Eniola Owonikoko, Misturah Olatunji
_In an interview with Press Club MAPOLY, the Students Union President, ADELOLA HEZEKIAH discussed issues arising from the N10,000 penalty fee management levied on late tuition payment; the student leader’s recent suspension from office among other issues on the campus. Eniola Owonikoko and Misturah Olatunji bring excerpts:_
*Will you agree with me that some students are willing and ready to pay their school fees but are not financially buoyant enough to pay at the moment, as well as issues on the school portal? What can you say to that?*
Immediately (I got the information, regarding the penalty fee), I called the school P.R.O. because I know he was closer to the Rector and I told him (there should be) nothing like a penalty fee.
I understand the fact that some students wish to pay but do not have the money, nevertheless, we still need to make our point clear to the students on why the press release was issued, it is for the students who have the money and do not have any issue on the portal.
I was even told that some students already dropped their fees with some market agents and asked them not to make the payments yet. So, when they heard about the press release, they started telling those they dropped their money with, to help them pay.
They have the money, yet they don’t want to pay, so we tried our best to ensure that all these burdens are taken off the students, so the (management) won’t say things are the way they are because students have not paid.
Each time we ask the school management about certain issues, their response to us always is that students are yet to pay their school fees. I want that to stop so that the blame would be shifted away from the students and we can ask the management to provide what we need.
You know everybody has different ways of thinking and what I noticed when the press release was out is that our students were not the ones against the press release, rather it was the people that felt the release is not okay enough, I mean the past stakeholders.
Then, there was a bit of instigation from the students, the students also rose that it was not good enough because it is from two angles, when we told the students to go and pay, we also called on the management to do the necessary things for both NASU and SSANIP so that there will be a free lecture flow.
*With your explanation so far, should we take the suspension as though you didn’t properly defend yourself before the Students’ Representative Council when you were summoned? What will you say about the SRC’s reaction to the issue?*
You know, all I learned is that there are different dimensions to politics, The SRC summoned the students union executives for the press release and we went there, we talked to them, the way I explained to you, but you know both of us are meant to represent the interest of the students, so I just think their judgment is just to show to the students that they are capable of representing them maybe so that the students won’t feel as if we are bird of the same feather, that we are both tools from the management, so I just think they thought that way.
*Are you a tool for school management?*
I don’t know if you have heard the information, but do you know that based on this press release I have issues with the management as well and the issue is even tougher than the one with the students?
I think, in the last paragraph where we talked to the management to pay and to do the needful for NASU and all the academic staff so that we can have a free lecture flow, I was called by the Director of Students Affairs why will I be commanding the Rector to go and do such a thing.
They talked about the headline as well that we are trying to defame the school, we are presenting the Rector as somebody that is not capable in the sight of the governor, because the governor is aware of the press release, so, that is the issue I am facing with the management as well. So imagine someone being a tool to the management, how will I be facing this kind of thing?
How have you been able to cope with pressures from the students within the few days of your suspension from office?
It is normal to face pressure, even when I was not suspended, there is pressure every day, when we issued a press release that the school shuttles should transport students to school for N150 for two passengers, we had a lot of pressure then, the pressure was so much because we just assumed office then, but we don’t want to bow to pressure because what we did then is still helping us till now.
The school has a lot of plans for the students because they feel, in the course of sourcing for funds, you will always source for funds based on what you have, and what they have are the students.
Of course, we didn’t bow to the pressure of the shuttle drivers when they said they were not working anymore, so the school also felt the heat.
I didn’t feel this pressure that much but I don’t just want to listen to any questions at that moment because I don’t want people to see me as maybe I’m disappointed with the judgment of the SRC, I’m not disappointed, it is normal, they suspended me because of the students, it is not that they removed me.
*So seeing the issue of suspension coming from the students and pressure from the management, do you feel betrayed in any way?*
In politics and unionism, there is no permanent enemy, and there is no permanent friend, rather, what we have is an interest, if our interests collide we will surely be together, but if our interests are not the same, there will be disagreements, I said it earlier that I have learned new things, it is just a new dimension of politics, I don’t feel betrayed, it is normal.
*You said you represented the interest of the students in the issue that just occurred, some students do not concur with that. How do you intend to show that you did?*
I think that is the effectiveness of the PRESS CLUB MAPOLY, based on this interview, I hope and believe that the students of Moshood
Abiola Polytechnic still believes in our leadership and administration.
I said earlier that those who instigated the stuff are the past leaders so a lot of people are not yet convinced because I received a lot of calls, and chats from people saying should we invade? But I said they shouldn’t.
Even the speaker received a lot of queries but it happened. We both made mistakes, I made my mistake, he also made his mistake but everything has been resolved.
*The SRC stated that you didn’t follow the constitution and the 3 C’s of Aluta, so how do you intend to do so, now that the suspension has been lifted?*
What did the constitution say about the press release, it doesn’t concern the SRC if we are to publish any press release, it is the duty of the students union executive, you will notice that we’ve been releasing press
statements before this one, did you hear anything like we didn’t follow constitution? Did you see any press release from the SRC that why didn’t we do this or that? It is because of the issue on the ground the Yorubas would say, the good child belongs to the father while the bad child belongs to the mother.
*It is not in the constitution that the house (SRC) must be aware of our press releases, who does that?*
The only thing we can do to carry them along is just to call the speaker and inform him of what our press release is all about, that’s the way it is, but that day, I tried to call him on the phone but his phone didn’t go through, I texted him, he was not online and you know, according to what the D.S.A said, he said the penalty fee will be returned on Wednesday(16th April), he called me on Monday, and there was no school on Tuesday, I know a lot of students would have felt reluctant on that Tuesday, so, it won’t be nice if they wake up on Wednesday to hear the news that the N10,000, penalty fee has been added.
That was the reason why I insisted that my P.R.O. release the press statement. And he did it, when it was published, even all of them (SRC) saw it, and nobody talked but when the pressure started coming from outside, they started going back to reread critically.
*How do you intend to strike a balance when a conflicting issue between the management and the students arises?*
It’s part of what I learned, that you shouldn’t stay on the fence, it’s either you are for one person or against the other. In our manifesto, what we said is that we will represent the interest of the students of Moshood Abiola Polytechnic, so I don’t care about the pressure coming from the management. If I and the students of Moshood Abiola Polytechnic are on good terms, I am good to go.
