It is no news that OLANIYI OPEYEMI ENIOLA is contesting for the position of the Faculty of Arts Students’ Association’s
(FASA) President and just like someone quoted – “There is no HOPE without Vision”,
so I have decided to share my VISION with Fasaites. However, need be told that
this is not ALL I plan to effect as the President if elected because I believes
no
one is an island, and I am open to suggestions (in fact, many of these
ideas were gotten from Fasaites).
The whole essence of every association is
to see to the Welfare of its members, and how then can a student association
optimally carries this out if not in the area of ACADEMICS, which is the main
reason why we are here in the first place. The numero uno reason why we are Fasaites is to bag a Bachelor of Arts
Degree in either Creative Arts (Music, Theatre, Visual), English
(Language/Literature), European Languages (French/Russian), History &
Strategic Studies, Linguistics, African & Asian Studies
(Chinese/Igbo/Yoruba) or Philosophy. So, FASA under my leadership has the
following in mind FOR NOW concerning academics:
- Institutionalisation of Tutorials: FASA will work hand in hand with the Faculty Management and Departmental Association to ensure that advantages presented by tutorials are fully maximised. The cases of no classes for tutorials will be a thing of the past because the faculty officers are going to be carried along. Also, the job has the made easier by the commencement of the Work Study Programme 2 (a programme set up by the university’s management where student-tutors will be paid for taking their colleagues tutorial) next session.
- Creation of Mentorship Scheme: This scheme is aimed at helping students on low grades. These students will be linked up will their colleagues (same class or higher class) who will not only help them in their academics by personally teaching them but also help build self confidence.
- Semester-long Overnight Reading Session: The administration will not wait for the usual 2-weeks-to-exams overnight session but will ensure that starting from the fifth week of the semester, a class in the faculty will be opened for overnight. This idea came to fore from my experience as the Welfare Secretary when students will walk up to me or call me to know if they can get a class opened for overnight reading. A committee will be set-up to ensure the success of this plan because the Dean will only approve it if he is sure that there will be someone on ground to ensure decorum and security, so this committee will be in charge of the running of the opened class(es). However, interested Fasaites will have to register and a tag will be issued to them to avoid ‘harassment’ from the porters.
This administration is also going to look
beyond the academic welfare of Fasaites but will tap into the schemes that are
already on ground on campus to augment the comfort of Fasaites. Schemes like:
- Work Study Programmes (WSP): As of now,
there is only on Work Study Programme where students with at least a CGPA of
3.0 (this means those in year one that session cannot participate but those
currently in year one and will be in year two next session can participate,
however, DE students cannot participate) will apply at the Counselling and
posted to different offices on campus. For example, I am currently
participating in this semester’s own (it is on semester basis) and I was posted
to the Main Library. But from next session, there will another one for
student-tutors (this was stated earlier). This programme often last for 10
weeks and does not only put twenty thousand naira (
N20,000) in your account but gives you work experience and exposure.
- Student Support Programme (SSP): This is a
scheme that is aimed at assisting indigent students who are experiencing financial
problem. Just like WSP, interested students will also apply at the Counselling
Unit and will also face a panel of interviewers and if successful would be
assigned for a free meal per day and paid an indigent endowment scholarship of
twenty thousand naira (
N25,000).
- FASA Support Food Pack: We will also look inward and source for money from financially buoyant Fasaites to provide foodstuffs for our not-too-buoyant colleagues.
The Faculty’s appellate are Faculty
of Letters and Faculty of Intellectuals, so, the
association is going to ensure that these appellate are fully displayed. In
view of this, I present to you the following:
- Reviving of FASA Press: During the 2014/15 Seun Ogunnubi-led (Senator) administration where the current President, Ilesanmi Samson (Samkol) was the Public Relations Officer (P.R.O.), he created FASA Press, however, this lovely innovation was not sustained, this I intend to revive to create an avenue for Fasaites to showcase their creativity. Essays, poems, short stories, articles, cartoons, drawings etc. will be published on weekly/bi-weekly basis.
- Creation of FASA Journal: Unlike the FASA Press which is more focused on creativity, this journal will focus on the scholarly ingenuity of Fasaites. The idea I have of the journal is one where papers will be accepted from all Federal Universities in the South-West Region and made to pass through Peer Review which will validate it as a standard journal. A name for this journal will be decided by Fasaites.
I also acknowledge the essence of frequent
communication between those in power and the people. The FASA Press will give
the administration a medium to reach out to the students but would not provide
any medium for feedback, so, the following channels are in consideration and
will be functional:
- Official FASA Twitter Handle
- Official FASA Instagram Handle
- Official FASA E-mail Address
- Official FASA Blog
- Opinion/Suggestion Boxes in the faculty.
The popular saying – ‘all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy’, is one I conform to.
So, the social activities are not going to be left behind. The statutory events,
FASA
Baptism/Orientation, Barbeque/Asun/Suya/Pomo/ Night, Dinner & Awards Night,
are going to hold but what will make it special is the involvement of Fasaites
in the planning stages. The following are also part of my plan:
- Excursion to a Neighbouring Country/Southern Nigerian State: An excursion trip either to one of our West African brothers or a South-South state is on the plate. However, this is subject to the ratification of Fasaites at the first congress billed for the 3rd/4th week of resumption.
- FASA Got Talents + Mr. & Miss FASA: It is appalling that there is no such programme for a faculty enriched with talents; this is going to change if I become President. The talent show is going to be incorporated with the Mr. & Miss. FASA Pageantry.
As youths, sporting activities is needed,
not just for the fun but for the health advantages. The administration is one
that will be keen about sports. These are some of the plans:
- Rebranding of the Dean’s Games: If you noticed, I did not tag it Dean’s Cup, so, the games will not just focus on football but also pay attention to other sports like Basketball, Volleyball, Tennis, Long Jump, Athletics etc. In view of this, the winner of the Dean’s Game will not be decided as usual, rather, the Olympic format will be employed where the Winner will be determined by who wins the highest number of gold. As stated earlier, Fasaites will also determine if this change will be adopted. The incentives for the winners will be encouraging.
- Creation of a FASA League: A 12-15 week League is part of my plan. This league will allow Fasaites to form a team of their choice comprising of strictly Fasaites, however, the players can be picked from any department. For example, if TeamHope is a team in the league, it can consist of 2 players from Philosophy, 3 from European Languages and 3 from Creative Arts. For now, this league is favoured to be 5-a-side. Fridays and Saturdays/Sundays are the expected days the matches will be played and will not be played on the hard court but on the standard 5-a-side pitch beside the Main Bowl of the Sports Centre. This will be achieved by getting sponsors on board and the top 3 teams will be rewarded handsomely.
The administration will also carry out
some physical projects, some of which are:
- Putting of Room Number Tags on the Classroom Doors.
- Provision of Charging Sockets at the Etisalat Centre.
- Changing of the Bad White Boards.
The aforementioned are wonderful ideas
that can only be achieved with your support. So, I humbly requested that come
September 27, 2016, you should all come out and vote OLANIYI OPEYEMI ENIOLA as FASA President. However, these can only be
done if you have paid you FASA due, so, find your way to FASA Secretariat and
pay your dues.
Need be told that suggestions, questions
and opinions are welcomed, I can be reached on hope4fasa2017gmail.com, twitter @hope4fasa and
on whatsapp – 08138089245
#HOpe4FASA
#Hope2016
#OpeisCompetent
#Ope4FASAPresident
#WeDontBegForVotes
#WeWorkForVotes
#LetsGo
#TeamHope
#hope4fasa
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