The "sui generis" End OF Year Party!

While officially (on paper) the University of Benin was supposed to shut down for the year on Monday 21st December, 2015, however in reality the school closed "unofficially" on Friday 18th December, 2015. 

Now for the first time in a while, law students across all levels decided to celebrate the end of the year in various ways, some did so via a football game, some just settled for selfies, others decided to use the opportunity to visit the state High Court, etc
Different strokes for different folks, you'd say! But worthy of note for us is how the 300level Class (aka Sui Generis Constitutency) decided to celebrate and the grand style in which they so did!

The party surprisingly was kept on a low key, until the last week of the proposed date. How this was possible considering the (community) size of the faculty is hard to fathom but so it was. By Wednesday, news had already filtered into some itchy ears, of the proposed end of year bash and how it was an event "open" to all!

The proposed venue was the famous "Ohonba House" located along the Ugbowo-Lagos road. It's necessary to state that, how this constituency was able to pull this off especially without collecting a dime from anyone is something that's not only worthy of emulation but also too of investigation. The reason (one from the many reasons) is that, several times we've seen the association (LAWSA) try to pull off something similar to this, probably a dinner or some other event and despite the substantial sum attendees are made to cough out, you'll find out too often that it's almost never up to the expected standard! 

But then back to the party, it was billed to start by 6pm, terminating with the break of dawn, but as expected the event did not start till 8pm, when it finally did, the turn out was tumultuous especially considering the fact that at the same time, "Epitome" a sold out T.G Banks dance show was going on at hall two car park and another party at hall 5, all simultaneously. Still dignitaries across all levels in the faculty and even those not in the faculty graced the occasion, apparently everybody was in the mood to 'turn up'

The night saw myriads of entertainers of all sorts gracing the event, from various musical artistes to "rib cracking" comedians making it an engrossing and fascinating one!
Refreshments were in no short supply either, for the organizers provided sauced beef, canned drinks for "all and sundry" and then the with amount of wine going round, one could swear that jesus was present in the flesh and was pulling one of his usual tricks behind the scenes! 

There were contests and games of various types and forms, from legal maxims to legal demystification, a "mind blowing" jazz solo instrumental,devil's number, dance amongst many others!

"The event was indeed a worthwhile moment of frolic gaiety and abundant merriments, it doubled as an opportunity for the "Sui Generis" constituency to thank God for the gift of life and for keeping them all from the beginning of the year till the very end, all the more so, seeing that this is the festive season and also too to implore his grace as the new year elegantly approaches.
Aside this, it was a prime yet rare avenue to bring law students together on the table of brotherhood by providing an opportunity that refreshes, guarantees unity & excitement all at the same time!

ULP took the time out to speak with the class representative of 300level, Mr Nelson and this was what he had to say - 
"Well, we thank God for the success of the event! I made known my plan for the event on Monday14th of December  and with the support of God Almighty and my entire learning colleagues, it became a reality on Friday 18th of December... I'm one that understands very well the rigorous duty of a responsible class rep, thus I had to quickly set up an organizing committee, which comprised of members like - Daniel Asikpata, Mariam Ipogha, Tony, Beatrice Kowei, Joy, Faith Nkennor, Mr.Oc and of course Jennifer Aliu.I equally "chairman-ed" the committee because the time frame was really a short one if I may use that word.
Together we sought the financial support of some persons, but because the time frame was a little bit tight, response was not really that encouraging, thus we had to tasked ourselves for voluntary donations and I personally, had to fill some of the lacuna, I mean financially, so as to ensure a flawless event.
However persons like Hon.Ohonba, Mr Iyamu Marvis and many others too, stood out with their support and honestly, they made the event a colorful one. However, I'm promising you that come next year with God sparing our lives, its going to be an uncommon magical moment for all and sundry...
This is why we are Sui Generis, a unique class of its own kind, so Faculty of Law better be ready!"


ULP wants to use this medium to appreciate the entire "sui generis" constituency for their hospitality and for been so accommodating too, it's our belief that the association will borrow a leaf from them and give Lawsans an event that's up to this standard and who knows? Probably "free" too!




Report by Nelson & gafar

"Police Beat Up President"

UNIBEN SUG President, Raymond Omorogbe Assaulted by Police. 





There was pandemonium in the late hours of Thursday, 17th December at the Amino Kano hostel (Hall 3), University of Benin.

