Students' Union Government Leaders And Their 'Kasamaje' Veri-Similtitude: A Call For Total Rebranding

When the former US president, John F. Kennedy said: "Oh you fellow country men, do not think of what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country”, he must have known that a day will come when people will no longer feel disturbed about what they can do to contribute meaningfully to the development of their country. In the light of the above, it behoves upon me as a man who fights for freedom and for the oppressed, to call for a total rebranding of student union government in our institutions today.

There is no better time for me to draw back the attention of our leaders in students' union politics other than now, most especially when they no longer fight for students' rights but focus blatantly on their own selfish interest. Without any scintilla of doubt, the voices of students' leaders should be the voice of the students.

The only way to call for total rebranding of every facet and dimension of operation in students' unionism is to create an atmosphere that is conducive for criticism and correction, and this can be done only when these student leaders are ready to represent the interests of students as it is expected of them, and not vice versa.

As I stated in my Facebook post on 5 February, 2016 "To truly foster unionism in the student union government in Nigerian institutions, the student leaders must create an atmosphere that is conducive for criticism, violent free protest and represent the union for students, not representing the students for union”.

Taking a proper look at the past and present Nigerian student leaders, there is a need for us to learn from them before looking at the future. Gone are the days when student union leaders were activists, freedom fighters, liberators and agents of hope for the hopeless masses. The way the present day student union leaders in Nigerian institutions go about fighting for their own selfish interests and embezzling students' funds has turned out to be an insult to the past glories of student union government and activism. The leaders of today have lost their integrity and personality because of little incentives, gifts and tokens.

I am hereby sounding an alarm of danger and calamity if proper care is not taken to revive and restore the ideals of student unionism as it used to be. It is quite unfortunate that student leaders today are not ready to work in line with the past glories of SUG, but are flagrantly making frantic attempts to bring it down to the grave of destiny, and this will likely be the case if we do not make the necessary corrections and call back the attention of our leaders.

Without any iota of doubt, the students' politics of today is a practical reflection of what we see happening to our leaders in Nigeria, the implication being that Nigeria in few years to come may not have better political leaders. This is obviously because the current politics in our institutions is simply reproducing the same type of politicians we see in our society today. The likes of Lanre legacy, Segun Okeowo, Adeola Soetan, and George Iwilade Afrika cannot be easily forgotten in the history of students' unionism in Nigeria.

They are men with the heart of a prince, the valour of a king and undoubting strength of a laureated warrior. These union leaders were purely idealists and firebrands that suffered all manner of maltreatments and yet remained adamant, insisting on fighting for the right of students.

These are the type of leaders we want, men that will sacrifice their time, wealth, strength and life to build the legacy and dignity of student unionism and restore her values and glories. But instead, or rather sadly, our leaders of today have learned the habit of accumulating wealth, buying cars and houses with students' union funds, and worst of all, using their offices as a means of luring and preying on naive female students.

In conclusion, the union leaders today should not, at any point in time, go against the main objectives of independent unionism, which focus on transparency, accountability and hard work. These are the standing legacies left by our past heroes.

They should know that they were given the mandate not because they are the best among all but because destiny wants it to be. They should show appreciation through their unalloyed commitment, doing what is expected of them; this will make them productive, resourceful and end up becoming a hero.

ALUTA CONTINUA, VICTORIA ASCERTA.