The Backstory! Behind The Curtains With The President - Student Union Government! {Part 2}

Unibenlawsapress went behind the curtains with the President of the Union, University of Benin and talked about some really revealing and

controversial issues! Here's the concluding part of that sit down! (For the first part, Click HERE ) Enjoy! 

There is this rumour that as President of the Union, you must have settled 'senior men', either at Ekosodin, BDPA, and so on. It just there that you must have the backing of the 'senior men' before you get to and even when in office.

R.O: It is not true, I will be sincere with you. Most people that end up settling Osasogie, Ekosodin, BDPA, it is because of the trumpet they blow. You have blown your trumpet so much and so loud, you have not even been cleared, the whole world knows you are contesting. Normal roger [the result is] they will come and meet you, "anything for us", and then you start paying dues. It is not like it is a norm, it is not a constitution that you must go there. In fact there are people that say you must 'blend'. Let me tell you, if you 'blend' because you want to become SUG President, UNIBEN will not clear you, they must know you are a cultist. Nobody amongst us here is a cultist, the Executives. You can decide to go and join after you have won, but all my Executives here, nobody is a member of any cult.

But their ['senior men'] dues is their dues. Once in a while you can send them drinks. I am a President to both Black axe, to Kegites, Muslim community, Christian Community on Campus, the Hari Krishna, the Cele (Celestial Church) and all of them, you are a President to all because they are all students. That is what I mean by been a President to all. So irrespective of their fraternities and who they want to relate with, they are dealing with you as their President, that is the capacity in which you are relating with them. You can relate with them one on one if you want to. But it is not like they will compel you to come and join their cult or you must pay them money or settle 'Senior men'. Of course you can send money during your election, you have to do your posters, people have to paste posters for you, people have to send message in blogs for you; so you must spend money on such things. For instance, in my time, my class raised funds for me i.e my classmates, they donated, friends supported, and that is what I used it campaigning. I had no money on my own to campaign.

How would you describe your relationship with parliament?

R.O: *chuckles*.

Well I will not say I enjoyed a robust relationship with the parliament. But at least a good handful of the parliament were not aggrieved with me. The Parliament have the power to seat to unseat a President when there are cogent reasons for doing so. They made a move to impeach me through the Speaker because, [according to the language used] they said that the President is not loyal. And I asked what do you mean by loyalty? I am not supposed to be loyal to the Speaker. By all standards I am the number one citizen of the Union, the entire students' community. I am not loyal to anybody apart from, maybe the management, I am loyal to those that voted me in, and not like personal loyalty. I am only 'answerable' to them [Parliament], so when you ask me questions, I should be able to tell you what is going on, so I am answerable to them, I am not loyal. That was what caused a rift. And in the course of trying to impeach me, it rigmarolled, they wanted him [The Speaker] impeached, in fact he almost died. So that is it, but by and large, a handful of them are my friends.

Looking back, will you say you have any regrets in office?

R.O: The only regret I have is that I have not been able to finish everything I wanted to. I had lots of plans. I wish I could do a re-run, I would have done a re-run

 *general laughter*

Not because I want to remain in office, but because I want to actually do more. I really had plans. The bus stops we did [for instance], we wanted to do up to fifteen bus stops. I had people that were willing to sponsor, but reaching out to them and managing my studies was not very easy. I really wanted to do more. Apart from that union has been interesting. And the reward for union is more trouble

Let us go back to the whole hostel renovation. We know you have done a lot. It is not just the school management that did it, you agitated for it. But before you leave office, do you plan to put in place policies or structures that will ensure that they are maintained? Because as at now, some of the toilets are already bad. And it is not because of students misusing them. For instance in block D hall 2, one of the pipes is already leaking, another has been locked because it is practically unusable. Will there be any policies to ensure constant maintenance?