It all started when news filtered in that the President of the Student Union Government, University of Benin,(SUG UNIBEN) Comrade Raymond Omorogbe, was assaulted by policemen at the Ugbowo Police Station, located around the school environs, while attempting to secure the bail of a UNIBEN student who had earlier been arrested by the police.

While it could not be ascertained what the offence of the detained student was, or the circumstances that culminated with the assault on the President, some of the residents of Hall 3 were visibly shocked and angry on hearing of the incident.
One of the boys who was calm enough to speak with ULP reporters remarked, "Police have started again,  first of all they arrested one of our own and in turn slapped our President whose intention was to bail him out. Why do they keep doing this to students? Why? This rubbish must stop".
Another bared out his feelings thus: "now this is bad, because it's the President that is why we're hearing about it. In fact what is it with Police and students? That's how Osifo (former SUG President 2012/2013) was slapped then by Police and the Dean of Students had to step in to placate students when they were on their way to protest that injustice, now its Raymond they have slapped. This is becoming a routine".
In an outburst another angry student stated:  "this is unacceptable, President Raymond that we voted massively for, the same Raymond that led us on a peaceful protest with regards to the unsafe nature of the Ugbowo-Lagos road path at main gate that claimed the life of one of our students, he was the one that agitated for renovation of the hostels which is still ongoing, now in performance of his goodwill (securing bail of a detained student), Police now decided to assault him, decided to shame all UNIBEN students, and they think we will keep quiet, they think we are fools?


Confirming the incident, Osayuki King, the Attorney General of the Union spoke with ULP reporters...
"Yes, the president was assaulted, he was assaulted in the course of trying to bail someone, alleged to be a student of UNIBEN, however, the commissioner of police, Edo state,  was also briefed of the issue on ground and eventually, the matter was handled diplomatically and it was all settled amicably. 
The police officer in question has been placed in a cell since the incident, he was released only yesterday. Also, he would be transferred and most likely demoted"

An aide of the SUG who pleaded anonymity also confirmed the incident. He relayed to ULP that the SUG President was truly assaulted on thursday, in the course of trying to secure the bail a of student.
However on Friday morning, the Attorney General, the Secretary General, the President himself and other top SUG officials in full force, were at the Ugbowo police station. He remarked that the assault on the President was indirectly an assault on the Student Union Government which is of course every UNIBEN student. Rather than follow the 'rule of thumb', they decided to follow the course of peace and amicable settlement. He asserted that the DPO has apologized for the ugly incident and the officer who committed the assault had already been put in a prison cell, he will be sanctioned, transferred and probably even be demoted. Another officer linked to the incident also has been locked up and will be dealt with accordingly.
He also said that some of their demands were met, and others that where not, they decided to let go. "We could have pressed for damages to be paid as a result of the assault, for example, the repair of the phone screen which was damaged, and other things. Nevertheless, the SUG of the University of Benin and the police have always had a cordial relationship. There are times when students have been arrested and the SUG got them out for free (even times when they were culpable), so we don't want to press now for things and later, if and when such a situation arises and we have to get a student out, then the Police (remembering this incident) insist also on full enforcement".  
He assured that "everything has been resolved amicably, and there is no course for alarm. The SUG is always committed to the welfare of the students within and outside the school and hopefully will continue to champion their cause". 

Details as to what transpired exactly between the President and the officer in question, which culminated in the assault and the nature of assault are still very sketchy. Meanwhile the DPO of the Ugbowo Police station at press time could not be reached for comments on the issue.






Report by josh.

Law and The UNIBEN Hostel 'Craze'

    One of the thorniest issues, permeating the faculty right now is the question of whether or not it's the duty of the school to provide shelter/accommodation for its students! Unfortunately, this has turned out to be quite a mind bogging debacle, because on one hand we have the students whom are of the opinion that like lecture theatres and classrooms, provision of hostels for students, falls under the purview of the university, however, the school administration on the other hand has sternly insisted that the hostel accommodation is "not a right but a privilege".

It is on this template that many have had to ask - is the school trying to insinuate that those who didn't get hostel accommodation after application, are not "privileged" students? Besides is accommodation not suppose to be for the "less privileged" students instead of the "privileged"?

     That been an issue for another day, right now, we are focusing on the hardship suffered by a lot of law students! Unlike most faculties, Faculty of Law did not release sessional results on time, despite the fact that (according to the school calendar) Senate was supposed to be done with reviewing the results by 6th of November 2015. Consequently, this lack of results, has resulted in a situation were a lot of Law students are without hostel spaces. For our report (at date of this publication) shows that save for those in 100level and 500level, more than 90% of law students have been unable to secure hostel accommodation this session.

