"THE SRC LEVY IS FOR THE STUDENTS BEST INTEREST" ; OUTGOING SRC CHAIRMAN OLAPADE OLUWAFEMI DISCLOSES

OLAPADE OLUWAFEMI is the outgoing Chairman of the Students Representative Council in Crawford University (S.R.C.). He is also the former President of NESA (National Economics Students Association). A house hold name in the school, Femi is known as the Face of S.R.C. amongst the students. Although, not every student would reckon with him during his tenure as the Chairman, Femi notwithstanding developed a rep and carved a niche for himself as the Chairman of the S.R.C. He believes that the Council was somewhat successful in creating a model to follow for prospective members of the Council; Achievements were recorded no doubt and certain standards were set.

The S.R.C. is a 16 member council that is composed of departmental Presidents across both colleges of Natural and Applied Sciences and Business and Social Sciences in the University. Last session, members of this council included Omope Tayo Brown (NUASA), Oluomoniyi Bukola (NAPSS), Agagu Ayo (NABAMS), Gbaja Adeoluwa (GEMSSA), Hannah Abiola (NABAFS), Shadey Ogungbangbe (AMS) e.t.c.

Femi, the Chairman has left the Post as the erstwhile Chairman of the SRC and he has a lot to say to the students as he prepares to graduate from the school. In this interview with ADEOYE DANIEL of the CRAWFORD STUDENTS PRESS CLUB, He disclosed the rationale behind the introduction of the SRC levy as well as achievements recorded by the SRC

Excerpts:

 Q. Tell us more about yourself

Like you know, my name is Oluwafemi Olapade, the outgoing President of NESA and the outgoing Chairman of the SRC of this great University. I am a native of ONDO town but reside in Lagos. I am a second child in a family with three offspring.

Q. You were the Chairman of the SRC last session and a whole lot happened during your administration. These were more about challenges that you faced with the students. Kindly tell us more about it?

There is no council or association with no challenges. But since I became the chairman of the SRC, I had this major objective of taking the Council to the next level. The challenges that I faced basically was the opposition from people who do not understand what our objective/purpose was. You know people don’t get to view things from your own perspective. Thus, this major challenge is the provenance of the other challenges that we had but to God be the Glory, we overcame them.

Q. What are the achievements of the SRC?

The SRC is a 15-member council of departmental presidents with the addition of a chaplain which is usually the AFCF Coordinator. I was voted for as the SRC chairman by my predecessors and my colleagues in the council.

The achievements were diverse, like changing the name of the association to The STUDENTS REPRESENTATIVE COUNCIL from the STUDENTS REPRESENTATIVE COMMITTEE. We held the first International Students Day of the All African Students Union (AASU) on November 17 last year. Also, we organized the Crawford University Students Dinner and Awards Night (CSDAN) 2016. We successfully initiated a system of students’ taxation whereby they pay a stipulated amount of money per session which we called the SRC Levy.

 The SRC in my tenure, ensured more sustained electricity, water supply improved a bit and there was a drastic change in d conduct of the Security Unit towards the students, it was more student friendly. These was achieved by the SRC through the administration of the Vice Chancellor, Prof Rotimi Ajayi.

 The SRC was also responsible for the formation of the UNICORN COMMITTEE which was set up to take care of the Graduating Class.

 We also successfully aligned with other private universities to enhance harmony amongst us all.

Q. What is the meaning of the Compulsory SRC levy and what is the rationale behind its introduction?

There is no association on this earth that can stand/survive and achieve without a financial backing. Such association will just remain a figurehead. Everybody wants performance from the SRC but nobody is ready to contribute to the achievement of high performance from the SRC. It was not the VC that introduced the SRC LEVY, We did. The SRC members brought up the idea and introduced the idea to the Vice Chancellor and He approved it.

Everybody keeps asking, what is SRC? What have they been doing? Well, I put it to you all that the SRC needs to work and perform very well so as to do things that will answer these questions? We had to be financed just like all other Associations in the School. That was why we had to introduce the SRC levy; because, subsequently, the accumulated money from this levy would be used by the SRC for the Students. It is their money and they have to enjoy the benefits of what they are paying for, development, welfare, events organization symposiums, seminars etc.