R.O: Yes. One of the measures we carried out was those keys we supplied to lock it up, to make sure it does not go bad. And the checks and balances we intend to look into is the students. Let them help us complain. If you do not speak out, nobody will know what is happening to you. If you do not lament, you will just be in your room, complaining that nothing is being done. If anything they should call our attention to it. I will not be here, but they should call the President's attention. Like my government for instance, I ran an open government. Anybody could come here and complain, and I pray the next government will tow the same path. If you had issues then, anybody could come in. I did not have a CSO [Chief Security Officer] like other people had CSOs

*general laughter*

So I was just on my own, you could come in. Once it goes bad, for instance as you have said block D now, first things first you report to the madam in charge, PEO. I and she, we are very close, we are like 5 and 6. What I want to do now is I will beg when I am leaving office, to have a note book, I will even buy it, so she can document everything as the complaints are coming. Even as an ex-president, I will come, I will call [Director of] Works, they will come and fix it before it gets worse. But if you do not complain, nobody will know, it will remain like that. All these things we are trying to fix now, have they not been bad for years? Because people do not speak up, [even when] students were speaking up, people at the helm of affairs refused to listen.

Talking about government being a continuum. It is not just about leaving legacies, it is about who you entrust your legacies to, that is the whole basis of government. On that premise, Sir, have you picked a successor?

R.O: It will be wickedness, it will be selfish, to have six candidates contesting, and an incumbent President picks one. Everyone of them has got potential, they have got ideas. Did anybody pick me? That is what I ask myself. Nobody picked me, so I do not think I should pick anybody. But if I am to answer your question, it would be what I expect from anybody coming into office. I advise most them coming to me, but I do not have the power to pick a successor. They say 'vox populi, vox dei'; the voice of the people, the voice of God. Let the people who came out in mass and voted for me do same in this case. In Ifidon's election, he pulled a total of 1,515 votes, I pulled a total of 2,328 votes, while my opponent had more than 1,900 votes. It means that people came out more right? That is to tell you how much people believed in us, and that is why I could not disappoint them, I hope I have not disappointed them. So what I am saying in a nutshell is I did not pick a successor. I want the people to pick their successor, so when the problem comes they would share it; if the glory comes they will also share in it. 

Apart from the incident with the Police, there was this incident with the The Love Tabernacle (TLT) fellowship Pastor, that we heard. Can we talk about that?

R.O: *laughs* 

Media people o, all these Journalists.

That night was another night of embarrassment. I came to school, I think I left office, I was downstairs. I bought water and was drinking. My parking space is downstairs, when I drove in, a V-boot was already there so I parked the other way round. I was just strolling, waiting for my guys to come so we could leave. I dropped the bottle of water on the boot of the vehicle on my parking space, and rested. Somebody just came and said "remove that water". [As a sidenote] See, I hate this thing, "I did not know you were the one", I hate it. "Haaa we no know say na President o", I hate it. It means that, for someone else who is not the President, you can stampede him and break his head because he is not the President. So I have always had problems with cab men and shop owners for treating students roughly. I deal with them mercilessly. [For example, if] I catch a cab, I impound the vehicle at June 12, deflate the tires for like three days before I give them their key for free, for disrespecting students. Because students are the major stakeholders, without them there is no business for you in this school. Without students there is no VC, there is nobody, so you should not disrespect them. That is my pain, and is one of the rubbish I came to correct as a President. 

So I dropped the water and he said remove it. I said sorry are you driving out? He said no, but I should remove it. I said but the bottle does not have any effect on the car, and he was like "I said remove it". Then I said "bros calm down na". Because that is how I do my thing, I will always come gentle, but you do not want to see me angry, because I can be very mad when I am. I told him "bros no vex o, you are not driving out and this thing will not destroy your vehicle. I am only going to be here for a while", and he said "bros I say make you remove am. Its my pastor's car". And I said "oh it is your Pastor's car? Sorry o, but do you know your Pastor's car is standing on my parking space?" And he was looking at me like "who be dis one? Abeg e". He said "bros I say make you remove am". And I continued "and do you know that this place you are using for your fellowship is my building? So I do not see the reason why you should be behaving like this". Maybe he looked at me I was looking too small so he said I should not talk to him and I should get out. I said okay, so I took my water. I was now talking to him because I was angry. The Pastors came, two of them. One would expect a preacher of the word to make peace. The Pastors came, and truly the dark one came and was like "is it this issue? Come on", you know, trying to down play the whole matter. And I said you, talking to the guy now, "I told you, this is my parking space and this is my building". The fair Pastor said "who are you? How dare you talk to us like that? Do you know who we are? Because you are just a common SUG Executive that was just voted in..." He did not know I was the President, "...because you are just a member of the Union, you are just here talking anyhow". He was now warning me in my own ground, in SUG ground, warning me to my face, pointing finger in my eyes. He said how dare me say that, do I know where he is coming from, that I should not look at them because they are here doing fellowship, they can pick me outside in town and deal with me. If I lie, may God not forgive me. 