     The question being are asked is: What is supposed to be the fate of these ones without hostel spaces?

What are they supposed to do now?

For the females - "live with their "boyfriends" off campus? 

Or for the males - Live under bridges? Or in this case, live in classrooms or lecture theatres? There are confirmed rumours that some students spend the night in the lecture theatres and then go to the hostel in the morning to prepare for classes.

    

     The question is pertinent, all the more so, taking into consideration the fact that the school population has sky rocketed by more than 30% since the commencement of pre-degree programs in the school, so that even now, the price for a hostel space (according to sources) on the "black market" is now unbelievably stupendous. Our findings show that - male hostels (let's not even talk about females) that formerly went for 14 to 20 thousand naira depending on the hall of residence, has now jumped to between 18 to 25 thousand naira, talk about massive inflation!

Also the dire scarcity of accommodation in the suburbs of the school environ - junior staff quarters(JSQ), senior staff quarters (SSQ), dentistry, block of flats, etc, is also very alarming, for information reaching us says that a one room apartment in JSQ goes for 75 thousand naira now!

     The out cry is loud, a lot of students are frustrated and confused, they are haggled, they are in a race against despondency, they are tired and they don't know were to start from, and understandably so!

Here are some of the comments we got from a few of these law students

Jennifer, in 200l said she applied when there was news that their level had changed (from 100 to 200l online) on Friday, 27th Nov yet she and other applicants had not given space yet. She said. "what the school is doing is bad, they are taking money and not giving people hostels, making life hard for students. If nothing can be done they should let us know so we can weigh our options, the whole thing is stressful".
 She also profers a long term solution, "if medical students can have a hostel then why can't we? Law is also a noble profession, we should have our own so we won't have to suffer from this hardship, maybe the alumni can help out.

Nosa and Bamisaye, both in 400l come from long distances everyday and understandably, are not happy about the situation. Nosa in his words, "I spend nothing less than 500naira everyday because of this. Calculate it from when school resumed and see how much I have spent. My own view on the accommodation issue isn't much different from what others have been saying. I think if the authorities knew they won't be able to maintain the online registration they shouldn't have started same. If at this time of the semester student ain't sure of where to stay and lecturers are talking about test already I mean it is bad."
 He also added that "manual registration would have been better judging from precedence. Now I'm not trying to be ungrateful cos if the online actually worked out it would have been better off but the fact remains that it did not work out and it turned out to be the worst so far.. Its quite pathetic that accommodation is still a very big problem in UNIBEN this ought not to be so. Looking at other universities and how they actually conduct accommodation process is very impressive and I think it won't be bad if Uniben copy from them."

Daniel Odigwe also in 400l

"Although I don't stay in the hostel so I may not be able to experience the pain the way they do but I do feel their pain, I have had to accommodate those with accommodation issues and I can boldly say it is not fair and it has not been easy for them at all especially in their academics. We are students, and I must say the school authorities are here for us. What we can do right now is to cry out against this injustice against the students. Its really a stressful and painful thing and its affecting students academically, and when students begin to fail they begin to say all sorts of things. I'm appealing to the SUG to take up this matter for the students with the school authorities and come up with a solution that will be beneficial to the students".

A Female 300l student who declined her name to be mentioned, lamented the deplorable situation, "I'm temporarily in the room I stayed in last session. Now that everyone is clearing and taking possession of their allotted spaces, where will I stay when every space owner arrives? I don't know what to do, I just pray this issue is solved asap."

     When contacted, representatives of the Law Students Association (LAWSA) said the association has met with some of the officials in charge of the process and they have been promised and assured that Law students are top priorities for them. With regards to cases of leftover spaces or those that would not clear their spaces on time (within four days) for one reason or the other, such spaces would be reallocated to them.

      Law students have been implored to be patient, keep their fingers crossed and "hope for the best while praying against the worst!". Some say that its not like the worst has not passed already. Still the question is, will majority of Law students who have applied (with the fee of course), get their hostel spaces?

"PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS" - Lawsans And Parliamentarians React!

