DELSU: Odifili Bows Out As SUG President, Lists 28 Achievements

HANDOVER CEREMONY: SPEECH BY THE OUTGOING PRESIDENT H.E. AMB. CYPRIAN ODIFILI ON THE 28TH OF SEPTEMBER , 2022.

The Denouement, The Bow Out and the Path Taken.

Protocols!

It is true, the saying that “anything with a beginning, inevitably must have an ending also. It is to that stage of taking a humble bow that we have indeed come.

To, my “Delsuites First”, my administration have come to an end today, to the glory of the grand master of the universe, God Almighty, and also to the benefit of Delsuites. Truly, I have been waiting for this day, and I am glad that it has finally come.

By the special grace of Almighty God, in Who’s strength I was able to judiciously serve you in this highly exalted office of the 001, alongside my capacity exco members which was elected in September 2021 and inaugurated on January 12, 2022, thereafter by my amiable and pace setter Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Andy Ogochukwu Egwunyenga, the comrade VC.

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It is pertinent to note that, after the inauguration, there were indeed so much high expectations, hence we could not afford to drag foot in carrying out the duties of our various offices accordingly. But I must mention that the journey thus far has not been simple. Particularly the Office of the President, which I occupy.

I am aware that some students in the course of our administration did voice out their dissatisfaction over some issues of concern, which we could or may not have have the wherewithal to address, please permit me to apologise to those of you that are in this category, and I urge you to please understand that our powers are limited and time which is usually of essence was also too short for us to perform many miracles.

Moreso, I implore everyone, not to constantly be quick to criticize leaders without making efforts to understand why things are the way they are. Passing judgement on issues that one has very little or no information about, may put you in the wrong. There is undoubtedly more than what meets the eye, and there are explanations for every outcome, positive or negative of every leadership.

Therefore, let me state that everything recorded, success or failure, are consequence of a direct reflection of the environment in which we worked.

At this juncture my most distinguished, I want to sincerely thank the university management for the support and solidarity my administration enjoyed. To all my executives, Parliamentarians and members of the Presidency and also to all Delsuites, I thank you all for the unwavering support throughout my administration.

However, I must point out that despite the difficulties we encountered while in office, we continued to work to ensure that the interests of Delsuites came first. As a result, we maintained the union’s voice, because we refused to back down and insisted that Delsuites be given a priority.

Few illustration of these actions are as follows;

1. We worked toward stopping the extortion of students by cyber cafe operatives in campus.

2. We Stopped the sales of expired products in campus, and ensured that culprits were sanctioned.

3. We Ensured the Regulation of bike fare (awaiting implementation) .

4. We Cooperated with the university management to ensure the smooth running of the University academic calendar despite ASUU strikes.

5. We Ensured the sustenance of instalment mode of school fees payment for students.

6. We Ensured the reopening of school fees payment portal for students after closure for about four times.

7. We ensured that even during exams students still made payment of school fees.

8. We Ensured the stoppage of illegal eviction of students by Landlords. This we achieved by collaborating with Abraka Community Youths.

9. We Supported students in areas of school fees payment, accommodation and general welfare.

10. We Ran an intellectual-oriented student union.

11. We Established a direct channel of communication between students and the SUG via the [email protected]. The first of its kind in history.

12. We Ensured the sustenance of the student work scheme program, and ensured that the capacity was increased to accommodate more students.

13. We Ensured the extension of the student work scheme program to OLEH Campus of the university, for the benefits of our students in Oleh.

14. We Promoted talents, intellectuals, social activities and entrepreneurship on campus.

15. We secured CAC registration of businesses for forty (40) students through the Commissioner for Youths Development and Commissioner for Primary Education.

16. We Renovated the deplorable SUG Pavilion.

17. We Secured Approval from the university management to the Upgrade/construction of a state of the art SUG Pavilion.

18. We lobbied the university management to facilitate the timely fixing of gone bad street lightening systems inside the campus for security and beautification.

19. My administration Launched the maiden SUG Entrepreneurial Community program with a start-up fund of more than fifty (50) million naira (through the support of Hon. Prince Ned Nwoko, the university management and other well meaning individuals) for the benefit of students.

20. We Secured an entrepreneurial training program for about 500 students through the SUG entrepreneurial program initiative.
Although because of Tenure-elapsing, my administration is not privileged to execute the training proper but we pray and keep faith with the succeeding administration to drive home this dream and vision.

21. Also, we worked in synergy with Abraka Divisional Police Officer to ensure a convincing reduction of cases of police brutality and equally secured bail for students, off charges.

22. We worked toward the regulation of House Rents for students in collaboration with DELSU Abraka Liaison Office/ Abraka Community Youths.

23. We stood against and prevented Shuttle fare hikes on campus in the interest of our students.

24. We Promoted Sports Development through the organisation of sporting competitions for students, with encouraging prizes.

25. We make bold to state that under my leadership, Delsu produced a National Executive (Assistant Secretary General) in NANS.

26. We also ensured the regulation of printing rates of passport photographs for students on campus.

27. We Initiated the process for the regulation of the prices of all goods and services on campus (awaiting management implementation).

28. We recommended the compulsory introduction of the Microsoft Imagine Academy course for students (100l) to help them get more knowledge about the ICT world, amongst other successes.

Let me use this medium to congratulate all the elected members of the 29th Assembly of the Student Union. I urge you to learn from our experiences, consolidate on our successes, and outperform our administration in line with the saying that “the son should be greater than his father”.

On this note, I wish the newly elected executives a safe drive down their tenure. I pray that God gives you the grace to deliver. The task ahead are enormous, stay true to your plan, develop teak skins, do not take everything to heart, do not rubbish the effort of others, do your best, and leave the rest to God.

I sincerely appreciate the University Management and my pacesetter Vice-Chancellor for granting me an enabling environment to lead. Special appreciation also goes to my Dean of students Prof. Chukwujindu M.A. Iwegbue for the fatherly guidance throughout my administration. To my predecessor, RT. Hon. Solomon Mukolo, I thank you for always being available.

I will draw the curtain by appreciating my family, my friends and my team for their support throughout my administration. I say “Thank You in no small measure”.

I am moving forwards, and I will be glad if we all help to hold each other’s hand to stand tall as we all continue to journey through live.

With Aluta salute, I take my bow!

God bless Delta State University, God bless Delta State, and may God also bless the federal republic of Nigeria.

– H.E. Amb. Cyprian Odifili,
President, SUG, DELSU,
Jan. 12 2022 – Sept. 28th 2022.