Twitter Interview on Saturday, 12 January, 2012. Issues discussed
ranged from his work with Stepping Stones Nigeria, tohis recent
suspension by the SUG parliament. Here are the excerpts.
@Ghpsi Good morning and welcome to our #StateOfTheUnion interview with
@psychero82, current Uniuyo SUG President!
@psychero82: @Ghpsi Good morning my comrade.
@Ghpsi: To join the discourse, just add the tag #StateOfTheUnion to your tweets!
@Ghpsi @psychero82, What motivated you to choose Psychology as your
course of study? #StateOfTheUnion
@psychero82: @Ghpsi I came in for psychology because I wanted to
affect people's lives positively. #StateOfTheUnion
@Ghpsi: @psychero82 Really? What did Psychology offer that other
courses did not? #StateOfTheUnion
@psychero82: @Ghpsi Yea. A simple definition of psychology has it that
its a science which studies human behaviour and the thought process.
Its does not only study behaviours and thought processes, it finds
solutions to negative behaviours and it finds solutions to conflicting
thought processes. #StateOfTheUnion
@Ghpsi: @psychero82 Before you became SUG President, you were quite
involved with advocacy with regard to Stepping Stones Nigeria.
@psychero82: @Ghpsi Yea I was. #StateOfTheUnion
@Ghpsi: @psychero82 How did advocacy with Stepping Stones Nigeria
begin? #StateOfTheUnion
@psychero82: @Ghpsi That was before I even started my university
program. It started in 2006 and was all about protecting the rights of
children. #StateOfTheUnion
@Ghpsi: @psychero82 In your view, what caused d cases of child
molestation in the name of witchcraft which your org stood against?
#StateOfTheUnion
@psychero82: @Ghpsi A lot of issues contributed but the proactive
response by His Excellency the Executive Governor of Akwa Ibom State
by passing into law the Child Rights Act has arrested the issue to a
large extent. #StateOfTheUnion
@Ghpsi: @psychero82 Are student election cycles too expensive in your
opinion? Does this hinder "performance" by elected officials?
#StateOfTheUnion
@psychero82: @Ghpsi Its a sacrifice. It should not hinder performance
in any way. #StateOfTheUnion
@Ghpsi: @psychero82 How were you able to fund your election campaign?
And have you 'recovered' what you spent? #StateOfTheUnion
@psychero82: @Ghpsi I was self sponsored and I didn't come to the
union to recover anything. People who enter unionism with such
mentality will not serve the Nigerian Students! I do not consider how
much I spent to get here but how much I can contribute to build our
union. #StateOfTheUnion
@Ghpsi: @psychero82 How then do you reconcile that with the
allegations of embezzlement against you? #StateOfTheUnion
@psychero82: @Ghpsi Thank God you called "allegations". If I call you
a thief, does that make you one??? What is happening is political and
I am happy to tell the entire Nigerian students the true
#StateOfTheUnion . Our solidarity constitution makes provision for
pre-bugetary expenditures which should be included in the budget when
it's eventually presented. #StateOfTheUnion
@Ghpsi: @psychero82 How do you define "political"? Because it is
alleged that you made unapproved expenses of over N800,000
#StateOfTheUnion
@psychero82: @Ghpsi It is political in the sense that the whole
allegation lacks basis. There is no govt that does not engage in extra
budgetary expenditures. The truth of the matter is I swore and Oath to
protect the integrity of our Union. The problem people are having with
me is that I do not bring money sacrificially contributed by the good
people of Tuskers' Republic which were meant for constitutionally
specified purposes for them to share.
@Ghpsi: @psychero82 But isn't the pre-budgetary expenditure limited to
N5,000? #StateOfTheUnion
@psychero82: @Ghpsi My comrade, we needed more than N5000 to
inaugurate the SUG house. Who would have appropriated such funds when
there was no parliament??? #StateOfTheUnion
@Ghpsi: @psychero82 What then is the position of the school
management? #StateOfTheUnion
@psychero82: @Ghpsi The management has only allowed the union to stab
itself. Our constitution has been disregarded by mgt on several
occasions and we have not challenged them as a union. 4.0 CGPA was
placed as qualification for commissioners in the last elections which
is not as stipulated in our constitution; the election guidelines for
the last elections was contrary to our constitutional provisions and
we did nothing about it. Yet today, our parliament quoted the same
constitution for mgt to honour. Is that not betrayal? #StateOfTheUnion
@Ghpsi: @psychero82 With this fiasco, do you think the extra year you
sacrificed to serve the union has been in vain? #StateOfTheUnion
@psychero82: @Ghpsi I have sacrificed so much for the union I hold
dear to my heart, but I do not think it is in vain. The power lies in
the hands of the people! The parliament cannot be greater than the
entirely Nigerian students. The powers of the congress shall be
invoked. The Nigerian students have the right to know the truth and I
hope you will help me tell them the truth they need to know.
#StateOfTheUnion
@Ghpsi: @psychero82 Rounding up, what would you count as achievements
of your govt so farwhat do you still have planned? #StateOfTheUnion
@psychero82: @Ghpsi Without trying to blow my own trumpet, the
achievements of the Luckyimoh Inyang led SUG has been enormous. May I
respectfully commend the foundation that has been laid by past union
leaders. Firstly, the temporal union secretariat has been given a face
lift. I have visited other union secretariats and what we now have
deserves commendation. The secretariat is the image of the union. We
have plans to atleast lay the foundation of our new secretariat at
main camp by God 's grace. This administration joined the rest of the
world to mark the world Heart day where students had the opportunity
to free check-ups and awareness. This administration is also very
interested in the social life of the Nigerian student and therefore
organised a thank you party and the Eyen 9 ja show and more in the
kitty this semester. We plan to hold a general congress as well is
give out scholarships to deserving Nigerian students. These and lots
more are in store for the Nigerian students for the remain six months
we have. #StateOfTheUnion
@Ghpsi: @psychero82 What about student advocacy? Students often feel
the Union doesn't speak for them and often have no one to speak up for
them in such cases like victimization by lecturers. What r u doing
about this? #StateOfTheUnion
@psychero82: @Ghpsi Student advocacy is not a one-off activity of the
union, it is continuous. We will continue to press for basic amenities
to be provided for students to make for a conducive learning
environment. However, it will be challenging when parliament and
executives are not speaking with one voice. A house that fights
against itself cannot stand! You see, some of our students are timid.
I have never gotten any complain from a student of victimisation from
a student of victimisation by a lecturer. Let's have a case and see if
we will not push it. #StateOfTheUnion
@Ghpsi: @psychero82 Maybe because they don't even know you. The only
time most students see SUG is when Indomie is being shared!
#StateOfTheUnion
@psychero82: @Ghpsi #smiles# I am very accessible. 08064896057 I am
here to serve. #StateOfTheUnion
@Ghpsi: @psychero82 We do wish you the best in your endeavours and
thank you for taking time to address these issues #StateOfTheUnion
@psychero82: @Ghpsi I am really grateful. I hope the Nigerian students
who massively voted me in were following. I say a big thx to you all
and promise to always stand by my campaign promises. God bless
Tuskers' Republic! There is hope for our union and our country.
#StateOfTheUnion
@Ghpsi: That's a wrap! Thanks to everybody that took part.
Question is, has the current SUG lived upto expectation?
Follow SUG 001 @psychero82: and @Ghpsi @pweezy2012
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