As Team Indelible Impact prepares to officially bid farewell to the Students’ Union Building, their impact on the maintenance culture of the renovated and refurbished Ken Saro Wiwa Building will go down the lane as a memorable one to always warn the successor to desist from. The deterioration of the Students’ Union building and the lack of a proper maintenance culture are apparent and striking – from aesthetics to furniture, electrical to utilities.
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The Ken Saro Wiwa Building was renovated and refurbished in 2022, and was commissioned on November 12, 2022 with President Muhammadu Buhari’s Chief of Defense, in attendance. The commissioning of the building in 2022 marked the first time the Ken Saro Wiwa Building underwent a complete facelift, sponsored by Army General, Lucky Irabor an alumnus of Obafemi Awolowo University. However, the renovated building has only been in use for less than two years but it is already showing signs of wear and tear as a result of improper usage and inadequate maintenance culture.
Broken chairs, damaged office plates, exposed circuit breaker boxes, and tampered wiring circuit characterize the current state of the Ken Saro Wiwa Building. The current state of the conference room which was furnitured with enough chairs can only boast of little to none, maybe scraps. The general toilets in the SUB have been inaccessible for an extended period due to a filled soakaway, with no resolution from the Students’ Union Executives who happen to be in charge of the building. This lack of maintenance has significantly affected students who rely on these facilities. Additionally, the executive toilets are in poor condition, with missing inner roofing parts exposing internal pipes.
This raises a significant concern for the Students’ Union Executives as per the Great Ife Students’ Union constitution, section 54, which states, ‘The Union building shall be maintained by the Central Executive Council, which shall make necessary allocations, partition and adornment when and where necessary’. It is troubling that the outgoing welfare director, Folakan Paul, had no response when contacted last semester by ACJOAU regarding the non-functional general toilets at the union building, In his words, ‘I don’t owe ACJ anything’. Also, at the Press confrontational debate night for the 2024 Central Executives Council aspirants that held on Monday, June 24, attendees would have observed Alo Anthony, the outgoing Assistant Secretary-General, and was an aspirant for the office of the Secretary-General, admitting that he has not paid attention to anything concerning SUB besides its physical structure.
This totally boils down to the incompetency of the Union Executives if they cannot take adequate care of the Union building and properties in it and in the office they occupy, how much more the welfarism of the students they are expected to work and fight for, which was nothing to write about.
Properties in Shambles Despite Generating Revenue from Building
Despite generating revenue from the Students’ Union Building, more properties continue to get damaged without repair consecutively leading to dumping around the building. Broken chairs are littered around the building, they can even be seen in places as far as Oduduwa Hall.
PHOTO STORY: The ‘Impact’ of the ‘Team Indelible Impact’ on the Ken Saro Wiwa Building pic.twitter.com/A2706LIpSF
— The Association of Campus Journalists (ACJ) OAU (@Official_ACJOAU) July 7, 2024
It should be noted that revenues generated from the building include all the shops at the Students’ Union Building, usage of the SUB Car Park for various forms of events, renting of the Chukwusa Dennis TV Room for any kind of activities as well as placement of banner at the front of the Students’ Union Building.
One then begins to wonder what these funds are used for as they are to be collected into the Students’ Union account.
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These instances collectively indicate a lack of concern from the executives regarding the upkeep of the Students’ Union building. The improper sustenance of essential facilities reflects the poor leadership entrusted with its care.