According to the Great Ife Sacrosanct constitution, there are four arms of the Council namely the Central Executive Council, the Hall Executive Council, the Students Representative Council(SRC) and the Judicial Council. The procedure of coming into office by the CEC, HEC and SRC is by receiving as many votes as possible which can be regarded as a simple majority, While the Judicial Council is by nomination on the floor of the SRC according to Article III, Section 55, subsection 1b states that ‘not less than nine(9) not more than twelve(12) members appointed by the SRC at its first business meeting’.
Meanwhile, no one came into power by luck, apart from permutation done underground with leaders in your respective faculty/department to pitch you with other faculty/department leaders, there are times aspirants go all out and make promises to voters that they will fulfil if voted into office. One of such promises is the promise of staying true to their constitutional duties.
Every elected union officer has a constitutional duty to adhere to and make sure they live by throughout their stay in office. While the union is responsible for the welfarism of students on campus, The Sacrosanct Constitution of the Great IFE Students’ Union saddled the responsibility of students’ welfarism on the union’s Welfare Officer. Article II, Section 26, sub-section 1 states that ‘The Welfare Officer shall be responsible for matters relating to the general welfare of Union guests other than academics welfare’.
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Therefore, the sole responsibility of the Welfare Officer is to see to better welfarism on campus. To make sure that students are not lacking when it comes to welfarism. While it is good to sit in an air-conditioned office, it is high time the Welfare Officer took the bull by the horns and performed his constitutional duties.
Earlier this semester, one of the major issues faced by students residing in the halls of residence was water scarcity. During this period, students find it difficult to get water for their day-to-day activities. This went on for a week and students in some halls of residence like ETF sorted for an alternative by going to the New Central market in search of water since about 5:30 am this morning. While all this happened, no official release came from the office of the Welfare Officer, who was saddled to see to the welfarism of students on campus.
Even though, sitting and enjoying AC at the Executive suite of the Ken Saro-Wiwa building is not bad, working to ensure that the main reason you are elected into office is felt is very important. A part of the constitutional duties of the Welfare Officer as stated in Article II, Section 26, sub-section 4 states that ‘He shall be responsible for the management of all Union Butteries and other Student Welfare Services. As it seems, Butteries on campus are left alone to decide and sell goods to students at the price they want without any regulation or uniformity
While this freedom goes on in the Butteries, incessant hikes and non-uniformity in prices of goods and services in Butteries in halls of residence and other stores on campus will kick off in high waves. A major example is the increase in the price list of the popular ‘As E Dey Hot’ snacks. A loud silence from the office of the Welfare Officer regarding the water scarcity was also felt in this scenario. It should be recalled this same price increase by the ‘As E Dey Hot’ vendors occurred during the Reform-led administration, and the Welfare Officer, Dada Arafat swung into action, by calling them into order and sealing off the joint until the necessary steps were taken. Till now, we do not know yet if this increase in the price of the snacks passed through the right office and was authorized by the concerned individuals.
Pasting of price lists of commodities at the Butteries of all halls of residence and other stores on campus from the office of the Welfare Officer has always been a thing at Obafemi Awolowo University campus. This is to ensure a uniform price of goods for all traders and students. Unfortunately, the Welfare Officer has not deemed it fit yet to see to the uniform price list of things on campus. Should the students start losing faith in their elected union officers? The union’s role in curbing the exploitation of students on campus by batteries in halls of residence and other stores on campus can not be over-emphasized.
Conclusively, after every report like this, the reaction from the ‘Leading Leader’, ‘Capacity Leader’ and ‘Leader Isọnu, is that do you bother to reach out him? Well, it may seem as though the Welfare Director is always too busy to respond to calls and messages. While to the ‘Leading Leader’, ‘Capacity Leader’ And ‘Leader Isọnu’, do elected officers need to be reached out after failing to fulfil their constitutional responsibilities?