IPC charges students to be politically involved

Peluola during her presentation

The International Press Centre Lagos (IPC) in furtherance of its programme, Strengthening Citizens’ Engagement in Electoral Process (SCEEP), which is supported by ACTIONAID Nigeria and UKAID through the Department for International Development (DFID), has held a one-day workshop, Campus Conversation on Governance, Elections and Related Electoral Issues, primarily for students of the Lagos State Polytechnic (LASPOTECH).

The workshop held at Ikorodu on Thursday, January 18, 2018 and came on the heels of similar workshops which had held for students of the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Yaba College of Technology (YABATECH) and other higher institutions in Lagos.

With the workshops aimed at students to sensitise them on the need to be actively involved in the governance issues of their schools and residential communities as a precursor to involvement in the political and governmental affairs of their nation, Nigeria, the LASPOTECH edition of the workshops dubbed Lagos Campus Leaders’ Dialogue, had Mary George Peluola, Senior Programme Staff, Women Advocate Research and Documentation Centre (WARDC), as the first presenter.

She spoke on the topic, On-Campus and Off-Campus Realities: Articulating Youth Activism as Agents of Development, and began by asking the students the problems they were having in their schools.

Several of them spoke out. A LASPOTECH student said they are treated like primary school pupils while another said they were not allowed a proper Yuletide holiday as their rector said they had to resume the day after Boxing Day not mindful of the fact that some of them are resident outside the state.

Yet another said they are being sent out of classes for not having paid their school fees while the norm is that they should pay before their exams.

A student of Bayero University Kano said they have the problem of language barrier in the school and mode of dressing is also a problem as they are expected to dress like the indigenes.

A Caleb University student also complained of food scarcity on their campus. Food scarcity which someone else termed to mean that food is expensive on their campus.

After they had listed their problems, she asked them since the problems are there, do they pretend they aren’t and fold their arms?

She then enlightened them that ways they can fight for their rights and needs include boycotts, rallies, strikes, street marching, sit-in protest, hunger strike and even online.

She urged them to be active in their communities and not to support politicians based on religion but party programmes and never to be tools for politicians.

Lanre Arogundade, Director, IPC, was the second presenter, and he spoke on Engaging the Electoral Process: Youth as Vanguard in Deepening the Democratic Process, saying that wherever and whatever level they are, they can be involved in the electoral process and that participation is about knowledge to be informed to know what’s going on.

He told them they must know about the Constitution and also the Electoral Act as it is what contains all the guidelines and regulations of elections, and concluded that they must be actively involved in their departments’ activities as democracy is about accountability and transparency and once they involve in school politics and governance, the participation spirit will be in them henceforth and they will then be able to participate in governmental politics.

Francis Abayomi was the programme moderator and while reacting after each presentation, he made the students understand that complaints will not solve their problems but participation. He adviced them to always come together to discuss their problems and solving problems is not about demonstrations all the time as dialogue also leads to resolution.

He also charged them to get their permanent voters’ cards (PVC) and vote for the right candidates in general elections.