By: Abidoye Thomas Ayobami
By now everything is becoming reality, as every nook and cranny has get to known that another sets of leaders are preparing to confuse and convince the electorate to be elected to different post as usual, anyway their is time for everything, even since the beginning of last semester many aspirant don't attend class with the norms of how power are being shared here in OSPOLY, on that occasion, I asked a Political aspirant what he have for the Nigeria' Student, though is not the right time to do so, but the response I got is " Time shall tell". Which time was he referring to? Anyway that's none of my business, the power that be has secured a vital post for him, and probably we shall meet if the time comes. Let go straight to the business of this article 💪💪💪💪
Politics can be daunting for anyone; and, for students, combining studies with politics can really be demanding and even be herculean. Politics in this sense does not all mean occupying a post in the faculty, department or the students union, rather it begins at the grassroots: in this case from being a class representative or being a stakeholders. The hustle and tussle to get to be the representatives can be feisty in some departments and Faculty, especially in such departments where the fire of politics rages. There has always being a spirited battle between two camp that Provided the Student Union leaders every year wether soft or hard.
OSPOLY as a case studies, when student politician locked horns almost hardly or softly in order to rep their department, Faculty or SUG, One of them would eventually win, but many aspirant 'gra gra' had been sapped by the academic demands of their studies. Then they learnt so fast that, politics does not insulate one from academic rigour in the Polytechnics.
Politics is said to be a selfless service; a (student) politician is, on that basis, presumably called to serve. Once a student discovers his/her political calling, s/he informs his/her closest allies and the journey to receiving the biggest anointing for his calling begins in earnest from the majority of the students s/he needs to get to his/her envisioned post. Meanwhile different factors, whether openly stated or not, serve as the propellants that drive political ambitions of students. However, monetary gains ideally are out of the factors that drive one. Therefore some of the challenges faced by students, which will form the bulk of the next paragraphs, can chase away intending student politicians. These challenges are also responsible for the inactivity of some student politicians.
Time is the soul of a business! The primary reason each and every bona fide student of the Polytechnic is in school in the first place is to study and graduate with a *presentable certificate* which will look good on a curriculum vitae. However, a student politician has to learn how to spend his 24 hours judiciously; he needs to learn how to go about his studies and also deliver unto the ‘people’ who have called him to service without either suffering. This can be a little too much on such a student because there might be times when studies and politics will need attention at almost the same time. This may prove a difficult pass to navigate for some student politicians. The dilemma student-politicians fall into sometimes outstrip that of the Hamletic question of To be or not to be? To jettison studies for political demands may be an invitation to the so called CGPA vampires, and to do vice versa is to court the censure of the hard-to-please fellow students.
Moreover, money drives any ambition. Student politics has become so costly that ambitions of many a student has been killed because of their inability to compete with others who are able to finance their own ambitions. Making of posters, jingles, banners etc. requires funds, huge funds at that. These are many necessaries that are sine quo non in student politics on campus. All these will go a long way to project and illuminate the politicians ideas and personality which will crystallize fast and in time before the election. A student with less visibility has less chance of winning the hearts of his fellow students. This point applies to the larger societies as it is often seen that politicians go all out to cover every blade of electoral grass in order to be known and seen by prospective voters.
*Meanwhile it is an obvious truth that a politician cannot and must not please everyone at every time. One who does this is digging their own destructive pit*. There comes another dilemma for student politicians on campus: to please his closest allies all the time in lieu of the general student populace or do otherwise? Often this conundrum makes some student politicians appear clueless. More often than not, they are confused in the convincing calls their allies and the general populace put to them. More so, the dangerous bend student politicians must always pass each time the will of student populace clashes with that of the management is usually pitiable.
*The demands of politics and studies can be intimidating. To judiciously harmonize the two attention-demanding tasks is not for the laggards*. Therefore it is usually to the credit of student politicians who are able to navigate the two successfully. To excel at both will be utile in the here and there.
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