In the words of Heraclitus, nothing is permanent except change. And is there anything that really demonstrates the beauty of the quote than finally coming to the end of one of the longest tenures UIMSA has seen—thanks to the many delays that stretched out the last academic year? Well, as the constancy of change never changes, the calendar keeps moving, and so does the UIMSA Press tradition of end-of-tenure reviews. This time, we turn our attention to the outgoing Special Duties Officer (Preclinicals), Greatness Abraham, and the question, naturally, is: did the tenure live up to his name?
Greatness Abraham assumed office on the 27th of April, 2024, after winning the 2023/2024 elections for the seat of the SDO (Preclinicals). According to Chapter 3, Article IX of the UIMSA constitution, he had 4 mandatory responsibilities. These were that he:
- Shall be responsible for the planning and organisation of the Association’s Freshers’ welcome programme
- Shall be the secretary of the Academic Committee
- Shall be responsible for the planning and organisation of the Association’s orientation programme for new preclinical students
- Shall perform all such other duties as are hereinafter assigned to him/her under other articles of this Constitution and by the Executive.
Before the elections, Greatness Abraham, the then-aspirant, proposed his manifesto to UIMSAites. It featured 6 main plans he had that fell in line with his roles as the preclinical SDO: Freshers’ Welcome Programme, Preclinical Orientation, MB Talk, Preclinical Quiz Competition, Preclinical Oratory/Debate Contest, and the Ligature Project. And in this article, we are going to retrospectively weigh these plans and how well they translated into action.
Nouvelle Nova: A Bright Start
Two weeks short of two months after he assumed power, the then-100L class just resumed at the University of Ibadan. True to his constitutional duty, his plan for them was the regular UIMSA tradition — a Freshers’ Welcome. Themed “Nouvelle Nova: A Bright Start”, the two-day event took place 11 days after they resumed—on the 21st and 22nd of June — with a fee of ₦1000. On the first day of the welcome, indoor games as well as a football match were held to promote bonding among the new classmates. The main event, which took place on the second day, featured orientation facilitated seniors from the then 200L and 300L classes. The turnout was incredible and the event was successful event altogether.
Preclinical Orientation
For the preclinical school freshers—the then-200L class, A Preclinical Orientation was planned aimed at smoothing their transition into preclinical medical school. It was themed “A Guide Through Preclinical School: Making the most of your time” and was held on the 29th of June 2024, True to the details of this plan in his manifesto, the orientation featured speakers from the 2k24 class — fresh clinical school inductees — who shared their recent experiences and offered practical advice on how to deal with the stress and workload that comes with the transition.
MB1 Talk
For his constituency—the then-300L, his plan for them — again in typical UIMSA fashion — was the MB1 talk aimed at orienting them regarding their first Medical Board Examination. It featured Dr. O. S. Oyedun, the Anatomy Department MBBS/BDS Co-ordinator, and again, seniors from the 2k24 Class. They hammered down on the mistakes students commonly make, time management, and how to make the most of the remaining preparation time. Though it fulfilled its primary purpose, it was held on January 18th, 2025 — just 25 days before the exams — despite the promise to hold it at a time when people weren’t so stressed out from preparations, which would have really been the distinguishing feature for his tenure.
Nexus: A Novel Initiative for Talent Discovery
Two novel initiatives we saw this tenure were the Preclinical Quiz and Oratory Competitions featuring the three preclinical classes with the aim of identifying preclinical talents in a bid to enable them to bag opportunities to represent the association at larger competitions. The event tagged “Nexus: A Preclinical Weekend” was held on the 30th of November 2024. It featured a spoken word piece and the quiz and oratory competitions. The Eximius and Mavericks earned the bragging rights at the end of the event, and while there was little turnout from the MB Class, for a novel project, it could be said to have been successfully executed.
Ligature Project:
Lastly on the list is the all-too-familiar Ligature Project — a recurring promise from the previous tenure and perhaps, the most anticipated plans of the currently reviewed tenure. According to the SDO’s manifesto, it was going to be “a tripartite structured project where UIMSAites who are well-grounded in several fields like research, public speaking, sports, writing, and technology” would be subject to interviews and virtual interactive sessions. The committee for the project was also going to “share opportunities for personal and career development for UIMSAites.” Two interviews did see the light of day, but the rest of the structure never took form. Virtual sessions were never convened. Shared opportunities never circulated. In truth, this wasn’t just a missed promise—it was a familiar letdown. The Ligature Project, across tenures, has become something of a myth: strongly proposed, rarely realized. And in an office that thrives on meaningful student development, the continued inability to bring this initiative fully to life raises quiet questions—about planning, about follow-through, and about whether executive candidates truly study the flaws of past tenures before stepping into office.
Conclusion
As James Deacon said, “what you see depends not only on what you look at but also where you look from”, the outcome of the weighing of this tenure is truly subjective.
Considering the tenure in and of itself, it was a successful tenure; it properly weaved the associations’ incoming freshers into the fabrics of social and academic engagement that comes with matriculation, it did not neglect the need for orientation for the 200L and 300L constituencies, who respectively had to deal with transitioning into preclinical school and a medical Board Examination. It also catered for the dysfunction that comes with identifying preclinical talents in an association where mostly clinical students get the opportunity to thrive externally, and he ultimately saw 5 out of 6 plans to fruition, giving him an 83% success rate.
However, looking through the lenses of other tenures, its reputation droops a little, especially as we saw more innovative policies forged in a bid to respond to the peculiar issues of the preclinical sets in past times. Leaving one of the plans that sold his campaign relatively unfinished, also shot the tenure in its foot, and questions whether new executives really take the time to weigh the flaws of previous tenures and come up with ways to improve upon them.
The SDO Preclinical office remains one of the most essential offices, and it’s refreshing to see it is also highly contested for. Greatness’ tenure, while it didn’t radically reinvent the office, did a decent job at fulfilling its fundamental roles and ensuring a smooth run of preclinical school in the 2023/2024 academic year. Looking forward, we hope to see more innovative policies being implemented and a strong follow-through culture in the incoming tenure.