As part of concerted efforts to provide credible reports and reviews on the candidates and the electoral process of the UISU, UCJ UI under its Election Watchroom Initiative reached out to UI’ SU Vice-President Aspirant, Ajao Oluwabukolami. In this exclusive chat with UCJ correspondents, Oluwabukolami spoke about her candidacy and share some of his plans.
UCJ: Good day everyone. Welcome to this sixth interview of the UCJUI Election Watch Room interview session. Today, we have with us one of the Vice-Presidential aspirants, Miss Ajao Oluwabukolami.
Can you introduce yourself?
Ajao Oluwabukolami: My name is Ajao Oluwabukolami, I am a 300 level student of Science and Technology Education and a resident of Obafemi Awolowo hall. I’m vying for the position of the Student Union Vice President.
UCJ: Is that all there is to you?
Ajao Oluwabukolami: Ok. Presently, I’m the President of Education literary and debating society where I generally oversee the affairs of the L&D. I am also my department’s speech coach where I was newly appointed as the Vice President of the Science and Technology Education Literary and Debating. I’m also the public relations officer of the Federation of Ekiti State Students Union.
UCJ: Could you tell us more about the office you’re running for?
Ajao Oluwabukolami: Okay, the office of the Vice President should carry out the affairs of the student union, which is deputising the work of the President, planning the Students Union week and the academic affairs. The office is just to generally boost the academic and welfarism of the students and make things related to entertainment. This is where we can bring innovative and fresh ideas to the student union week. Ideas like movie night, comedy night and other things.
UCJ: Have you served in any of these committees?
Ajao Oluwabukolami: Yes, I’ve served in the publicity committee mostly for UISU and I’m presently the moderator for the text club, which is the digital committee of the UI’SU week, Nostalgia. So these are the things that [have] practically seen firsthand and have helped me better my understanding of my leadership skills and how to organise programs better.
UCJ: Okay, just to be clear on that, you said you’ve served in the capacity of publicity and all that but the position you’re vying for is that of the Vice President where welfarism, entertainment and others are done. Is there a correlation aside from the leadership skills you have?
Ajao Oluwabukolami: There’s this particular office (role) where the Vice President is meant to coordinate the Mr. and Miss UI competition and I’ve engaged in pageantry before at my hostel, Obafemi Awolowo hall. So, this is interconnected with the office of the Vice President which has to do with pageantry . Secondly, academics is something I take really important and one of the functions of the Vice President is to ensure that the academic situation of students is very good.
UCJ: Ok, thank you for that. What makes you think you are the appropriate candidate for this role?
Ajao Oluwabukolami: Ok, first of all is my leadership experience. I’ve worked with a lot of people, I co-organised Freshers welcome and I’ve also planned the Ekiti State girl child debate where I worked with different people even outside the campus. This is another major work of the Vice President, which is planning important and core programmes of the Student Union week. So, I feel like I have this first hand experience on how to coordinate programs. Being the Vice President and coordinating this SU week is not going to be a problem for me because I already have first hand experience about it.
UCJ: Based on what you just said, we want to reiterate that having leadership skills is important for every position. But, have you seen the results of the things you carried out or participated in? Did you achieve the goals of the events?
Ajao Oluwabukolami: Yes, I did. The major one was the tug of words which I planned with my Vice President. We were able to get framed certificates which have not been done before in past administrations. Even the department was so happy and applauded us. We were able to get a lot of people to attend and we were also able to give the escorts- who don’t receive anything food.
UCJ: What are your plans if elected?
Ajao Oluwabukolami: Like I said earlier, my first plan is expanding the academics and SU week. I would also bring skill acquisition programmes and health and wellness programmes to the table. Another major thing I would do is spelling bees. I feel like it might have been done at Bello and Kuti halls so we can have an inter hall spelling bee competition. It is done with fresher’s week but I feel we can bring it to the SU week. We can also have a comedy night. It is however not going to be shown on TV but it is going to be a live stand done by UItes. They would pay a very small token to participate and the winner would be awarded.
UCJ: What are your plans for welfare?
Ajao Oluwabukolami: I plan to support people in terms of stress management and wellness programmes. I also plan on working together with other executives to organise a monthly sanitation programme. During this programme, brushes and cleaning tools would be donated to halls of residence. I know this is out of my jurisdiction but it’s a way of [improving] welfarism.
UCJ: Prior to your official declaration, there was a previous campaign involving you supposedly running for the office of the PRO. What is responsible for the change and why do you think the office of the Vice President is better suited to your service to UI students.
Ajao Oluwabukolami: Coming out as a public relations officer was something I had in mind but I mapped out my plans along the line and discovered they were not within the jurisdiction of the public relations officer but of the Vice President. I had a lot of mental breakdown and this was when I lost at Jawwar. A lot of things came at me and I had to step down from aspiring to be a public relations officer. I also seeked counsel and did some self reflection on whether or not to let go of my plans. I also felt like people would come at me because I changed my plans but I decided that the things people say do not really matter and I should go for the things I really plan.
