UISU 2024 PRESS CONFERENCE: A REFLECTION ON THE PAST, PRESENT AND THE FUTURE

     The University of Ibadan's Student Union recently released an announcement stating that they were calling for a press conference, held on the 14th of this month at 5:00 pm. An avenue to brief the university community on the affairs of the student Union: The achievements, the challenges and the plans going forward. The press night itself did not kick off until 5:16 pm when the Public Relations Officer, Adeona "2Tancos" Oluwatosin, opened the meeting. He had all the pressmen pass the microphone around and did a brief self-introduction. There were representatives from nearly every hall, ladies and gentlemen of the press were equally present. Also, in attendance were Faculty Representatives, and the Union of Campus Journalists had her President, Oluwatobi Odeyinka, present as well.

     The president of the Union, Samson “HOST” Oluwatobiloba Samuel, the Vice president, Ogunsesan Nafisat, the House secretary Oluwole “Sanjay” Ayomide Joy and Olalekan Mojuba, the Assistant General Secretary, were present along with the aforementioned PRO. The President began by giving a peek into the achievements of the Student Union so far. He mentioned, among other things, that the current administration began on July 4, 2023, and was holding the first Student Union press conference in a long time. He stated that the current administration had done a lot toward student welfare, including liaison with outside organizations for skill training, an increase in the awarding of bursaries to indigent Students, the purchase of a Union bus and others. He also remarked that the union was aware of the health challenges posed by the non-functional Jaja Hospital and that the Union Executives were working on it.

  The questioning session began with Pressmen and other attendees asking questions on the insights provided by the SU President, and on allegations levelled against the Union and some members of its Executive Council. Unfortunately, while many cogent issues were asked, most importantly by the UCJ Editor on the closure of the students’ portal right before the disbursing of the said student bursary and money laundering by a Union Leader, the executives fielded unsatisfactory answers that only aggravated most pressmen present and nearly devolved the entire meeting into an argument. However, the SU president did comment on their effort on making the portal accessible to student that were unable to pay their tuitions. He also spoke on the possibility of a reduction in the attached late fee payment.

Not so satisfied about the turn of event, The president of the Union of Campus Journalists gave an extemporaneous speech on the stand of the Union of Campus Journalists. On behalf of the Union of Campus Journalists, the UCJ president stated that the executives had put in some effort but needed to be better. He stated that there exists a social contract between the executives and the members of the union, the students. He further stated that this social contract is voided because of a lacuna between what the executives say and what the students see; like how they said no one should pay laboratory fees because they could not be stopped from writing exams based on it, or how nothing had been done about increased fees, and how the buses for General Studies (GES) examinations were not available for even 20% of those that needed them. Finally, he stated that until the union started making serious moves to bridge this void, the union would not move forward significantly. He stated that the whole press conference issue was very disrespectful to many press members as the number of pressmen present was greater than the entire guild of editors numbering about 26, while the Student Union executives present numbered five at the beginning and four at the end, this out of a total eight elected executives.

Conclusively, The SU President gave some closing remarks where he paid homage to the Pressmen and observers for honoring the invitaton by the Student Union, and also for their effort at effecting transparency and accountability via excellent campus journalism. Sequel to this, the program was brought to a halt around 7:00pm.

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