By Tao Bakare.
It is a major among equals, the privilege I once had to be a member of Tolhue Analyst led Legal committee, of recent past.
It was indeed most unusual of me to have wanted to outrightly reject the offer from the former legal director himself. After several pleas and consultations, I agreed to serve.
Before been selected to serve in this capacity, as a member of the committee I have pursued the improvement of my writing skills via several media publishing platforms both on and off-campus, for instance, Sahara Reporters, Tribune Newspapers, Premium Times, OOU Premium, Campus Mirror, etc.
Instead of inadvertently focusing my attention on serving in this esteemed capacity, I ensured that the time I spent on writing didn't 'smudge' with effectively performing the role I was attached with. Surely, if there was a written paper on the first meeting I attended as a member of the legal committee under Tolhue Analyst, it will attest to this fact.
Publicly supporting Ajose Joshua ( josejosh) as Assistant General Secretary of the Law Students Society, OOU against the mandate of Ogundipe Abisola Hikmah in this same regard, I did not realise until very much later, had left a grudge existing in Abisola Hikmah against myself.
So I think it rather unfortunate that after I wrote an article published on OOU Premium, addressing the issues or ugly plight of students during that time, which included; harassment of students by security officers at the gate, students been delayed to attend classes based on flimsy offences/excuses. I was immediately summoned by Tolhue Analyst, dictating that he's acting on reports submitted by Abisola Hikmah, that I had eroded my loyalty to the government by speaking for the students community against the SUG community, while serving under the latter.
Not surprised, I responded calmly to the phone call, in which the recorded version is still very much available, explaining my side of the story. In the end, the Legal Director informed me that the SUG following the advice of the Legal Committee will no longer be needing my service as that phone call, that cool evening ended that charade, which I wasn't quite interested in, in the first place.
Until the next morning, several calls came into my phone, from the 'big' names there is in OOU politics, including one very honourable one from the now incumbent SUG President, Comrade Pablo, aligning with me on the issue and raising my attention to the ugly political order that already exists in the OOU SUG polity.
More ashamed of the fact that playing a fair political game, made my own classmate/colleague snitch on me and ratted me out to the then SUG Presidency and most especially the Legal committee under Tolhue.
Very much more recently, an occasion similar to that happened, where, while I was already serving as secretary to the OOU LSS Financial Committee, awaiting my official appointment letter after been picked to serve by the incumbent president.
Two of my classmates who were disgruntled by this development including the incumbent LSS PRO confused the LSS President to oust me in that capacity in which I was already working on some assignments, after having already sat in private meetings with the President more than three times.
It was a show of shame, receiving a DM on WhatsApp from the incumbent PRO cunningly stating; "so you are the secretary of that committee, it's okay too, LOL, wait and see". A few moments after, I got one from the head of LSS, stating in a very brilliant tone; "I did not know that you are also aspiring to be LSS President, I am sorry, I will have to relieve you, however, Tao, you are still my man".
I would have loved to continue writing, but my paper is full already.
Yours sincerely,
Tao Bakare,
Former Member, Law Students Parliamentary Council (LSPC), Member, Founder, The Critique ( Publisher).
Disclaimer: This article is solely of the Writer. Hence, it does not represent Campus Mirror or its Editors in any way.
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