According to the ASSEES constitution, Section 32, Subsection 4, the PRO of the association should preside at the meetings of the editorial board of the association’s press.
Amidst the hustle and bustle of examinations, the Association of English Education Students (ASSEES) had its first congress today, March 7. The congress had in attendance the president of the association, Tosin Adesokan, the vice president, Adeyewa Motolani, the PRO, Oyadeyi Ayomide, and other executives.
The congress, which was slated for 10:00 a.m., commenced at 10:18 a.m. with the opening prayer by Comrade Blessing.
However, things took a drastic turn when each executive was requested to give an update about their respective offices. The PRO, Oyadeyi Ayomide, informed the congressmen and congresswomen about the resuscitation of some social media accounts belonging to the association.
Just then, the PRO for the faculty, Adegoke Adesanmi, known as Gen. Sam, asked the association PRO about the news agency – Infocus News Agency. To the uttermost surprise of all present, she claimed, “I’m trying to meet up with them. I’ve not seen anyone of them.”
This response prompted Gen. Sam to further ask, “What do you mean you’ve not seen them? Have they disappeared?”
Assessing her claim, can one state that the PRO had been negligent in her duties? Does she mean that the most active news agency in the Faculty of Education, fully registered under the wings of ACJOAU, is invisible to her?
But interestingly, the PRO ironically claimed that she was still trying to meet with the agency and had not seen any members of the agency.
How sure are we that she has been discharging her duties properly as the association’s PRO, since she resumed office? Or is she just there for popularity?
InFocus News Agency never missed a production week out of over ten weeks of production, yet she stated she had not met anyone from the agency.
To jiggle the PRO’s memories, it is to be noted that she had previously scheduled a meeting with the news agency in October 2023, but due to some circumstances, had to reschedule, with a promise to get back to the Editor-in-Chief. Every week, every day, she sat in various classes with some members of the agency who are her coursemates, yet she failed to meet them or anyone else.
Prior to the commencement of the harmattan semester, the budget of the news agency was forwarded to Madam PRO, but no positive response was heard about it. Is she not meant to be present at the news agency’s meeting at least twice in a semester if she really is discharging her duties as the PRO?
The PRO of Education and English students apparently needs a grammar lesson herself. Sadly, the irony in her statement is as big as the Oxford English Dictionary!
Conclusively, the president of the association, Tosin Adesokan, made it known that there is no independent news agency in Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU). He noted that any news agency must first belong to a department before they can be officially recognised as a member of ACJOAU. How do we then justify the claim of Madam PRO about the agency? Even after being recognised by the Association of English Education Students and ACJOAU. Is this a lackadaisical attitude? Or did she merely choose to ignore this part of her duties?