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One year ago, students of the University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus gathered in their numbers at the TETFUND CBT Centre to exercise their franchise in electing new set of Student Union Government (SUG) representatives into the executive, legislative and judicial councils. The election which was conducted biometricaly , was the first of its kind in the University of Nigeria and in any Nigerian campus. The highly esteemed seat of the SUG President which was contested by three candidates, saw Ugwuja Henry (Onowu) of the Department of Radiography emerge as President in a landslide victory.
The swearing-in and activities of the union was stalled due to the COVID-19 pandemic as the campus was vacated by students as a precautionary measure to curb the spread of the virus on March 23rd. However during the early days of the lockdown, the Union in conjunction with the National Association of Nigerian Students, Enugu Zone (NANS) was able to procure relief materials for students who could not make back to their respective homes. The Union also organized a number of seminars and webinars during the course of the lockdown.
In November after the PTF announced new measures for public gathering, the SUG was officially sworn, with a Speaker elected to lead the House of Representatives in person of Chibata ThankGod Kingsley of the Department of Business Management. The event which was strictly by invitation saw the BrosJ led administration officially hand over after leading the SUG for two academic sessions.
The announcement of resumption after 9months of school closure and eventual emergence was an opportunity for the SUG to prove itself to the student community. The SUG was faced with many challenges in being true student voices. Amongst these challenges included and still include; poor electricity connection in hostels, poor hostel living condition,water scarcity, leaky sewages, etc. While some have praised the SUG for how it handled these challenges, majority have lambasted and accused the Union for being insensitive to the plight of students who elected them.
A little schism between the Executive and Legislative Council occurred during the first sitting of the House of Representatives which has stalled passage of the Union's budget.
While we congratulate the SUG one year after, it must be reminded that it has been elected to represent the interest of the student community and not personal interests which could be detrimental to the welfare of all and sundry.