With this levy, we can support the school legacy also, invest in the school projects and make sure that everything works for mutual benefits and mutual objectives.

Q. Students didn’t reckon with your administration when you first started at the beginning of the session, Later on in the session, they got better with their relationship with the SRC. How did you find this and what did you do to ameliorate the situation?

Almost every student if you ask them believes that the SRC wasn’t working in their interests. But I want to remind you all that the SRC is a middleman between the students and the school. Here, mutuality is emphasized. We cannot uphold a side’s interests over the other. The SRC is not meant to fight the school (this is not a Public Institution), we are meant to engage in a diplomatic dialogue with the school, not in a bickering manner. Sometimes or most of the times, the school and students don’t have mutual perspectives or interests; that is where the SRC comes into play. We come in as the mediating factor. We come in to ensure that whilst opinions differ, mutual agreements are eventually reached by the students and school collectively. As I leave the position, I hope that the incoming chairman would be able to make the students understand better the functions of the SRC.

Q. Using a scale of 1 to 10, Can you rate the performance of the SRC as per students representation before the school management?

I cannot grade myself otherwise it would be 100 %. Let the spectators grade me. Let the students grade me themselves. Let them grade the SRC. I won’t do that.

Q. You were NESA's President as well as the Chairman of the SRC. How did you juxtapose both responsibilities with your academics?

To be candid, it has not been easy combining my responsibilities as the SRC chairman and also NESA’s President. I had my academics there also to face and it wasn’t all rosy.  However I thank my General Secretary in NESA (Jide Akanji ) and my General Secretary in SRC (Jegede Samuel). God has been helping me combine all and to Him be the Glory.

Q. If you were given the chance to come back as the SRC chairman in Crawford University, would you come back?

See, Power is not something you should hold or desire for long. I have served Crawford University as the SRC Chairman and I have given the baton to another person. I won’t love to come back to do it again even if given the chance. I have laid the foundation; let somebody else take it up. So for me, coming back to CRU to serve as the SRC chairman if given the chance, is a NO for me.

I would only come back if given the chance to serve in another capacity, like a lecturer, Visiting Professor or even maybe as the Vice Chancellor.

Notwithstanding, I would love to make impact in another environment. I have a motive and that motive is not to rest until my name is sang on the lips of all Nigerians.

Q. Effective Communication Channel between the SRC and the students was not properly done throughout the session. It was somewhat like the SRC did not communicate with the students at all in most of its dealings. At all from the onset, was there any form of a structured medium of communication by the SRC via which they intend communicating with the students and getting feedback from the students?


You see, Students have this negative impression about the SRC. Thus when we mounted the position, we took time out for definition. I mean, we defined ourselves and then we moved to ACTION. We had to define ourselves very well from the changing of its erstwhile name (mentioned earlier), gave it a new name, got complete backing from the school and made sure that no stones were left untouched in our stride to re-reckoning within the academic community.

It was after this that we tried our best in communicating with the students.

Q. Talking about communication, you will agree with me that in your 10 month tenure, I do not recall a single website, blog, BBM channel or even bulk SMS platforms being created nor utilized for effective communication with the students. It was just memos being pasted at strategic places in the school. That obviously led to what the students termed as ‘no communication’ by the SRC with the students. My question is, how did the SRC intend on communicating with the students as there was no institutionalized model or channel of communication?

Yes there was no formal medium of communication. We had many plans in place to enhance the performance of the SRC but the lack of finance hindered us. Majorly, we were communicating through the various departmental presidents to the students and we made use of memos also. If you look at the souvenirs that we gave out at the end of the session, our email is there and also the link to our quota on the school website.

The lack of finance to achieve our plans which included effective communication channel was what led us to introduce the SRC levy to the students. This would enable the incoming new members to run things more smoothly.

Q. On a lighter note, like Precedents, as a President, You are expected to have a First Lady. So who is she?

I am a young and vibrant guy so my First LADY is my Mother. She has been my support and backbone throughout my challenges as a student.

 
Q. What are your final words to the students as you prepare to graduate from the school?

Like you know me and what I would always say. Stay together and forge ahead, be determined and stay focused. Crawford University is going to be the Best in the world. So, in your own little way make impact in the school.

I still remain my one and humble self, Oluwafemi Olapade