I looked at him, my boys were not around, I felt so humiliated. So I walked away, he was still following me as I was walking, the fair chubby one. And I promised myself I was going to deal with him. It is not stupidity, it is not pride; I was not protecting my name, I was protecting the office of the President. If you slight this office, it means tomorrow you can slight and go scot-free. I told the Speaker, I said you people gave them that place, that is the Parliamentary hall. Speaker came, Sec Gen, everyone came downstairs. Emakpor Daniel, NADESTU, former Sec. Gen, was trying to hear from them, and one of the boys 'wey wan form Peter with Jesus', pushed Emakpor Daniel. Before we knew, the whole thing escalated, my boys were now coming, wetin dey happen, this that etc. started scattering everywhere, students were gathered trying to see what was happening. I thank God students were there to see what was happening, so they will not say Raymond is fighting fellowships.
This same fellowship had problems with another fellowship using that place with them, based on lapse of duration of usage, almost led to a fight that they wanted to beat up the other fellowship. The Dean of Students was in town, he heard and had to come. And I told him that they (TLT) are not using that place again, we do not want people that are violent in our midst. 

If you are a Christian, live what you preach, because It is the live behind the name that actually makes the demons tremble. When the 7 sons of Sceva told the demon "we come to you in the name of Jesus whom Paul preaches", the demon replied "Paul I know, Jesus I know, but who are you?" And according to the bible, they ran in nakedness because they were not having the life behind the name they were calling. It is that life behind the name that will make you say "demon, I bind you in the name of Jesus", and the demon will respond. If you do not live what you preach, then there is no point actually. The Dean came and affirmed that they should not use the place again, and that has been the case. And even till today none of those Pastors have come to say they are sorry, but they will go outside and say Raymond is a wicked person. None of the Pastors have been humble enough, have the modicum of respect for constituted authority to say we are sorry, rather they are sending small small boys. Tomorrow they will become leaders and when people do that to them, let me see how they will take it. So that's that. 

It is very difficult to combine the rigours of office with academics. How have you been able to manage that?

R.O: Trust me I suffered a lot on that. I do not think I managed it very well. My academics suffered a great deal but I am bouncing back. It was not easy. I missed class many times, I had to attend meetings because of students, conferences, trips; to travel out of the state to attend to issues and the rest of them. It was not easy. 

What would you say have been the greatest gain of office?

R.O: The smile I see on students' faces each time I enter the hostel, or each time I see them pass the hall 2 project that is on going, or each time I see them in the bus stops relaxing and charging phones. The smiles I see on their faces make me happy; and the greetings I get from them too. At least I can work freely in UNIBEN today, I can stroll round and hear stuff like "Presido, good morning/evening sir". That comfort alone makes me very happy. 

How would you describe your relationship with school management?
R.O: Very very robust. That is because of my diplomatic steps. Instead of fighting, scattering sometimes, I choose to dialogue. So I have a very strong relationship with the VC, the DVC, everybody, and we are very good friends, especially the Dean. 

Sir, there is this thing concerning clearance of students for elections. We see 20 people for instance buying forms for a post, then only 2 are cleared, for the rest we see 'Security Issue' as a reason for non-clearance. We do not know the meaning of 'Security issue'. Then also these allegations of tribalism, in that it is said that the office of the President is exclusively reserved for the Binis. We saw it with you and your opponent, with Ifidon and Idahosa. Now six people being cleared and they are all Binis. What is your view on these issues, the clearance, and the purported tribalism. 

