By Sailor
In every thriving society 'Security' is a premium requirement. It entails taking preventive measures to reduce vulnerabilities, minimizing risk and taking remedial actions where prevention fails.
Security measures enhance safety, prevent incidents, protect property, and contribute to the overall well-being of individuals and communities. Without proper security measures in place, businesses risk losing their valuable assets to theft or damage and this has been a reoccurring case in Nnamdi Azikiwe Hall of residence.
The Weakness of the Defense Team
In Zikhall, the onus of security lies on the doorstep of the Defense council to provide a modicum of security and protection around the hall, bringing a sense of safety for the members of the hall. But it must be said the efforts of the Defense team led by the Defense minister, in the person of Eda Oluwaferanmi has left so much to be desired, with the porous state of security and policing within the hall.
The post of the Defense Minister is not really by Democratic practice, but rather by 'Appointment', as most of, if not all the past Defense Ministers were selected from the Defense organization of the hall, with the election process being a mere formality and rubber-stamp of the whole program. The case of Oluwaferanmi Eda, is no different, as he was hand picked by the Defense council to stand as the next man up for the job.
Although it is a common practice in Zikhall that the Defense Minister be a member of the Defense team and he can only be chosen by the members of the team, it begs the question, why do we need their names on the ballot box?, as they're constantly handpicked and running unopposed. Which makes it difficult to gauge their popularity among Zikites and lend little credence to the practice. That is a discussion for another day. Today we focus on the tenure of Oluwaferanmi, so far as the defense minister, the promises he churned out during his manifesto and how far he has gone to accomplish his planned out objectives.
Failure to Actualize Constitutional Duties
Firstly, a look at the Zikhall constitution gives us an insight into the roles and duty of the Defense Minister. Like it is stated in the constitution, the Minister of Defense shall be in charge of all security affairs, he shall be the Chief Investigative Officer of the Hall and he shall be a member or has been a member of the military, paramilitary or a vigilante group. Although it is not known that Mr. Eda is a part of the military or any Paramilitary group, but as a part of the Zikhall Defense team, he qualifies as a member of a Vigilante group.
In Terms of the hall's security affairs, it must be said that Feranmi performance has not really lived up to expectation considering the fact that there was very little expectations coming from this side. This session has highlighted a great lapse or lack of security and vigilant monitoring of the hall by the defense team, with so many theft being reported with the stealing of the solar power and panels installed in the halls reading rooms standing as a major example.
Earlier at the start of the first semester, a few days into the resumption of the new session, it was reported that the Solar light and panel installed in reading rooms by the previous administration in blocks B and C have been stolen and vandalized by unsuspecting assailants. This highlighted the first breach in the security of the hall, as a project which was actualized a few weeks to the end of the previous administration was easily lost to theft and there was no Intel or information on how it happened. That should have been an eye opener for the Defense Minister and his team of Defense council, and spur up proper security to monitor and stop events like this from happening in future, but alas that would prove to only be tip of the iceberg.
Another incident that highlights the poor security in the hall is the regular theft of electricity cables in the hall. From the pumping machine cable that was stolen from D block at the start of the second semester, to the constant electric cable theft in the hall, resulting in constant lack of electricity on these floors.
It was no surprise, when the Hall warden earlier in the year, on the 12th of January, 2024, had to share a broadcast to the hall's groups, galvanizing the students to be more security conscious about the constant case of cable theft that had become prevalent in the hall.
In his words
"...I need to inform us of the need for us to be more security conscious in the hall. There have been cases of theft in the recent time. Cables were stolen and pump wires were cut at some points.
This morning, I was in front of D block around some minutes past 8 and I saw one person with our ladder coming from Independence hall. And fortunately one of the supervisors met him in front of my office, dropping the ladder. He challenged him, asking him who authorised him to carry the ladder, he began to stammer that he went to use it somewhere. Before we know it he started to run away, eventually students ran after him but he escaped through the Bush at the back of C block.
I also heard that a surface pump and wires were stolen in Independence hall.
With this, if you see a strange person, challenge him or call the supervisor around. Let us protect our property
Thank you."
Just recently, last week thursday to be precise, The Hall warden had to come out again to post a special announcement to the Hall groups, regarding another case of theft of two circuit breakers in the box that feeds C Block's extension causing the affected rooms not to have electricity, until the box is fixed, and with the stolen items replaced.
This and many more have been the case of multiple reported cases of theft and thieves moving freely around the hall with little or no proactive measures taken by the Defense Minister and his team to rectify this situation. It begs the question, what is the job and main prerogative of the defense team? Is it only to raid for hot plates, like they did at the close end of last semester? or to try and provide a solid security vigilant network that should stop the constant theft of the hall's resources and structures which eventually affects the effective running of the hall as a whole?
Manifesto Promises and Failures
Most times politicians just put what will sway the populace in their manifesto, and not what is actually viable and can be actualized. Such is the case of Mr. Eda, who even his manifesto did not contain more than two objectives, failed to actualize none of it.
Oluwaferanmi, in his manifesto, reiterated his desire to build upon the existing structures and procedures that we have within the Zik Hall defense team to see to the effective and timely policing of the hall by the Zik hall defense team. But that is still up for discussion as there has been little in terms of policing and security within the hall. He also alluded to having at least three members of the defense team on each floor for effective policing and security has achieved little to no result, with the result up to the jury.
His second objective as read on his manifesto, says "To work together with the incoming administration to help tighten the security within the hall by pushing for the installation of catchers and Internal locks within all rooms in the hall. It is better to have structures in place that further help secure properties within each room, as prevention we know is better than cure." This has been an absolute hoax as most of the rooms in the hall are left with no catchers or lock to safeguard these rooms. Most students have to fend for themselves in these areas to provide this basic security for themselves. This is just another case of promising what you can't achieve just to sway the people.
He also pointed out his plans to train the defense team by the UI Man O' war group, another plan subject to scrutiny as there had been no such programme organized for the Zikhall Defense team at the time of writing this report.
In a simple conclusion, It must be said that apart from his constitutional duties where he came up short, Oluwaferanmi's innovative intervention to curb the ills of the hall, such as smoking, vandalism and theft — that have become rampant within the hall in recent times, have showcased the incapability of him and his team to arrest the situation, leading to a failed and lackluster tenure as the Defense Minister and chief security officer of Nnamdi Azikiwe hall. And it must be said that many might view the role of the Defense Minister as a minimal part of the Executive body, but it plays vital role in actualization a thorough process of administrative function of the hall, and so a failure in this part of the executive body will only spell doom for the society as a whole, as it has been with the case of the Zikhall. It is no gain saying that security should be placed at the top of priority in every administration in order to have a smooth management of the hall as a whole.
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