B'don: The Underrated Political Gladiator

Sen. Imam AbdulQuadri also known as B'don, was the 30th Senate President of the Student Union Senate Council, University of Ilorin.

He is from the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine. On the surface, he strikes the eye as a fragile egg but his content is in tandem with the saying, a book should never be judged by its cover. This assertion will be proved later in this piece.

Recall that during his reign in Council, evidence abound of the series of direct and indirect interference in the affairs of the House by the school management. Under his watch, the course of some House sittings was redirected by the power that be in order to forestall actions capable of invoking grave consequences.

The general notion most students have is that the Senate Council is a toothless bulldog that barks but can't bite. Generally, some have tagged the House as a composition of whistleblowers, grammarians, and self-styled orators— yes, but just that, with no real action.

No doubt, the B'don led Senate Council achieved some remarkable feats such as orderliness at the school park, fair conduct of oversight, effective information dissemination, et cetera. However, other critical issues like compulsory bandwidth, indiscriminate bank charges, poor condition of public hostels, and sanctioning of erring members of the Central Executive Council leaves much to be seen.

For example, what particular result did the joint action between the Central Executive Council, Faculty Presidents and members of the Senate Council yield? What about the high powered meeting between the school management and student representatives? Did the school management change its stance on GNS 312? Did the school management implement those fine suggestions given them by the student leaders during the so-called stakeholder's meeting?

Was MC Peperenpe sanctioned for his irresponsible behaviour on the day of Student Union Officials Media Chat? Did Eminent transmit a second letter to the House seeking leave to attend a certain workshop in Lagos and by implication, officially transfer the reigns of power to the Vice President? The list goes on and on, ad infinitum.

A possible reason for the perceived ineptitude of the House under review was the alleged dearth of political and mental stamina of Sen. B'don to brave the storm whenever it erupts. Some believed he lacked the needed self-confidence or courage to protect the interest of students.

Well, it appears Sen. B'don must have turned the table against his critics by virtue of the incidence that unfolded on 31st August at the university auditorium.

On that fateful day, the student populace saw, firsthand, the undaunted spirit of comradeship in this gentleman. It was a day he held onto a position that didn't go down well with representatives of the school management.

31st August was the inauguration of the 31st President (arguably) of the Student Union. At the same time, it marked the last sitting of Sen. Imam AbdulQuadri as the 30th President of the Senate Council; it was a day he proved his critics wrong.

How was he able to do this? On that day, a certain Senator was asked to vacate his seat among his colleagues for allegedly impersonating someone else. The bone of contention was that his name and matriculation number didn't appear on the official list of the Independent Students' Electoral Commission (ISEC). As usual, the University Management were the ones calling the shots at this point.

They insisted the indicted senator would not partake in the inaugural sitting and general elections. Amidst all this, members of the new Senate Council were at sea as regards the actual issue on ground, nor did the Senate President draw their attention to anything specific.

However, the indicted senator made his case that he truly was the owner of the matric number and that the mistake was not his but ISEC's. A determined University Management would have none of that and stuck to its guns. In fact, the ID card of the alleged senator was seized temporarily.

As a result, House sitting took a rather Topsy-Turvy turn as no real solution was yet in sight. In a bid to break the ice, it took the boldness of a senator to invoke a point of order of which he drew the attention of the Senate President to a provision of the Student Union Constitution. His position, it would seem, captured the concerns of most senators in Council.

The position was simple: they maintained that it was wrong for a senator who had taken oath of allegiance to be asked to vacate his seat summarily, and that if at all such should happen, the Council ought to be notified officially.

Congressmen couldn't hide their excitement over the stance of the Senate Council. The stage was split into two: university management versus students, with the latter insisting that the expelled senator be allowed to participate in the inaugural sitting and general House elections.

You can imagine how tense the atmosphere was and how pensive most senators were for daring to challenge the position of the Oracle of Student Affairs. It was during this controversial situation that B'don proved his onion's worth.

He aligned himself with his colleagues and ruled in favour of the motion that the embattled senator should resume his seat. Worthy of mention was the statement he said before banging his gavel. "As at now, I remain the Senate President, the position of the House is final..." he said.

This led to a closed door session between the Senate Council and the school management. The matter was resolved amicably with two senators apologising for misleading the House. In the end, the elections held peacefully and the new principal officers emerged.

It is instructive to note that Sen. Imam is not a graduating student. When he made that statement, he was certain that his conscience was free and believed the cause of the House was just. The collective resolve of the Council bolstered his courage to withstand the pressure of that moment.

This is notwithstanding the fact that there were some alleged threats from some quarters on him and the entire House. In spite of this, he still went on to do what he believed was just and fair.

And that is the whole idea behind this editorial: true comradeship is not measured by sweet words but by action. B'don, though an experienced parliamentarian, is a man of few words. He does his talking through his action and this hidden fact about him was revealed on 31st August.

We do not intend to incite student leaders to disrespect the school management in any way. This editorial is not designed to glorify and encourage civil disobedience.

However, for the first time in a long while, students witnessed for themselves, an uncompromising leader in the person of Sen. Imam AbdulQuadri. Such move will definitely send a strong message to the school management that though the Student Union may be subservient to the school system, interfering in its affairs however, has its limits.

The ball is now in the court of the new Senate Council to ensure that mutual respect is engendered in the relationship between the Union and the school management.

This is an editorial of the Union of Campus Journalists (UCJ), University of Ilorin Chapter, Ilorin, Kwara State.

By: Osuji Chima Francis

UCJ, UNILORIN ©