go far, go with others…” the job of a Defence Minister.

‘Now, let me explicate; it will be selfish and self-centered of me to think that I am all knowing ‘and all powerful. Wise men have said, “If you want to go fast, go alone and if you want to go far, go with others. This was what brought about the idea of having a Defence Committee, not just a bunch of people who wants to have names but people decorated with dedication and self-sacrifice. I must say this to your hearing as pressmen, what we have now as leaders in this country, which this campus is a faction is that most of them are not coming to work or dedicated to their mandate rather the big name or portfolio that comes with that position and it is a bad one. We should learn to understand what is done with a position before we aspire to attain it. Again, I knew the committee was not going to carry out their mandate without the incursion of the porters and hall wardens, especially when the time of challenges arose. This I will say gave us a clear-cut that we are good to go.’

As the Defence and Internal Affairs Minister, he is responsible for the activities in the hall in that he pledged to see to the safety and security of properties of both the students and managers in the hall. As the Defence minister, it therefore meant that he is a military officer whose job is to defend his hall. Talking about working with other executives, Mr. Habeebullahi said that it was not just about the office or the security of properties, but also the security of food, water, health and the likes. He said that it was so easy working with his colleagues because he was very open to everyone, which was one of the agenda in his manifesto.

As a way of assessing his tenure, he asserts that he was not in the position to assess himself because he would not want it to look like he was praising himself. The most achievable thing he affirms that he was proud of was his ability to achieve his set goals. When he was asked to assess himself, he said “To ask me to assess myself, honestly, God did it. On a scale of hundred percent, I would say eighty percent, because I am not all knowing neither am I all powerful rather, it was God all the way. Therefore, I would leave the accessing and evaluation to Bellites and the public”.

“Lock your door!”

Speaking on how he was able to address the issue of theft, he said that his manifesto served as a guide for him. He would use the public address system to announce to Bellites the need for them to lock their doors. That was how everyone in the hall started calling him “Lock your Door”. This sensitivity exercise is a sort recall to those who have not done what they are supposed to do as regards securing their properties. It therefore becomes a collective effort. More so, himself and members of the Defence Committee would merry-go-round around at night; from 10-11 pm checking all the blocks, and sometimes taking the gadgets of people who failed to lock their door. This was to prevent theft of these gadgets by thieves. But the real owners will always come for their properties the following morning with evidence of ownership.

6 million naira saved…

According to him, there is currently over a hundred and fifty letters of undertaken signed by students who came to claim their gadgets and other properties that were not kept safe. Mathematically, this means that there would have been over a hundred and fifty cases of theft if those gadgets had been stolen; let’s assume the average cost for each is 40,000 naira that’s 6 million naira saved! Then he introduced the issue of Safety and Security Tips. These security tips are hints on how to protect yourself from physical attack, your material property and your food. They are tips for personal use, for hall consumption and for individual room consumption.  He also works with the porters at night to ensure this is achieved. The security tips are pasted in all blocks and rooms. He also introduced a fire extinguishing programme that ran for several days in the Hall. The essence was to make sure Bellites have a good knowledge of how fire extinguisher is use for their safety.

PSYCHOLOGICAL PAIN AS A SACRIFICE FOR EFFICIENCY

When questioned on the approaches of his hall mates, he avers in this words and manner, “Of course expect anyone to approach you; especially when you are fighting a good cause. To be factual, it has been positive approaches so far. I get positive comments from my friends, the hall Mayor Mr Adeniran Ademolu, the porters and even my colleagues in the decision-making arm.”His office being a volatile one, it is not wherean unenthusiastic person can achieve credibility. His methods are not new; some persons in the past have applied similar methods but didn’t work. It was not because he was better than them, but there is need to do the needful which was what makes him different from his predecessors. He avows, “I feel it is not enough to print papers rather, it is enough to wear the shoe and feel the pain so that you can amend it to relief the pain.” Psychologically, he believed in God and himself. Self-efficacy was his watch-word.

To say there were no hurdles while racing is having life on a platter of gold. About challenges and moments of regret, Mr Auxiliary is of the opinion that there was no moment of regret though there were little challenges such as, the knocking of his door at an unwholesome hour of the night by students, demanding their properties be returned. “The only thing I would call challenge is the misconception of my duties by the students but I guess when most of them understood what I was doing, they applauded me for it. After attending to them, I wouldn’t get myself anymore. I would be disorganised. Maybe I have a lecture the next day, I may be there and my brain will recall the event of that night”, he said. Mr Habeebullahi states that he believes a good character would speak well of you and take you places. It is something of joy to know that your step towards a particular problem is employed by others to solve their problems. Mr. Habeebullahi said that the steps he took to ensure security of properties can be employed in other halls of residence if only their Defence Ministers would be selfless and resilient.

‘More than a Defence Officer’, ‘Most Active’, accolades from people around

In an interview, the Assistant Supervisor, Mrs. Oniyelo Olabisi said of Auxiliary, “Mr. Habeebullahi has done a good job. I don’t think we have any case of theft this session.  Even while he was sick, he still managed to come around at night to check on everyone. I think he is more of a welfare officer than a defence officer.”

In the same vein, the Hall Mayor agreed that working with Auxiliary is a great experience. In hos words, “His strategies which we the executives adhere to brought the success we all celebrate today. He is worth celebrating.”

Mr Ojo Oluwanifemi Emmanuel, the Students’ Union President, and a resident of the Hall also testified to the efficiency of the Defence Minister. “What the defence minister and his entire team in Sultan Bello Hall are doing is impeccable. The credibility goes to the Defence Minister himself, because his efficiency gives anyone who wants to commit any atrocity in hall the chance to think twice. The security tips he gave us has become more or less the hall anthem.”

Seun Amballi Emmanuel, another Bellite and a 400 level student from the Department of English also has this to say, “Auxiliary has been active. In short the most active Defence Minister I have seen since in my stay in Bello hall for the past three years now. Whenever anyone hears his voice you will be force to do the needful.”

WORTHY OF EMULATION

The story of Auxiliary and the defence system in Sultan Bello Hall is that of resilience, determination, dedication and perseverance. Most Bellites has testified to the passion with which he handles the responsibility attached to his office. This is a man that sacrifices his sleep when others are in dream lands, just to ensure that there’s security of lives and properties in the hall.

Aside his official responsibilities, he is also very popular amongst Bellites and is loved by all. This young man has no doubt broken the myth that Ministers of Defence are hardly known while in office because they remain largely faceless. Auxiliary has not only performed his responsibilities to the commendation of all but he has almost even doubled as the Information Minister of the Hall as the original Information Minister has no doubt insulated himself from the people that voted him in.

He is assertive yet humble and an advocate of responsible student leadership, no wonder in one of the sessions of the Sultan Bello Hall House of Assembly where the executives were to report to the Assembly on their activities, after his presentation, Auxiliary was made a worthy example and others were told to follow his footsteps.

This is what we should celebrate in student leadership – responsibility and truthfulness to the cause. When Bellites, like leaves have decided to dance on the river top that the hall is now a safe place, there is a drummer beating his drum beneath the tide and that drummer is no other person than Tiamiyu  Habeebullahi Adetunji, the Defence Minister of the hall.