By THE LASU SPORTS CRUSADE –
Religious followers of the article will recall that I rested my pen last year with a prelude into gaining admission into the prestigious Lagos State University at the of 17. I resumed lectures and the Department of political science on the 13th of October 2008. I can recall vividly that the first lecture of the session could not go on its stipulated duration as our Pol 111 lecturer DR. Paul Sewa had to discontinue the class owing to the distraction emanating from the music being played at “Abe Igi” just opposite the Law and Humanities building for the trade fair could not allow effective communication take place.
As a teenager who still had a semblance of secondary school attitude in me, I was curious about how things work in the university setting. “Like, a class can just end when school never closes”. The idea of freedom was not the main attraction for me as my dad to his knowledge felt I would far better stay with close relatives rather than stay alone. So I was made to stay with my uncle Alhaji Ademola Mustapha from who I learned a lot about the family at Satellite town.
I enjoyed my stay at Satty town up till the time that I left with brother Leke, sister Lolade, brother Abbey, Btee, and their friends making my stay fun-filled. My uncle’s wife Alhaja Adunni Mustapha saw to it that I also had more than I could spend by giving me additional cash to add up to my Dad’s already over-billed allowance. And I always had more than I could spend at all times on campus.
These extra funds will be directed to fueling my long-standing passion for the game of football and those that followed from last year will not that my passion for football was strong to the point that we had to sit down and discuss if it’s going to be academics of football academy. So I was a sportsman who has been giving admission to study political science.
After the second semester, every jambite had settled down, the first-semester result has been released. ” scholar don know himself, advice to withdraw don dey get ready”, then my godfather who was introduced to me by my late grand aunty Alhaja Yewande Talabi Jegede Ibrahim Olamilekan aka Ideology/Jegedeism introduced me to an ideological group, the Development Crusader. The main task was to wrestle department power from the President Suliamon Mojeed-Sanni aka Sanity led Change Exponents government and also maintain their hold of the faculty with SOSSA president Lateef being a member of development crusader.
After consulting widely, I declared my interest to run as faculty Sports director at the development crusader meeting somewhere in Ojo.
Logically speaking, you move from departmental politics through the faculty of the SUG. But in my case my political journey by throwing my hat in the faculty ring by contesting the post of faculty sports director.
After much anticipation and tension, the election came, and amidst protest, development crusaders cleared all seats in the department and all contest for in the faculty. Omotoyosi, Agaba, Fabulous, and my humble self booked a seat in the faculty executive.
It is worthy of note that due to the wide consultative tool that was employed Change Exponent did not field anybody to run against as they back Chukwu Chidiebere to challenge Ogabi Babatunde in the department. And even a sociology student that was contemplating a move was duly pacified. So we had a roller coaster ride into the office.
In the same electioneering period, TJ solution of change exponent led the Lasusu campaign that ushered in Leke Bakare as Lasusu president with Omotunde of Development crusader as Vice President. Shortly after the electioneering period and exams on the horizon, the school will join other institutions of higher learning to embark on a nationwide strike. We will resume months later, take exams, and resumed the next session almost immediately.
Upon resumption, as Director of sports of the social sciences students’ Association (SOSSA), I didn’t have it easy being the only 200 level student in the executive and I was still not 19 years old at the time. But I had the drive to make a change.
In my 100 level, we played the Dean’s cup to the final stage and the final match did not hold and the organization of this competition is under the purview of the sports director. This was one of the reasons I ran for office because I was positive that I could discontinue that worrying trend.
My first official assignment, after printing the official card, of course, was to constitute the SOSSA sports committee with department sports directors coming in as members. Seyon from sociology, Ogabi from Political science, Yemi from Economics, and I brought in an influential school team player Warrake Idris Abib to serve as the secretary of the committee, whose function was to execute all faculty sports programs.
We also inaugurated the SOSSA Sports advisory council on Facebook to get timely feedback from students of faculty on sports activities and potential programs. As sports director, I was able to deliver a refined SOSSA Dean’s cup, present players that won medals for the faculty in the Vice Chancellor’s cup vying in games like Volleyball, handball, badminton, Judo, and other indoor sports. These medals in the past were the birthright of the PHE department.
As all was going on, I was being courted by the publisher of Black Box magazine and leader of the Change Exponent group, Sanity. And on one faithful day editor of the Magazine Kayode Badmus offered me a role as the magazine’s sports editor. I said yes, as we were now on the same Likeminds boat and that was how sports journalism stated for me in Lasu.
