POLITICS

  POLITICS: How Do We Know the Best Candidates? Abigail Kareem   Choosing the right student leaders is one of the most important decisions students make on campus. The people elected into these positions determine how welfare, representation, and even funding for student programs are handled throughout the session. Yet, many students still find themselves voting based on friendship, popularity, or the loudest campaign jingles, rather than real competence. If student politics is to truly reflect the needs of the community, then students must go beyond catchy slogans and take a closer look at what each candidate offers. Campus politics has slowly become a popularity game. Many students cast their votes based on friendship, hall of residence loyalty, or coursemate solidarity. The candidate with the loudest supporters is often seen as the “right choice,” even when no one is sure of their plans for students. As one student once joked during a faculty election, “we don’t even read m...

  Promises and Prostrations: The Theatre of UI Politics Abigail Kareem The second semester in the University of Ibadan always has a peculiar atmosphere. Beyond the rush of tests, assignments, and endless lectures, another spectacle begins to unfold, the grand drama of student politics. Suddenly, every hallway, noticeboard, hostel, and even WhatsApp group becomes a campaign ground. Stickers appear on walls like stubborn eczema, posters in all colours and sizes multiply overnight, and before long, “Vote for X,” “Support Y,” and “Stand with Z” take over the entire campus. For those new to the experience, it almost feels like the school has turned into a carnival ground. But for older students, it’s a tired, recurring performance with new actors, but with a similar or nearly opposite script. Every year, aspirants dust off the same campaign lines: “I will improve welfare,” “I will bring accountability,” “I will ensure your voices are heard.” Big and fine words. But words that often diss...