Tales of Leadership (04): An Interview with the Erstwhile 2K24 Majority Leader, Babatunde Dauda

This is the fourth of the Tales of Leadership series. In the first three, we had conversations with the majority leaders of the preclinical arm of UIMSA. In this, we spoke with Babatunde Dauda, the former majority leader of the 2K24 class, the current 500-level set. Mr Dauda was a senator for four consecutive tenures and was the majority leader in three of those. He spoke about the peculiarities of his experience at the beginning, including how he balanced academics and leadership, and why he transitioned into an executive position at UIMSA.

Q: Can you introduce yourself?

Babatunde: My name is Babatunde Dauda. I was the previous majority leader of the 2K24 class, and I am the current General Secretary of UIMSA.

Q: Your class’s name is Impeccabilem. What led to it?

Babatunde: It was not like the class was actually named Impeccabilem. We were the first set of students to resume online classes. We had a study group that was created by Derek, and it was what we were using for class and other academic stuff before we elected class reps. It wasn’t actually the main group. In fact, the group is almost dead. So, I just decided to look for a creative name for it. I was going to name it Impeccables, but you know the trend then–in fact, it’s really laughable now because nobody does that again–to latinise names. In fact, there has been talk in our class group about changing it to something else, maybe a Yoruba name.

Q: Maybe like Ọká?

Babatunde: No, we are not doing Ọká [2K21’s initial class name]. We are looking for something very creative, something homegrown. So, I just latinized ‘Impeccable Physicians’, that is, Medicos Impeccabilem. Somehow, it just got adopted as the class name. I think it’s because some of us were really active and friendly in the beginning, so people agreed with the name.

Q: You were the class rep from 100-level. How was the first election like? Was there anything unique about it?

Babatunde: There was actually something unique about it because Unique was one of the contestants. The SDO then, who was one of the first 200-level students to be SDO – Peace Eze, joined our class group and informed us about how elections go in UIMSA. Unlike in other universities, she told us that UIMSA would be the one conducting the election. We had about 6 people running for the two spots–myself, Unique, Elijah, Mubarak Alimi, Rahmat and someone else I can’t remember. Although the constitution states that the maximum number of senators in the 100-level class is 3, it was customary to have only 2 till Obeya fought for it to ensure fairness and gender balance. We started the campaigns, and after the election, I had the highest number of votes, followed by Unique. Every election in the class was very competitive until recently. In fact, I was surprised that we didn’t have up to 6 people running for the Senate posts in the last election.

Q: Was there anything about the campaign and election process?

Babatunde: Well, the election was fair. But what I have noticed about student elections is that they’re always based on personal relationships.

Q: Yes, I think we once talked about this, and I said it shouldn’t be, but you were like a leader should know how to balance personal relationships and the plans in the manifesto.

Babatunde: Even at the national level, it’s based on relationships. There’s always a form of favouritism directly and indirectly. About plans taking the major part of campaigns, there are things that work on paper and those that work in reality. Even if you have good plans, you need good people to execute them. If you don’t have people that can make things happen, you will end up dumping the plans.

Q: And people who have money?

Babatunde: When you have quality people, you’ll have money. There are a number of times I’ve had to call people in my class for money and surprisingly, for most of the time that I was the class rep, we never collected class dues. Whenever we needed money, I just called people. In fact, there was a time a member of the class had challenges with paying school fees, and it was very close to the deadline. So, I just called people and money came out. I did not even announce it on the class group. I know people and I feel it’s because the kind of person I am. I always relate with people on a very personal level. For me, I think everybody is my friend, I don’t have best friends. I I just relate with everyone.

Q: What motivated you to contest for class rep in 100-level and what kept you going?