At the expiration of my tenure, at a time when my contemporaries were beginning to contemplate moving into the faculty waters, it would have been a sign of political back peddling for me to think about department politics except I had it in mind to challenge Durojaiye Akeem for the seat of Napss president. Which might have also been a political suicide at the time. The reasonable option was to try and get into Lasusu reckoning.
As we well know that consultation before action has always been my style, my godfather had finished from the institution and left the frame. It was just me and the system now. So while consultant, we stumbled across a puzzle, this was the myth that had been entrenched that only PHE students can run for the post of Lasusu sports director just like only Law students can run for the legal adviser of the union. After a thorough investigation, we discovered that the original document read “Candidate for the position of sports director should have any of the following”, Be a PHE student, be a member of the school team, be a registered member of a sports team, have a sport certificate. But they interpreted it to mean the person should meet all the candidates should meet ” all” instead of “any” of the requirement.
Before the issue was settled, another PHE student and Badged Referee Olayinka Olajide aka Obama had been sworn in as Lasusu sports director alongside Layi Adebayo and his team.
As a testimony to my drive, my name was sent to the Student Parliamentary Council under the Speakership of RT hon Ibikunke Ganiyu aka G white as the secretary of the Lasusu Sports committee and was duly confirmed.
After which I will be called back by my faculty to serve for another term in office as sports director before Comrade Ayuba will also invite me to come and serve in the indigenous association of the National Union of Lagos state students (NULISS) while also yielding the call of Barr. Medemaku Abayomi Noah to serve as Sports director of the National Union of Lagos state students (NULASS).
As secretary of the sports committee, I acted in the capacity of the sports director in several cabinet meetings as I was afforded so much freedom by Olama. I chaired the extraordinary sports committee meeting where I initiated the idea of the 1st Lasusu Champions League (LCL) at the sports center in 2011.
After the expiration of that tenure, which will be followed by a rigorous campaign across all campuses, all faculties in Ojo, College of Medicine at Ikeja, Mass Communication at Ojuelegba, and Engineering at Epe. I polled second best to Badru Abdulbakki of Sciences and finished a few above Juwon of PHE. So there it was, I won the battle by breaking the PHE hegemony but lost the war as I was not the major beneficiary therefrom. The new Bakky administration also nominated me as her secretary and I was duly confirmed by the Parliament after facing another round of screening in the hollow chamber.
Many faulted the political consciousness of my contemporaries in the department of political science at the time, which was enmeshed in us by our senior colleagues as early as 100 level through our Change exponent and DC indoctrination. In the election of 2011/12 academic session being our last through of the dice, 5 of us threw our hats in the political ring. Ak wanted to be president, Revolution fancied moving from Clerk to the speaker, Badmus would like to move from Sossa PRO to Lasusu, Prinze will also battle Kogbagidi the Welfare key to the arcade, I felt I was the only experienced sports director left on campus. In the end, we won the presidency and the speakership and lost the 3 other seats in the executive.
Before considering a 3rd term ambition as the rumors had begun to hit the airwaves, a fellow political scientist, Adeyemi Emmanuel aka Pele sought my blessing to contest the election as faculty sports director which I didn’t hesitate to give and he was subsequently returned elected.
However, I still had unfinished business with Nuliss and Nulass, so I returned to the unions for a 2nd term in office. So in my 400 level, I was a 2nd term Secretary of the sports committee, 2nd term Nuliss sports director, and 2nd term Nulass sports director.
For a change, in my final semester on campus, under the speakership of Rt hon. Adelaja Adekunle, I was nominated, screened, and confirmed by the Student Representative Council (SRC) as the Chairman of the 2012/13 SOSSA electoral committee. As chairman, and with the support of other electoral committee members, we delivered a free, fair, and credible election and swore in the next set of executives and Parliament.
Also in the final semester after dating the sports center for years, I decided to get a glimpse of an actual relationship outside the sports center. This would lead to an experiment in 5 relationships, the last of which was captured in my final year research work ” Politics of rural development in Odi Olowo/Ojuwoye LCDA and duly assessed by Prof. Sylvester Ahkaine Odion.
Also worthy of note is the near-death experience at Akesan in the middle of this experiment, where I was rescued by an indigent colleague Aberuagba on the afternoon.
I penned my Ink on a Lasu examination paper for the last time on the 9th of November 2012 and signed out on the same day. Convocation was held on the 20th of February, 2013, and then came posting for Youth Service. I reported to camp on the 5th of March 2013.
