Op-Ed: 33rd LASUSU Elections: How It Is Going, Where It is Heading

Similoluwa Ifedayo

 The tenure of the 32nd Lagos State University Students' Union (LASUSU) President, Comrade Adelakun Moses Adeoye, who defeated his three opponents with a total of 2,208 votes on Thursday, 28th of April, 2022 is gradually coming to an end, with a good number of achievements to show for it. 

 However, there is a state of a current leadership succession crisis in the Faculty of Law. There are three rumoured aspirants from the Faculty of Law, of which there are two front-runners, Honourable Boluwatife Kolawole fondly called Bolucarry and Comrade Ayodeji Olayiwole popularly known as Stakeholder. 

Now, these three aspirants, Honourable Boluwatife, Comrade Ayodeju and Honourable Akinyemi David are not green horns when it comes to campus politics. 

 For instance, Hon. Boluwatife Kolawole (Bolucarry) is an honourable member of the 32nd LASUSU SPC, a compere, a public speaker, and a member of the Lasu Debates Society(LSUDS). Last year, he intended running for the Public Relations Officer's position which he wanted to use as a stepping stone to his present ambition (LASUSU Presidency) but he stepped down to support his friend, Comr. Ayodeji Olayiwole aka Stakeholder. Even so, Bolucarry is quite popular among the new intakes of the Faculty of Law, as some even identify themselves as a Bolucarrier. 

On the other hand is Comrade Ayodeji Olayiwole (Stakeholder), who contested for the office of LASUSU Welfare Director and was victorious. Now, he wants to lead again as President of the Union while Honourable Akinyemi David is an honourable and also a former President of the Lagos State Polytechnic now the Lagos State University of Technology. One similar trait among these three individuals is their involvement in politics. 

 Now, there are feelers among the students of the Faculty of Law as they are worried about the division of the votes which will affect the Faculty's chances during the elections. The worry is that the votes meant for one representative from the Faculty of Law, to give the Faculty a higher chance will be divided among the three aspirants or more as the numbers may increase. A question that needs to be answered is if the ban is lifted and another aspirant emerges, what will be the fate of LASULAWS? There are reports in circulation that LASULAWS is attracting unhealthy attention and this will result in divided supporters thereby giving the Faculty of Arts and Education and every other Faculty higher chances. The developments have sent signals of imminent crisis at the Faculty unless it's well managed and quenched. 

 Currently, the trajectory of the pendulum, in the coming 33rd LASUSU Presidential elections, is still unclear but beyond the two leading candidates, the undecided one and soon-to-be-known aspirants also have outside chances. Beyond the proxy conflict, debates and feelings, the three aspirants have some merits and feats, to a reasonable level. It's left to the electorates to make the choice among the aspirants after the hearing their manifestoes and elaborate plans. 

 Whether the political moves by the different parties will influence the electorate's decision, it is the LASU constituency that will bear the consequence, good or bad. The hope is that their ambition for power and position isn't only for their interests or to boost their CV but for the interest of LASUites and the institution as a whole.