Babatunde: In 100-level, what happened was that we had a long break before resuming. We gained admission in September 2019 and we didn’t resume until February 2020. Some of us were very active on the group while others were more reserved. They were not used to that kind of setting where we make noise every day or being on the same group with everybody and not doing academic stuff. Some were fresh out of secondary school. So, we had to just find a way to bring people together. We even organized an event then. We exchanged gifts, even though we didn’t meet physically. From then, I was already playing the leader’s role. Maybe it’s an innate thing. I was already helping people and getting timely information for the class, and it actually reflected in the result of the election. The gap was very wide that if you added the votes of the other contestants, it was not up to the number of votes I had. I don’t think it was even up to half of my votes. I just had the drive to ensure that things are in place. I even had some persons who reached out to me that should go for the class rep, even though I had the intent to go initially. It was out of the love for the class. For 200-level, I felt leaving the class hanging was inappropriate so I decided to continue. In 200-level and 300-level, we had a lot of fights.

Q: I remember there was something peculiar about 300-level.

Babatunde: Yeah, I didn’t emerge as the Majority Leader going to 300-level. It was a very narrow gap, but nonetheless, I still maintained the roles I was doing. Of course, someone else was coming on, so I had to give as much support as possible. The person was my very close friend even till now – that’s Felicia. Then, for the 400-level, I was already getting tired.

Q: But why did you still do it, though? Were you already thinking about pivoting to UIMSA leadership? If yes, what made 500-level the perfect time to make the transition and not 400-level?

Babatunde: What happened was that I was trying to ensure that things are working well for the class, I still had plans mapped out for myself. I have things I aspire to as a student. Serving the Senate was the next thing to do, so I had to go for a Senate leadership position, which was the Deputy Senate Chair, and there’s no way I would have gone for it without being a Senator. But nonetheless, even though I was already getting tired, I was already considering some other things I had to do outside UIMSA. When I mean tired, it’s not like I was tired of the work but my eyes were already on new things since I had been doing the same thing over and over again.

Q: How has leading your classmates challenged you? Have you ever thought about dropping your role?

Babatunde: It has challenged me a lot [laughs]. I will classify it into positive and negative challenges. For the positive part of it, leading the class does that stretched me, and it has made me more tolerant. There was a time that the stress so much. When we were in 100-level, people used to message me for every small thing. You can wake up and just get 400 messages. They would always ask questions. Some people were asking for the class link I already posted to be sent to them again. At first, I was getting very angry that, “Is it that you cannot read or you don’t follow what’s going on in the class?” So, we created a class information group. Then, I started to understand that we have different kinds of people. I learnt to manage human resources and accept our differences. For the negative part of it, it has given me headache. It has made me to face insults and all sorts of things from lecturers and classmates. There are some classmates that could say anything to you as if they were paying you salary. Overall, I think the positive outweighs the negative, because I’ve been able to make good friends, although as a class rep, you don’t have true friends. Everybody is your friend so you don’t know those who actually your true friends because everybody will be close to you, so you don’t really know. I’ve learnt a lot from managing human resources. You know, you work with a lot of people, you meet with faculty members, lecturers and likes. You learn to organize things, and you become more responsible. You manage your time very well because a lot of things depend on you.

Q: Speaking of organization, has there ever been a situation where you forgot to pass some information to the class? How did the class receive it?

Babatunde: It has happened before. I can’t remember exactly what information it was, but it has happened before. I know it has happened before. I think it was during our 100-level or 200-level. Let me just say this: as a class rep–and I think this is what everybody should learn how to do–you should learn when to pass the particular information and when not to. There are times that you intentionally delay information based on availability of people, the class atmosphere and your instinct. There are things you share with some people and they receive it better. It’s not just that because you are a class rep, you can just post anything at anytime.

Q: Speaking of information, there was this controversy that happened in your class. Do you want to talk about it?