     During the administration of the last government, parliament in LAWSA experienced one of, if not it's most turbulent times in recent years!
With a legislative arm that was 'openly' at loggerheads with the executive, strange faces were seen (some have labeled them cultists) 'regularly' attending sittings more than congressmen, circulation of unconfirmed reports of congressmen and women been beaten up inside the faculty toilet and faculty premises, the resignation of more than a few congressmen, parliament stringently refusing to ratify the budget of the executive arm, the 'controversial' appointment of the Chief Justice of the association, the resignation of quite a few chamber heads, resignation of the then acting LAWBA president, amongst many other intrigues culminating in a near systematic shut down of the association.

     The tension was so palpable and fierce, that after a particular rowdy and emotional session in parliament, The "Legal Watchmen" did a story on the activities of parliament that fateful day, which unfortunately did not go down well in quite a few quarters. Thus the wanton and dramatic destruction of the Legal Watchmen's notice board by some (unknown) elements, the fear, chaos and pandemonium that enveloped the entire faculty immediately after, and then the subsequent emergency meeting of all LAWSAns with any 'official position' convened by the student staff adviser. Sadly, even the meet by the "mighty" staff adviser could not broker peace, thus he had to read the "riot act" to all present!
Those were really dark days for the association!

     It is against this background, that much attention has been focused on parliament this session!
With the Inaugural sitting and election of Principal officers of Parliament already conducted, LAWSAns are eager and curious to find out what to expect from Parliament this session! Can both arms of government get along? Can they work together to better the lot of law students?
UNIBEN LAWSA Press talked with a few LAWSAns on their reactions from the internal Parliament elections and their expectations; this is what they had to say-
•Eke Martins - 400L Congress member.
 "For the first time in quite a long time, the congress was in a position where it had to pick between two persons who are both good, either choice would have been in the best interest of lawsans, would have spoken well of lawsa, would have acted in the right capacity as speaker. But then we couldn't pick two, it was not an easy task but then we believe that the congressmen in their wisdom chose one of them, the best of the both of them. It must be stated that either of the candidate would have been risky but its a risk we must take, and we do hope it pays us well and we'll not have any cause to look back (painfully) at our decision.
We hope the congress will work in unity and does not appear to be like the past assembly that was filled with so much rancor. In every honesty I do hope that this present assembly works hand in hand with the executive to ensure a better lawsa, because we've listened, we've learned and we're leading."

•Daniel Odigwe, 400L constituency.
"I think the recent congress elections was a very wonderful political miracle, because we thought a candidate would emerge and three candidates came out for the position and one of them won. I'm happy with the fact that the candidate that came out won despite the fact that it looked bleak at the  beginning. The candidate had made it clear that he was not out to antagonize the President, rather they're going to work hand in hand to ensure the good fortune of Lawsans.
I'm trusting the LAWSA congress to meet up to expectations, they'll be a very viable strong check on the President, not to antagonize him, but help him achieve better than his predecessors".

•U.I. Alexander (Honourable Clerk of the SUG parliament).
"Although i wasn't present at the congress elections, from what I was briefed, it (the office of Speaker) was dearly contestable.
Nna victor is a very good friend of mine, and he brings nothing other than effective leadership, because this is a position he has been having in mind for a very long time... having it this time around, i don't expect anything other than perfect leadership and I wish him well he's from my class and I know he will deliver.
Having the leadership of Nna victor which is a nice one as I said earlier, they (congress) will deliver. They will do all that is expected of a parliamentary arm of government, anything you think is achievable would be achievable here, because they have a credible leader. So to an extent i believe everything will be fine".




Everything said and done, unibenlawsapress will like to use this medium to remind our leaders that we elected them into power and thus in the very least we expect not just accountability, effective representation, transparency and respect for the rule of law but also a certain level of maturity.
We expect them to realize that no matter their differences, their zeal and passion for a common purpose - "The advancement of LAWSA", should not only be a unifying factor but also, it should be paramount!



 "Gafar" - unibenLAWSApress

THE SUPREME LAWSA CONGRESS HOLDS INAUGURAL SITTING

• Congress members take oath of office
• ...elect principal officers
• Nna Victor emerges as Speaker

     Political duties in the Faculty of Law Students Association (LAWSA) UNIBEN seem to have kicked into full gear as the Supreme LAWSA Congress on Friday 27th of November, 2015 held its inaugural sitting. In the inaugural session presided over by the President of LAWSA, Garrick Nosa John, the Congress members were sworn into congress officially by the President. The Parliamentarians also elected Principal Officers of Congress into the positions of Chief Whip, Clerk, Deputy Speaker and Speaker.

