By Saint
Omotayo Ajibola, ex-President of Nnamdi Azikiwe Hall Literary and Debating Society has spoken up on the reason for his decision to pull out of Jaw War. The expelled President who has recently come under fire for his decision to quit Jaw War at the semifinal rounds and other alleged misconducts including irresponsibility in the discharge of his duties to the society during the preparations for Jaw War has revealed to ZHPO his side of the story.
In a chat with a ZHPO correspondent Omotayo stated,
“To set the record straight, my decision to not speak at Jaw war was not out of disrespect to the Hall or the society but my frailness. I was indisposed that my internalization couldn’t get past “two paragraphs of my speech” And I had even made several attempts to get someone to take over my speech and deliver, but this proved futile as everyone had one or two things to do. I felt there was a standard that had been established by the LnD that I didn’t want to ruin with my own issues. So this birthed the “pulling out” conversation.”
However, as it was recalled that the emergency meeting held by the society revealed that Omotayo had proposed the idea of pulling out when speakers where being selected for the semifinal rounds and not when he realised he was too indisposed to speak, Omotayo expatiated as follows,
“At the point of selecting speakers for the semifinals, our preferred option was a speaker – Lanre – who was sick and the other not too desired speaker was a rookie who hasn’t spoken on any public speaking space before. This was like being caught between the anvil and the hammer. And the fact that the meeting was happening on Tuesday when the debate was on Friday further compounded the problem as we couldn’t seek for other options. The fact that I was speaking as the first speaker was in no doubt. But no one was impressed with the speeches of the two guys. At this point, several options and suggestions were pulled out, one of which was the idea of pulling out; which was even said as a passing comment with less conviction. It wasn’t even up for debate. Until Eben suggested that he was going to speak and the mood of the room changed.”
Again, discussions during the emergency meeting unveiled that Lanre, the PRO of the society and speaker in the second leg of the first round, had in spite of his illness volunteered to speak while it was Omotayo that had insisted he couldn’t speak due to his illness, and later proposed the idea that Zik Hall should pull out of Jaw War.
When asked why the decision to pull out of Jaw War was not a unanimous decision of the excos of the society but his unilateral decision, he said, “I guess I didn’t handle it well and there are lessons to be learnt. But I carried the General Secretary along every bit of the way. Albeit he had his reservations. I really do not want to drag issues with him tho. However, the exco is made up of six members, a large majority wasn’t aware. ” Responding to why some excos were not carried along, he said, “Yes, I didn’t. I drafted the letter around 7-8 pm, jaw war was just the next day. I felt the urgent need to inform the TLDS and the zik public. I thought the process would drag down the process. Now I know better.”
Furthermore, Omotayo addressed the notion of quitting Jaw War out of cowardice. He said, “The cowardice narrative is so laughable when I heard it. You mean a two-time jaw war speaker is afraid to speak. The best rookie speaker at the 2019 Jaw War is afraid to speak. The winner of Francis Adepoju Oratory Competition is afraid to speak. The Winner of Faculty of Law Intervarsity Debate is afraid to speak. The Winner of Awo Inter-hall oratory is afraid to speak. C’mon. This is funny and outrageous.”
Also speaking on the allegations of neglecting his duties as President during the Jaw War period, Omotayo explained that he stayed miles from school and that the Jaw War period was not convenient for him. In his words, “And concerning the talks of me neglecting my jaw war duties, I’d say that I had addressed this several times and my reasons are quite justifiable. I do not stay in school. I stay miles away from school. But because of my responsibility, sometimes, I used to stay overnight. However, this Jaw War period had me in a chokehold. Most of these meetings are held in the evening. Those times when I was rushing just to get home in time. My alternative was to engage or join meetings on phone or Whatsapp calls, which I did.”
When asked where exactly he stayed outside school, he said, “, I stay in my parents’ house at Iyaganku and my uncle’s at Bodija Housing Estate when it gets really late after school work. But even my uncle’s place which is like 11 km from school has a time restriction for residents.” Also, when was asked if he was absent during the Jaw War preparatory meetings because the time was clashing with other activities he was involved in, Omotayo replied, “…and yes, other activities I was invested in were clashing with my duties. Meanwhile, it would interest you that over the course of months that I served as the president, I only miss the jaw war speech hearing thing twice. And I even do WhatsApp call to meet up.”
Finally, Omotayo stated that he admitted responsibility for Zik hal’s loss in the semifinal round. “I actually do take responsibility for Zik’s loss, and I say I am sorry. But my decision to not speak was also out of my control. I know many people feel it’s just an excuse and I do not expect them to understand my position but I really am sorry”, he said. He was however asked why he left the L and D group chat when an emergency meeting was called to address his decision to pull Zik hall out of Jaw War and why he was absent from the meeting when his presence was requested and his presence would have afforded him the opportunity to state his side of the story to the L and D, he replied, “I left because I was offended by what Chizzy said. Plus he removed me as an admin immediately he dropped the message. I was shocked. It felt he had a motive before and was waiting for the right time. It was so crass and defamatory. More shocking because we had talked for over 30 minutes on phone. I didn’t feel I should be at the meeting because he already created a narrative and was running with it. I was so overwhelmed that I tendered my resignation notice. I didn’t feel I needed to be there.”
Given the discussions around further sanctions against him by the hall, ZHPO asked if he was prepared to take responsibility and submit to such sanctions, he replied, “I do not want to assume that such would happen. More because it’d be baseless. I have accepted responsibility and resigned. You want my head on a platter for missing jaw war. The same jaw war that I had represented the hall more than once and won awards for.”
In other news, the interim President of the society, Tijani Abdulkabeer has made a press release which among other things disclaims Omotayo Ajibola. Here’s a reproduced copy of the release.
Press Release: NALDS Issues Disclaimer on Omotayo Ajibola
It came to us as a shock that the president of the Nnamdi Azikiwe Literary & Debating Society (NALDS), Omotayo Ajibola, attempted to withdraw the hall from the ongoing Jaw War tournament. He singlehandedly paraded the leadership of The Literary & Debating Society (TLDS) with a false letter of withdrawal to justify this unscrupulous act.
We saw the dismay that this unilateral decision of his, without any consultation with the executive council and important stakeholders of the society caused in the late hours of Thursday, 27th, 2023, the effect that it had on the appearance of the hall the next day in the semi-finals and how it eventually jeopardized the hall’s first chance to be in the finals in the history of Jaw War.
We hereby state categorically that the said letter is a fraud and did not emanate from the society. The society and the hall management was not involved whatsoever in the decision of Omotayo Ajibola to withdraw the hall from the tournament.
Resolution of the Society
Following his notification to the house of the unilateral decision to pull out of the tournament, an emergency meeting was held on Friday, 28th 2023 to address members of the society. The meeting was presided over by the immediate past president of the society, Chiziterem Ogbonna.
The following was the outcome of the meeting:
– Omotayo Ajibola has been expelled as the president of the Nnamdi Azikiwe Hall Literary and Debating Society (NALDS).
– He is no longer a member of the NALDS.
– He is to be removed on the senator’s page of the TLDS.
– Stakeholders of NALDS would further discuss appropriate sanctions.
– Tijani Abdulkabeer installed as the interim president of the society.
SIGNED
TIJANI ABDULKABEER
Interim President, NALDS.
OLANREWAJU OYEDIJO
PRO, NALDS.