Babatunde: No, I don’t want to talk about controversies. My class is the best class. We’re good. What happened then was a misunderstanding and I think inexperience contributed to it. You always get information from the faculty, and at times they will tell you that it is confidential information. So, you just have to think about the situation, if it’s going to cause any damage. There are also things that they will tell you but you know you shouldn’t tell members of the class. It was not done out of selfishness. I later followed up with the source of the information and I tried to verify what actually happened. In addition to what I had said earlier, one of the challenges is that you have to always be on your toes, and that’s the negative part. I might be reading like this, but my mind is always wondering. I’m always thinking about how to make arrangement for the next class, members of the class with issues, and lecturers’ demands. It became a challenge. I don’t struggle academically, but my mind was always wondering.

Q: About academics, do you think if you were not class prep, you could have gotten a distinction in preclinical school?

Babatunde: No, I don’t think that was what happened. I think what affected me was that I was running a tutorial that time, because when I studied my grades went up, and I eventually had 77. Agboke was a class rep and he still had a distinction. It was more about time management.

Q: How did you manage class activities? Do you have excos and committees?

Babatunde: Yeah, I think it was my class that passed that tradition on. The only thing is that we don’t have executives. We had the Welfare, Academic, Social and Sports committees. At times, we try to create more but they don’t last long like the others.

Q: How do you manage conflicts within your class, with lecturers and with other classes in UIMSA?

Babatunde: Conflicts within the class have happened several times. We’ve had people with physical altercations. They didn’t exchange fists or anything, because everybody knows the rules of the university. My classmates respect me so whenever there is a physical conflict, once I step in, they always listen to me. I remember when we were in preclinicals, we had two females that had a verbal exchange. What I always did was to de-escalate the situations individually before I then called them together to work out a common ground. Now, they are very good friends. For online conflicts, I’ve noticed that people have more energy to make noise online. So, I just allowed them to say whatever and then, I met them physically. At times, not seeing things through other people’s lenses is what results to people having fights. We are rational people so once you talk to them, they let go of things. For issues between the class and lecturer, we went to apologise and plead with the lecturer. We also talked to other lecturers to plead on out behalf. I don’t think we’ve really had any issues with lecturers since we crossed over. We’ve had an issue between an individual and a member of staff [not a lecturer]. During our orientation for clinical school, someone had an issue with a member of staff at the College. I was not there when it happened, but I got to hear about it later. The member of staff was actually someone I was close to, so I begged on behalf of the student and I also talked to the person. For conflicts with other classes, we had one when we were trying to get accommodation at ABH after crossing. They said we were rude. For me, I feel like they [my classmates] were right and the seniors were also right. But I think the problem was that people didn’t communicate with mutual respect for one another. When it comes to fighting for rights, I just encourage them to do it without offending other people.

Q: What are the measures you put in place to help balance your class duties with your personal life and academic demands?

Babatunde: Looking back, I would say serving as a class rep in preclinicals is easier than serving as a class rep in clinicals. Over there [preclinical school], there are just 3 departments. The training reflects how members of the faculty relate with you. I mean, they still see you as an undergraduate. But here, they feel our mates are already graduating so we should behave more properly. They leave you to make decisions on your own [which is part of the training] so it makes it more stressful, but you’re not doing the work alone because you have assistant class reps and members of the class willing to help. That’s why it’s important to build relationships. So, help from other people, organization and planning made things easier for me. I think being a leader is fun.

Q: What has representing your class on the UIMSA Senate floor been like?

Babatunde: It’s been a good experience. We’ve had to defend the interest of our class on several occasions and we’ve had to advocate interventions that will improve the common good of the class. We’ve also gotten into tough arguments with other senators and members of the executive council.

Q: Speaking of the executive council, in 400-level, your class had about three members of the Executive Council but you still did not hesitate to call out the leadership on the UIMSA Central Group on certain occasions. How did you guys manage that?

Babatunde: Anything that manifests on the Central Group has already become fully blown on the class group. Before going to the Central Group, we would have already called for their attention on the class group. They also knew that calling their attention to something does not mean we are disowning them as members of the class or we are pushing them away, and the fact that we are classmates does not mean we should support them when they are doing what is not expected. Even if they get angry, they eventually get over it.

Q: Your class usually has the same stance on issues. Is it that you usually agree on what to say?

