29th January, 2015
Damilare Okunola & Akintola Lukman
The Students Union Government, SUG, of the Yaba College of Technology, YABATECH, has organised a ‘campus rave’ for its students to enlighten them ahead of next month’s general elections.
The event tagged, “Vote Not Fight”, P.M.NEWS Campus Square gathered, will hold on Friday, 30 January at the front of Akata Hall (one of its female hostels).
According to ‘Tega Sapele, Social Director of the SUG, the event will be a social gathering where the students are expected to rub minds to prevent violence ahead of the elections.
“We shall also ask them to ensure they get their PVCs and vote for their preferred candidates. The message we want to pass across, just as the theme implies, is that students should not engage in violence during the election. They must all go out there and vote the candidate of their choice,” Sapele opined.
In a related development, the International Relations Students Association, IRSA at the Obafemi Awolowo University, OAU Ile-Ife, Osun State has also organised a symposium to discuss the forthcoming elections.
P.M.NEWS Campus Square gathered that the symposium discussed the theme: ‘Nigeria 2015 Election; Hopes and Impediments’ and had in attendance academics from different fields of study.
Those at the event were Prof. Fawole Alade, Dr. R. I. Ako-nai and Dr. Iwebunor Okwechime all from International Relations Department, Prof. Salami from Philosophy Department, Dr. Olugbenga Afolabi from Political Science Department, Mr. Mershack Ofuafor from History Department, Mr. Armsfree from Transition Monitoring Group, TMG, among many other participants.
Dr. Afolabi in his speech explained that the impediments to the forthcoming general elections are more than its hopes.
“Nigerian politics lacks morality and that is why immorality is a major impediment to the Forthcoming elections. Also, the Electoral Management Body EMB which is the INEC in Nigeria, has lost credibility.
“Normally, INEC ought to be an independent body but by implication, it remains a dependent body in Nigeria. As at last two weeks, INEC has not received 60% of its allocation from the presidency.
Also commenting on the theme of the symposium, Ofuafor expressed his discomfort at how Nigerians sell their votes for prizes and seasonal gifts from desperate politicians.
He said: “It is clear that our society is morally bankrupt and that accounts for the reason Nigerians will sell their votes to politicians who seek nothing but to fill their bank accounts. It is high time we made things right in our country by not selling our votes.”