UCJ: The office of the Vice President(VP) is weightier than that of the PR in terms of constitutional duties. If you could not handle that much pressure, even without accenting into the office, why did you take a more witty position? What’s the assurance that something similar would not occur?
Ajao Oluwabukolami: I feel the office of the PRO is as weighty as that of the VP and I’ve been planning for this particular thing. I have my plans mapped out. I’ve checked and sought my counsel. I’ve also checked my academic schedule and can see that it’s in better alignment with the office of the Vice President. Whereas, I am [Not] to only ensure that the academic and welfare of students are totally good. I am also to ensure the SU week is properly planned. I believe every office in the SU is as weighty as we can think of, so ensuring there’s no recurrence is based on my personal planning and schedule. Such a thing would not happen.
UCJ: Rumor has it that you had issues with your hall, as a result, they didn’t come to support you during the Jaw war and there was a whole lot of backlash when the faculty of education lost against the faculty of agriculture. You coming from the same hall to vie for the post of Vice President, what do you have to say on that?
Ajao Oluwabukolami: I don’t see a correlation because the competition was a faculty event and I only had particular issues with the members of the L and D. We’re very cool now.
UCJ: Are you saying your hall is in full support of your ambition?
Ajao Oluwabukolami: I’ve not been endorsed so…
UCJ: What’s your plan as regards school fees and payment of accommodation fees?
Ajao Oluwabukolami: If the school fee is further increased, I and the other executives would set up a panel to meet with the management so that it can be reduced but if not, a fundraising committee would be created to seek funds from companies, organisations and alumni association.
UCJ: Briefly comment on the ABH electricity issue
Ajao Oluwabukolami: I feel like we can intensify the protest and hope they bring the light
UCJ: You were noticeably absent at the protest on January 22nd. What was responsible for the absence and what is the guarantee that you would be a voice for students during demonstrations of that sort?
Ajao Oluwabukolami: On that day, I had a test and the lecturer had a class before the test. I had to go for both the class and the test. But, I would surely be at consequent ones because I was at the late Adekunle Adepeju’s remembrance.
UCJ: During the campaign period, have you made comments publicly with regards to the students movement? The four protests that happened in July and the other actions the students have been involved in.
Ajao Oluwabukolami: Yes, I share a lot of movements on my status and I also retweet some
UCJ: Sharing fliers and all of that doesn’t necessarily mean participation right now. During the protests that happened in the first semester, were you present?
Ajao Oluwabukolami: I was not on campus on the first day but I was having a class presentation the next day. The protesters passed by but the lecturer was in the class.
UCJ: Classes were cancelled on that day and for someone who had a political ambition like you, or who feels whatever concerns UItes are facing. You should have told the lecturer a protest was going on and the class should be cancelled. That would have been an effort to show that you’re really in support of the struggle at that point in time. What happens if you’re elected and a similar situation occurs?
Ajao Oluwabukolami: I would definitely be at the protest
UCJ: Alright. Do you think the UI’SU week has become so extravagant? This is because in the previous session, about 4.3 million naira thereabout was spent on the SU week and about 11 million was spent this year. In fact, the initial budget was over 17 million . Do you think the amount spent was excessive and any curtailing should take place?
Ajao Oluwabukolami: I believe the SRC was involved in ratification and the events must have been planned out. I personally do not think it is extravagant because there was a ratification.
UCJ: Have you conducted any feasibility studies for your plans?
Ajao Oluwabukolami: Presently, I have not but I plan to.
UCJ: Ok. You are the bridge between the students and the management, do you agree?
Ajao Oluwabukolami: Yes.
UCJ: What do you think the aforementioned sentence means?
Ajao Oluwabukolami: This basically means that I’m the voice that amplifies the students’ voices. I am someone that would work tirelessly to ensure their needs are met and their voices are heard.
UCJ: Comment on the failures and accomplishments of the current Vice-President.
Ajao Oluwabukolami: I feel like the present Vice-President is doing well.
UCJ: Ok. We see a lot of energy during campaigning, especially for some of the elected executives but this energy is not always sustained upon election. What makes you think you’ll be different from your precedent?
Ajao Oluwabukolami: I think if I am able to manage all my academic schedules before now, it is something I can still do again alongside my campaign. I also think my campaign would be very intensive towards the election because I really want this and I really want to serve UItes.
UCJ: Do you believe in partisan hall alignments and endorsements as proof of the candidate’s quality?
Ajao Oluwabukolami: I feel like trying to get their endorsement is not bad because it only shows that ‘yes’, they are well aware of your plans and they know you are serious about this and are going to do well when you get there.
UCJ: So, you think it’s a proof of quality?
Ajao Oluwabukolami: Yes. Though there are factors still involved in it.
UCJ: Thank you very much Miss Oluwabukolami.
Ajao Oluwabukolami: Thank you.
- 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.