Babatunde: It usually surprises me sometimes too because it’s not like we decide what to say. I think that’s something that is just natural, maybe because we’ve been subjected to the same experiences that have conditioned us to think alike. Of course, we usually have people who think otherwise. It’s just that those who are outspoken or are concerned about the matter share the same view.

Q: What achievements did your class have while you were the class rep?

Babatunde: In MB1, we had only one repeat student except for those that repeated to our class. It was a very high pass rate. Of course, there are some other wins.

Q: Speaking of fun, what was the highest moment of your leadership?

Babatunde: Okay, number one was during my 25th birthday. They did a surprise party for me. Secondly, there were times that classmates’ parents would just call me and then be like, “My child has been talking about you, so can you send your account number?” It used to happen like that. Of course, that’s not why I was doing my job, but it’s just made me feel good that these people actually appreciate my work. There was another time that was meeting a classmate’s parent for the first time, and the introduction was that “This is Babs that I’ve been telling you about.” I felt on top of the world at that point. There are a number of classmates that had issues and I was able to help them resolved. They were really grateful. These are moments that just keep you going.

Q: As a class rep, you would have built relationships with lecturers and seniors. What can you say about those relationships? Are there negative ones, or are they all positive?

Babatunde: Yes, for the negative ones, we’ve mentioned the class versus class issues. We’d always lose friends in the process. By default, a class rep is also a senator. I was one of the very active senators. I was very vocal on the Senate floor and you know, we would always have people with different points of view and interests. So, from there, you would lose friends, and at times you make more friends in the process. For the good side of it, I’ve made more friends with juniors, and even students outside MBBS. There was a point that I had friends in almost all departments. Being the class rep gave me the platform to have those relationships, but I think my personality also played a role. For lecturers, I think UI lecturers are friendlier than those from the other schools I’ve attended. A random student could easily go to any lecturer’s office, even if you’re not a member of the department. There was a time when we were in 100-level. We had an issue with arrangements for zoology practical. I went to the office of Professor Bakare, the Dean of Faculty of Science, and he was ready to listen to whatever I wanted to say. Things like that actually give you room to be able to contribute to growth of faculty, improving how lectures are delivered and you can give them fresh ideas on how they can make the class better. I also try to leave a good impression with the lecturers. I still talk with some lecturers from the Faculty of Science and GES. I also do the same with the non-academic staff. I remember, there was a time we were going to get something done at the records office of the College. It was because of the relationship I had with a non-academic staff that helped us so get the thing done for the whole class.

Q: Is there anything you think you would have done different during your service?

Babatunde: I don’t think so. I don’t have any regrets. Maybe in the early days of my service as a class rep, I would have been more reserved. But over the years, I’ve learnt that a wise leader does not speak first. You let everybody speak first when there is a matter on ground. If not, they will pick on your words.

Q: What memory stands out for you as class rep?

Babatunde: There are a lot of them. There were members of the class with health issues and because I was very observant, I was able to get their parents and the faculty involved, and we’re able to solve the problems. Up till now, the parent still respects me a lot because of that experience. This one stands out because it went beyond my primary responsibilities and I went the extra mile for someone who wasn’t my very close friend.

Q: Do you think your classmates see you as a leader or as a friend?

Babatunde: It depends on the situation, but I think the majority see me as a leader. When I say things, they take it more seriously than when any other person does.

Q: The next one is a bit tricky. Do you think the new Majority Leader will do as well as you did or even better?

Babatunde: The team would do better. We’ve laid a very good foundation for them. I’ve worked with some of them on different projects. Elijah has also served on my team before. I also think they are very teachable, and they still get me involved.

Q: Okay, that will be all. Do you have any other comments?

Babatunde: I would say the upcoming leaders and the current set should take care of themselves because that’s what matters. It does not mean you are selfish. You are just prioritizing your own well-being. Take care of yourself. Don’t get into trouble as a class rep. Represent your class well.