     Having being given the go-ahead of the Faculty via the Student Adviser, Dr N. Ojukwu-Ogba, to proceed with Executive duties despite not being sworn in (ceremoniously), President Garrick issued a public notification invitation to the elected members of Congress. The statement issued on the 24th day of November, 2015 and signed by the President and Secretary General of LAWSA Okeleke Ugochukwu Victor, informed the Congress honourables of the inaugural sitting to hold on the 27th of November. According the statement, the Agenda of the sitting was to consist of Election of Principal officers and the Ratification of Presidential appointments, in order to "hasten work of all arms of government as time is far spent".

     The session scheduled for 4:00pm however didn't start till 4:15 when Congress members and Observers entered into the house. The Eleco chairman proceeded to state the sitting arrangements for Congress members, LAWSA Executives and for observers. At 4:20 the President of LAWSA, Garrick Nosa entered the house and delivered his opening address, after which oath of office forms were shared to the 36 Congress members present (out of 40) and they were sworn into office by the President.

     The Eleco took centre stage as next on the Agenda was the nomination (and election if need be) of Whips of each constituency and Election of Principal Officers of Parliament. The Eleco Chairman explained that the modus operandi of voting was going to be via secret ballot, in other to avoid "vendetta and hate" after the elections.  According to the LAWSA Constitution, the Speaker of the house must come from the 500 level constituency, the Chief Whip also from the 500 level, the Deputy speaker from the 400 level and the Clerk from 200 level constituency. The whips from each constituency were nominated and unopposed. 200 level - Honourable Kenneth, 300 level - Honourable Wahi Friday, and from 400 level constituency - Eke Martins.

     For the position of Chief Whip, who must come from the 500 level constituency Honourable Freeman Ameh and Honourable Philip Okwichime were nominated. Freeman Ameh won by a landslide with 29 votes to 7 votes scored by Philip. For the offices of Clerk and Deputy Speaker which constitutionally is to be occupied by a member of the 200 and 400 level constituencies respectively, there were sole nominations and no opposition. Honourable Efosa Okpamen emerged as Clerk, and Honourable Franklin Ikechukwu emerged as the speaker.
   
The sitting was not without some drama as in addition to the two rumoured contenders for the position of Speaker, Honourable Nna Victor and Honourable Nwachukwu Patrick, Honourable Etiosa Ejomon was also nominated. The drama took another twist when during his turn to give his manifesto he declined nomination and stepped down for the other two candidates. In what was indeed a close tie between Nna Victor and Nwachukwu Patrick, it was Nna Victor who emerged "Victorious" as Speaker with 20 votes, while Honourable Patrick scored 16 votes.

     The President then addressed and swore into office the principal officers. There was the 1st marching in of the Speaker, in which everyone stood at the cry of "Mr Speaker!", along with principal officers. The new Speaker in giving his welcome address thanked the House for the confidence reposed in him and promised that it would never be abused. Noting however that time was far spent and it was getting late, the Speaker suggested an adjournment of sitting till further notice, in which the Office of the Speaker would notify them. The Law makers nodded in approval and the motion was moved and seconded. The first sitting of Parliament for the session ended at about 6:13pm when Mr Speaker stepped out in company of his executives.

200level Constituency Congress Members

LAWSA CONGRESS MEMBERS 2015/2016

200 Level Constituency

- Joy Joseph
- Kenneth Nwino
- Tony Geku
- Collins Momoh
- Adewale Mosuro
- Uwaifokun Osagie
- Ifedun Grace
- Ogbomo Osamuede Moses
- Oboh Lawrence Christopher
- Ojeaburu Orumen Ifidon

300level Congress Members

300 Level Constituency

- Dekina Joseph Lebari
- David Victor Akpeji
- Godswill Ikpuri
- Henry Uzezi Amata
- Abolagba Joshua
- Efosa Okpamen
- Promise Wayi Friday
- Caleb Eghosa Ibizugbe
- Irene Ralphael Efe

400 Level Constituency

400level Congress Members

- Precious Edafe Onodiama
- Franklin Ikechukwu
- Martins Eziukwu Eke
- Yor Yor Borviga
- Chisom Kewvis
- Courage Osabuohien
- Enoma "Gafar" Precious
- Regina Nwolokoh Awele
- Daniel Eromosele Eiwanlan
- Peter Abada

500 Level Constituency

500level Congress Members

- Nna Victor
- Akpor Andrew
- Ojomo Etiosa Emmanuel
- Ameh Freeman
- Atsegbua Divine
- Okwechime Philip
- Joseph Okon
- Patrick Nwachukwu