R.O: Clearance of the students is strictly not union business, it is the business of the school management. I may not know the rigours or activities that surround the clearance, but I must speak very much on the tribalism issue.
Tribalism is as old as University of Benin and Nigeria in general. Tribalism started when Awolowo was busy giving western education to the westerners, and our fore fathers were busy chasing rabbits in the farm, and the northerners were busy being nomads, rearing cattle and stuff. That was when Nigeria started tribalism. People wanted only their regions to benefit.
Not until recently, University of Benin SUG Presidency seat has been exposed to everybody. Orogun was from Delta, Chinelo was Igbo, Martin Luther was not Bini, Prince Harrison, Mike Igini, you can name them, these persons were not even Bini. Not until Osifo's time, we had a real Bini person in office. I believe in one Nigeria, I am not in support of tribalism. I just know that what is happening, probably is as a result of what is happening in other universities. You cannot be a Bini man and go to U.I (University of Ilorin) and contest for Presidency, in fact you cannot even be a Bini man and say you want to go there and they will give you admission. You need to score so much, like if they need 100marks, you have to score 200, yes in U.I and all western schools. You do not go there and say you want to be President. So if others are doing it, maybe that compelled management here to follow the same. You will not go to DELSU, nor UNIZIK and say you want to be President, you are not igbo, you do not speak igbo, they will be like "are you mad", you cannot get it; so probably that was what caused it and they decided to narrow it down. I would not say it is a good thing. I think it is a collective effort [agitation against tribalism] that should go around the whole country, not only the University of Benin. UNIBEN has been very transparent for a very long time; till tomorrow UNIBEN is still the most transparent school when it comes to union activities and giving admission. That is why it is the most sought after University in Nigeria because everybody they are welcome here. Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo, Calabar, whatever tribe you are, you are welcome here. So UNIBEN has better transparency in these areas. 

There is this rumour that the Executives of SUG have free access to food services in the University of Benin. You can just come and order and they give you. 

R.O: It is not true.

*general laughter* 

The difference is that they can come at anytime and they will prioritise attending to them. Secondly, they can eat for all their time in office without paying, and pay when they are leaving office. As a matter of fact I just paid my own, about 65,000 naira. And most of those ones I did not eat, it was people that went to eat in my name, sign a paper and give it to Blessed so they can give him/her food. Nobody eats free food at Blessed. As a union member, they open a record for you, so everytime you take food they document, whatever you eat they document, whenever you are leaving office, you pay. I have paid my own. 

Do you have a girl friend, are you in a relationship?

R.O: I do. She does not like being referred to as a 'girl friend', so when people ask me if I have a girl friend I say no. So when an issue comes up they will be like "but you said you did not have a girlfriend", and I will say you did not ask me the other question (if I am in a relationship), you only asked if I had a girl friend, and I answered it technically by saying no. She prefers being referred to as 'Wife to be', because that is the I see her. She is not in this school, she is far away. So I have a 'wife to be'. Other people (females) are just my friends. 
The two most important people to you in the world?

R.O: Ah! My mum and the UNIBEN Students.

In this school sir?

R.O: Oh in this school? That would be my classmates, oh I love them so much and of course, UNIBEN Students. 

*Odiri cuts in* You just want to make us feel special.

R.O: *Laughter*

No! I love UNIBEN students, I swear it, you know why? Lots of things have been said about me and these students have stood in my defense several times, UNIBEN Metro for example, just about 5 months in office, wrote an open letter against me but they [students] gave me the benefit of doubt, so they've tried for me and I love them.

But especially, I love my classmates.

Your influence in leadership?

R.O: Buhari! I love Buhari!

*everybody murmurs*

Let us not look at his party, I love the fact that he is a disciplinarian, he does not play with the office, when is into official capacity, he does not play with it, he is serious. Someone that could jail his own brother for corrupt practices in the 70's is a serious leader. I think while a lot of people are blaming him, I'm among those that are supporting him today. The reason been that, a country that has been messed up for sixteen years, you cannot fix it even in four years, and for him to identify the primary problem of this country, which is corruption and is fighting with all that is in him, he is worth referring to as a mentor.

