Spending 100 days in office, going halfway through a tenure, and completing a tenure are considered milestones, in every tier of politics right from the walls of every tertiary institution up until the executive arm of the federal government. Just like in the bigger spheres of politicking, a review is done to see how well the office in question is being managed. In this case, the University of Ibadan Medical Students’ Association Press is reviewing the association’s executives to see how far they’ve gone in fulfilling the promises typed/printed in black and white on their manifestos while vying for the positions.
This article is particularly focused on the office of UIMSA’s general secretary currently occupied by Adefunke Bolatito, a medical student in her penultimate year. Miss Adefunke was co-opted into the office following the rules in the constitution to fill vacant offices after the election. After doing amazing work as the Special Duties Officer (SDO) Clinicals in the previous tenure, she was fueled by her interest in corporate speak and correspondence to go for the office of the general secretary.
Aside from her constitutional duties, Miss Adefunke promised to:
- Work with structures and precedents put in place by her predecessor with regard to research and capacity building.
- Continue on the groundwork laid down by her predecessor with regard to the renovation of the secretariat.
- Foster a cordial relationship with other members of the executive council.
In an interview with Miss Adefunke, she described her experience so far as the association’s general secretary as being on a rollercoaster. But in hindsight, she’s grateful to her committee members and other executives for making her job less daunting than it should be. Since her co-option, she has been in charge of the association’s correspondence which includes responding to letters from other schools. She orchestrated courtesy visits with the other executives to see the college’s Provost, Professor Omigbodun; Deputy Provost; Medical Librarian, Doctor Ajuwon; a professor in Paediatrics; Professor Falade; and Subdean clinicals, Doctor Obajimi. She has also been in charge of the secretariat and taking minutes at the executive meetings on demand by the president.
Miss Adefunke completed a project initiated by her predecessor before leaving the office – a research grant. It was a UIMSA X Duke partnership that was open to only 500-level and 600-level medical students. Winners were made public on the association’s official social media accounts and there was a kick-off meeting between the winners of the grants and the necessary stakeholders. She organized a capacity-building project that was quite different from her predecessor’s. It involved introducing an introductory course and then mentorship that will take place soonest. There is a collaborative work in place with Inqaba Biotech to organize a workshop for UIMSAites.
Regarding the renovation of the secretariat, she picked up from where her predecessor stopped. The previous tenure re-painted the secretariat and fixed the cabinets while Miss Adefunke is working on fixing/replacing the chairs. Unlike her time as the SDO Clinicals, she is working on carrying other executives along with her plans to allow a smooth administrative run by all means. Before the interview ended, she also left a message for UIMSAites, urging them to please pay their dues as it helps projects to get fulfilled as promised by the executives. She also wants UIMSAites to be active in whatever committee they are part of, to ensure even distribution of work and lesser workload on committee heads and other individuals.
Objectively, Miss Adefunke has taken a step to fulfil every plan in her manifesto and more within the first half of her tenure in office. We hope that her plans go well for the betterment of UIMSAites and the association itself.
Peter Adeyemo