A SPORTS AMBASSADOR AS A YOUTH CORPER
El nino, just like every “otondo” at the favored serving in the southwest region of Nigeria. But as faith would have it, on getting to students’ affairs “Na God’s own State Abia we see for there”. And then we embarked on the 9 hours journey that later became 15 hours during to the bus driver’s lack of the geography of the area.
We first got to the NYSC office in Ummuahia before proceeding to the Umunna Bende NYSC camp.
The disappointment of being posted to Abia was gradually disappearing after linking up with my homeboy, Tijani Olakanmi Sherif at the Jibowu park. We would later become bunkmates as our state codes are not far from each other. On getting to camp we discovered that over a hundred Lasuiates had been posted to Abia and we immediately made the Bende camp a Lasu annex.
After all the formalities and all, youth corp members were being seconded to their area of interest. As expected, I was in the circle of Coach, Aunty Christy, and the Camp sports coordinator. In an extraordinary election, which I contested against a former from Delta state, I won to emerge Sports Director of the 2013 Batch A, Umuanna Bende camp. In that committee we had Doyin Salami, Oyinyechi, Another Doyin that attended covenant, and my comrade from lasu Salam, Our task was to coordinate sports activities in camp.
I can remember vividly that I withdrew out of my feeding allowance to buy materials for the inter platoon football championship. We also organized an indoor sports competition for corp members who were less enthusiastic about football. There was also an inter platoon tennis competition. Just like it was yesterday, I still remember scoring the deciding spot-kick to win bronze for 2 platoons in the football competition and also securing sliver for my platoon in the 100 meters dash.
Another valuable experience was the language interchange between myself and Oyinyechi, a member of the sports committee from Enugu state. She will teach me Igbo and I will teach her yoruba. I had to discontinue the class “as she don dey yarn proverb and I never hear kala”.
On posting, I was erroneously posted to Ikwano, a border local government to the capital, I was lucky enough that one of the camp sports committee officials aunty Christy was the Local Government inspector. So she used her good office to permit me to link up with my colleagues in the sports CDS in Umuahia North.
There I was, a member of the MDG CDS in Ikwano and a member of the Sports CDS in Umuahia.
The sports CDS train and do meeting at the Umuahia Township Stadium and our NYSC ID card was enough to grant us entry into the stadium on match days when either of Abia Warriors or Abia Comets were playing.
At Atom Na Ebo Technical Secondary School, my place of primary assignment (PPA) I was very close to my students because the age gap wasn’t much and I was the only government teacher in the whole senior secondary school.
I equally performed an ambassadorial role by leveraging on the good office of my flatmate Oses, who was posted to the research institute at Umudike to facilitate the release of graders to get the school field in shape and led the bamboo hunt to be used for the goal post. Ebuka, my class governor, Austin the sports prefect, Ozioma Glory in SS1, Ifeanyi and assisted enormously. In time, it became the only reason students waited for afternoon lessons. As we can only play after afternoon lesson.
As the leader of those who plans will have It after completing my task as the chairman of the Electoral committee after the Batch C corp members passed out, while training for the DG’s cup I suffered a relapse on the knee injury I sustained while training for the Lagos tertiary games with the Lasu school team in 2010. A condition that will require an arthroscopic surgery at Igbobi and will later result in relocation.
On hearing that I have been relocated to the State of Osun, a trusted brother from my days at the Ikwano lodge volunteered to follow me down to his home town Osun. He will ride me from his base in Ede to the NYSC office in Osogbo to complete my registration. Alfa was just a blessing to him, he didn’t go back to Abia until I had sorted my accommodation and all I had to do was send money from lag and all home appliances has been gotten after I returned from my surgery, he came to pick me from the park. Took me home, slept a night or so, and, proceed to Abia.
Again in Osogbo, I was the only government teacher in the school, the culture was different as the osogbo students were more difficult to manage. I was on crutches while our school was relocated from Oke on it where I had secured accommodation to Ansar ul deen, testing ground, Osogbo.
My cousin will come visiting from Ila orogun where she was schooling in compthe any of her friends to give me good food to eat and at times I will take a short trip to Ile ife to visit my longtime friend and colleague Sunminayo Idris Adedoja.
I rejoined the MDGs CDS in Olorunda local government and became an active member almost immediately. I dropped my crutched after the recommended 16 weeks in November and we had our passing out parade on the 14th of February 2014. On a Valentine’s it was.
To be continued…