His predecessors mortgaged all our future as Nigerians, if Allison Madueke, allegedly stole 13billion pounds, which if shared among 170million Nigerians, one person would get 158million naira, it was seen with her in UK, then this country needs deliverance, baptism of fire, that is what I would call it.
So for this man to say let's trace the problem and let's start fighting it, it is worth commendation, he can die fighting this battle, because there are a lot of cliques, why do you think the University of Benin has more constant power supply as against off the campus?

Why do you think Mikano Generator will keep selling? When a big politician has the sole right to import Mikano generator into the country and you want to fix light? When you fix power, who will buy the generators? Only one man imports and supplies the entire country diesel and we want light to be stable? How can he sell his diesel and make his billions? 
Tomorrow they will build 5 star hotels and we will say they've arrived!
Look at countries like Malaysia and Dubai, an average man in any of these countries, has just one car and an average apartment with his family and they are okay because money that ordinarily would have been stolen by one person is channelled into the society. Nigeria is worth billions of dollars and yet we are not feeling the impact!
I drove to Abuja to and fro, last two weekends and I almost died on the road, because the road is bad. Our leaders, however fly on air, with their private jets and all and we are blaming the man who is trying to fight corruption, clapping for the man who under six years, allowed Dasuki, Allison Madueke, Asari Dokubo and the likes to loot Nigerians wealth under his nose and you are blaming me for not voting for him for a second tenure, to mortgage Nigeria's future for another four years.

I will only be angry if Buhari does not use the monies he is recovering to develop the country Nigeria, then I'll still come out and tell everybody that he has failed but for now, he has not failed.
He needs more than a year to fix this country. How can you fix sixteen years corruption in one year? Do you know the cabals? how do you think Dangote made his wealth? It is political policies, monopoly. The wealth of a nation is not measured by the number of people that are wealthy but by the number of economic activities that thrive daily, now how many economic activities do we have? Only Dangote is supplying this, supplying that, while the other business men are dying  and you say we should not complain?

Anyway, He's my mentor, that's just the long and short of it.
Who you go to for advice as President? 

R.O - A Lot of people. 

I consult some NANS (National Association of Nigerian Students) comrades, I consult the Dean of students, I don't consult the Vice-Chancellor, I 'beg' him to let certain things go. He is my daddy.
There are a lot of wars you can win, without showing that you are stubborn or dogged, it doesn't make you a coward, as long as you win the battle for your people and they are happy, you don't have to tell them what happened in between, whether you knelt down to beg the V.C, it doesn't matter. Some people will be like - What? A whole president, how can you be begging the V.C? 
No! If it is worth it, let it go, as long as the students will benefit from what you are clamouring for.

Bad habits you are proud of breaking or would like to break? 

R.O - One of my weakness is women!

I'm easily moved by emotions and and I'm quick to be moved by their frailties. When they have issues and they come forward with it, I find it very difficult to resist them and end up solving it for them. So many of them use it to get at me, when you solve a problem for a girl for instance and she has interest in you, she starts to show gratitude that is undue and before you fall into the web, you may not know.

So that's why I say one of my weakness is women.
I like the female folks a lot, probably because I never had many while I was growing, I was a loner, I had more of myself, until I started becoming a bit popular in secondary school and started getting some of them as friends, I think that's probably the reason. 
So yeah, that's one of my weakness and I pray I break it.
Are you soccer fan?

R.O - Yeah. I love football. 
Favourite football club?

R.O - I love Barcelona. I'm a Barca fan.

Favourite football team in UNIBEN?

R.O - I've not really been involved in sports activities in UNIBEN, so I'll not say I have.

Favourite movie of all time?

R.O - There are two!
"Coming to America" and "Lion King"
Favourite Nigerian Artiste?

R.O - I love Samsung, I don't do secular songs, I love Frank Edwards, because of his high pitch because I sing too.

Favourite Foreign Artiste? 

R.O - Don Moen.

What would say is your greatest strength and greatest weakness? 

R.O - My greatest strength is my speech, I maximise it a lot, my greatest weakness like said before is the females. 






Interview by gafar, Josh and Odiri.