The 2021/2022 session has seen great setbacks, and even right now, many will agree that it's still ‘walking’ on eggshells. Having resumed sometime in October from the ASUU strike, the Mass Communication department of the university of Jos, held her long overdue welcome special on Friday, the 30th of November, for her current new students. Immediately after the welcome special which ended successfully, the association held her annual Congress which began at 1:25pm.
Opening prayer was said by one representative each from the Christian and Muslim community of the association.
The agenda for the meeting included;
Bitrus, 300 level, advised that other things be added for students to showcase their talents through contents.
PRESSING ISSUES
The Secretary-General; Ebule Margaret-Mary, presided over the meeting.
At about 1:47pm, the meeting began proper. The Secretary-General apologised for the unavailability of the minutes of the last Congress, she said “ we are very sorry but the minute of the last minute is not in our possession but with the H.O.D who's currently unavailable and we do not have access to his main office where the minute is. I'll be reading a report from Sewuese Naze's blog- she's a 400 level student and a blogger, please do well to follow her”. After the report, the floor was left open for questions and a student from the 400 level class, Mr Isaac Itse, asked that the meeting follow due process. He noted that the report which was read was not adopted. Corrections were taken and Mercy Adunkpe; 400 level student adopted the report which was seconded by Kapi Yusuf, 400 level student.
Moving forward, the President addressed the house and enjoined the students to stay until the end as, in his words, ‘the meeting would not take more than an hour’. A large number of the students were in attendance and the meeting progressed smoothly.
1. Past administration and misappropriation of funds
2. Issue of dress code
3. Issue of AMCOMS website
4. Issue of sports
5. Issue of ID cards
Contrary to an earlier statement by the Secretary-General which informed the house that her administration began on an empty account balance, Agok Mercy; former president by appointment, stood to state that her administration did not leave the account empty. Obadiah Livingstone the current Financial Secretary who was also in the last administration, attested to this and read out a statement from his phone which re-informed the house that #20,080 naira was in fact handed over to the Staff Advicer and the H.O.D. He also apologised for the former misinformation.
On discussions concerning the agenda, some issues which were raised include;
1. Dress code: a 100 level student, Terfa, raised the issue of inappropriate dress code ‘especially among the girls’. According to him, short and tight black skirts with slits very high are provocative and should be frowned upon. He added that the ties should also be worn at all times to enable people differentiate Mass Communication students from students of the ‘Accounting department’ of the university.
2. AMCOMS website: Jide Omobodunde; the sitting Provost Marshal addressed the house with information about the website. He said the website would be upgraded with past questions and relevant PDF materials.
3. On sports: Benjamin Jerry informed the house that sporting activities shall begin in full next semester and details will be communicated via the various platforms. Terfa, 100 level advised that more sports be introduced so the ladies would not be left out but it was cleared that sporting equipments are limited and it is a fault from the school authorities.
4. Issue of ID Cards: Peter James, 100 level complained that his class had not been issued ID cards, souvenirs and handbooks. The President apologised as according to him, ‘ dues have not been paid adequately and it is from the dues these things are produced. For those who haven't paid, please endeavor to do so’.
On AOB:
- Fatima Umar, 400 level student introduced the NIPR student chapter. She pointed out the benefits attached to being a student member as aspiring PR practitioners. She went on to inform the house that registrations would begin soon and students should do well to join.
- Some SUG aspirants; Dishel Sunday Dishel- aspirant for Secretary-General, and Mathias Aondofa- aspirant for Welfare Secretary, were given a minute each to address the house. Dishel Sunday promised that he would push for the establishment of scholarships for star students and also a counseling unit for mental health.
The issue of political apathy was brought up by Senator Kapi Yusuf. He stressed that students should contest for positions because not everyone would be Journalists, PR practitioners, broadcasters, e.t.c. ‘ there are more than 9 positions at the Faculty level and only two seats are occupied by AMCOMSITES which happens to be one of the most populous departments in the faculty. This causes underrepresentation during decision making’. He concluded that being politically inclined gives you an opportunity to meet dignitaries like the Vice Chancellor and the Dean.
The Vice-President also spoke on the issue of voting. She said some people collect bribes to vote others who are not from the department.
The welfare Secretary; Generous Dabien, informed the house that the bathrooms assigned to the department had issues with the engine and advised people to use their bathrooms at home before going to school.
Key points to note:
- wrong dress codes attracts a punishment. The appropriate footwears are black cover shoes, no sneakers or crocs on the dress code. Any defaulter would be sent home to put on the right thing or stopped from attending lectures that day.
- participation in politics is very important. Forms would now be sold for not more than #3,000 naira so students should go for positions as much as possible. -Senator Kapi Yusuf
Before the meeting came to a close, the President asked all his executives to introduce themselves for the benefit of most especially the new students. Click this link to meet your leaders https://sewuesenaze.blogspot.com/2021/08/meet-your-leaders-amcoms-elections-2021.html
After all was said, the meeting was adjourned by Itse Peter until the 2022/2023 session.
Closing prayer was said by one representative each from the Christian and Muslim community of the department; Naze Sewuese, 400 level and Hide Omobodunde, 200 level.
- Report compiled by Naze Sewuese.
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