The Moshood Abiola Polytechnic, MAPOLY, Students’ Union Government, SUG, elections, once a vibrant arena for student leadership, are now plagued by low voter turnout, unopposed candidates, and lingering controversies, signaling a worsening political system that has left students disillusioned and the union’s relevance in question.
The cracks started in 2012 when the union’s election degenerated into violence, resulting in the expulsion of 14 students and a temporary ban of the SUG by the school management. Reports of attempted rigging and alleged government interference degraded the credibility of the process.
After 5 years, when the ban was lifted in 2017, the introduction of e-voting was heralded as progress, but technical glitches and disputes turned the exercise into a stalemate, underscoring inefficiencies that eroded trust.
A repeat of institutional control surfaced in 2019, when elections were canceled midway, with management citing security concerns as candidates traded blame.
The return of elections in 2021 seemed like a fresh start. Babatunde Ganiyu Adeola, Babs, won by a landslide, with management even declaring a lecture-free day to boost participation.
Yet beneath the surface, voter turnout remained weak, and opposition was minimal. The pattern repeated in 2022, when Ajani Sodiq Damilola, Optimum, emerged as the 36th SUG President, the election saw massive security deployments but was under weighed by shallow engagement.
In 2023, Babatunde Hezekiah, Easy, became the President in another smooth but largely uncontested race.
By 2024, cracks widened again. Postponed polls, low turnout in the Students Representatives’ Council , SRC election, and a controversy over Hezekiah Babatunde’s lingering claim to the presidency revealed a governance vacuum. In late 2024, September, Oladele Prosper, Chemical, became the 39th president of the union, seeing even more low turn out of voters.
When elections held in March 2025, the outcome was obvious , Isaac Ogunlana was declared the 40th SUG President-elect with 550 votes, but every candidate ran unopposed. Rather than a democratic contest, the exercise had become a formality.
These patterns reflect a declining vibrancy in MAPOLY’s student politics, where fear of repercussions, low engagement, and uncompetitive races undermine representation.
If MAPOLY’s student democracy is to regain credibility, reforms must be student-led and student-owned.
The union needs mechanisms that encourage participation, ensure transparency, and protect students from undue interference.
Management, for its part, must act as a neutral guarantor, not a player in the game. It should, through its councillor, make more publicity and interactions with students about politics, encouraging them to lead while in school before going into the “market”.
Student democracy should not be about survival; it should be about representation, accountability, and vibrancy.
Kudos to who wrote this. 💪💓
This is a beautiful piece moving forward, the SUG is another catastrophe led by the school councilor himself, he’s the architect of all this