After three years of the proscription of student unionism in Obafemi Awolowo University,Ile-ife.
President elect, Ibikunle Isaac Motunrayo in an exclusive interview with an undergraduate Law student in OAU, Damilola Towobola(Spice) speaks about his emergence, action plans and clears allegations amongst many propagandas levelled against him. Enjoy the excerpt
QUES: I will like to congratulate you for the feat at the poll, so who and who does the glory go to?
IBK: First to God, my family then great ife Students in general.
QUES: You coasted to a landslide victory, are you saying you have no Godfathers?
IBK: Actually I don’t have Godfathers. They know I am an independent comrade and I have a lot of other independent comrades who are aligning and also share the dreams that our union be brought out of the hands of oppressors of hypocrites. Now, we are talking about progressives…we are getting there.
QUES: As a one time hall chairman and Press committee member, where did the urge to contest for the top office emerge…Like some feelers, Ibikunle is a “Management Boy”?
IBK: I started having problems with certain individuals because I refused to join their caucus. I am an independent comrade and it is very unusual for you to be on OAU campus; be an independent comrade and still emerge winner at the poll…its very unusual but it’s the grace of God, integrity and my confidence. So that’s been what has been keeping me, I cannot belong to this caucus. (Cuts…Who are these cabals?)
I won’t want to mention them, but OAU students know them. I am a liberal and I believe in my ideology. I believe that you give people the opportunity to have their independence; to have their liberty and to maintain their welfare themselves.
QUES: Were you at any point in time given the same hostel twice?
IBK: Actually as regards the issue of hostel, it happened in AWO hall a day before our election, when the propagandist wrote the article and an argument ensued and where to their chagrin; to their failure it was revealed that even am squatting in Awo hall and I have only used a year in Awo hall.
However, these individuals are staying in medical floor alone in places where four students can stay.
They are just hypocrites… (Cuts…so what is your administration going to do to correct this ills?)
Actually that’s left to the person allocating spaces; that is left to the management. The room am staying, am squatting; the one am staying as a squatter, I am squatting under squatters…very funny. I think the file is there, I challenged them to go and check the porter’s book and they checked it and found out the truth.
QUES: What should Great Ife students expect from your administration?
IBK: Just like during my campaign, I promised great ife student and the generation unborn, constructive agitation with developmental leadership and constructive agitation would mean agitation that will bring results. It is one thing for you to go into a struggle and it is another thing for you to go into that struggle and get result for your people, the problem we have now is not about the cause we are fighting for but the methodology and the mechanisms with which we are achieving the cause and my mechanism is going to be different. Secondly, the issue of development leadership, I don’t believe in positional leadership. I believe in leadership that brings development to the students and that is where we are executing a lot of project; internal transport system is one of them; the issue of Great Ife App is one of them; documentation of the history of the Union is one of them…they are in my manifestoes, you can consult them.
QUES: The AWE action plan, can it be achieved within the spate of your administration?
IBK: Yes…Ibikunle will never promise what he cannot do. These are not just mere wishes they were product of deliberate and adequate consultation with the stakeholder’s faculties and departments before coming up with the agenda. They are not just personal wishes, they are things people are yearning for and they are things we have scrutinised and subjected to various analysis.
QUES: Most people are of the opinion that you look so cool, you cannot lead a struggle. Isn’t this flatulent?
IBK: It depends on what we mean by struggle. Student union struggle has only been confined to terrestrial struggle, what about the intellectual struggle? It is high time comrades’ start going sophisticated with their struggle; it is not just about protest alone but the mechanism in achieving the protest; in winning people over. What is the media doing about the Union…the media is not in our side, the public is not in our side yet we are fighting struggle. We can never win if we continue that way; these are the constructive ways which we will be leading the union now.
QUES: Have you stretched an olive of friendship to the other aspirants?
IBK: Sure! As for me I believe that before election there maybe division but after the election there should be unity, it is the union even despite the propaganda I have called a lot of people; we have been meeting even co-aspirants and the underground sycophants. Have been meeting a lot of people and we are working together, only those people that do not want to work with us…am a peaceful person.
QUES: Recently, you got nominated for Oscar Awards, “Most Influential” student on OAU campus…where do you see yourself in the next five years?
IBK: I was nominated as “Most Influential” but I didn’t win the award but I must tell you that if I had been nominated as “Most Popular”, I would not have accepted it. As a leader I don’t believe in prominence rather I believe in significance so when I saw the “Most influential”, I knew that this fits me. It’s just my principle. In the next five years, we are going to outside politics but let’s finish this one first before we start talking about it.
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