Tales of Leadership (05): An Interview with the 2K23 Majority Leader, Emmanuel Agboke

This is the fifth edition of the Tales of Leadership series. In this interview, we had a discussion with Emmanuel Agboke, the current majority leader of the 2K23 set, who has been the majority leader since the class transitioned to clinical school. He is also the current Senate President of the University of Ibadan Medical Students’ Association (UIMSA) Senate. In this interview, he spoke about the peculiarities of his journey, how he got involved in leadership and how he got a distinction in Pharmacology despite serving as the majority leader.

Q: Can you briefly introduce yourself?

Emmanuel: My name is Emmanuel Agboke. I’m a final-year medical student and the class rep of the 2K23 MBBS class.

Q: What’s the name of your class?

Emmanuel: That’s Invictus. We’re still trying to decide our final year name, but for now, it’s Invictus.

Q: So how did you decide on Invictus? What does it mean?

Emmanuel: Unconquered. You know, that time, nobody projected that we would be staying till 2027. About how we chose it, it’s not like we sat down to pick the name. It was a spur-of-the-moment thing, so we just got adapted to it.

Q: You’re not a first-term majority leader. When did you start?

Emmanuel: I became the majority leader when I crossed to clinicals. I contested for a senatorial seat for the first time in 400-level, and I ended up as the class rep. It wasn’t something I planned. One of my guys was just like we should run for it, and it just happened like that.

Q: So how did you cope with that?

Emmanuel: Leading a class can be very stressful. I just got used to it, and that was one of the things that helped me. Block 1 was very tiring. I was always stressed out from school, I had to call lecturers, set up classes and all that. I just tried to get used to it. At a point, it just became a part of me, but if I had a chance to drop it in Block 1, I would have dropped it.

Q: How is it that being a class rep, which is something that should affect your studying time, helps you study more? I’m asking because I’ve been getting similar responses from other class reps.

Emmanuel: It was a motivation because, as a class rep, when a lecturer asks you a question, you don’t want to miss it. That translated into more dedication in school. In Block 2, I became a robot. Let’s say I sleep around 12 am on a normal day, I would wake up around 5 am and read till 6 or 7 am. Then, I would prepare and go to school from 8 am to 5 pm, and after that, I wouldn’t rest. Funny enough, it wasn’t like I was chasing any distinction at that point. I just didn’t want to be a class rep who had a resit. I just had to step up, so I gave it more effort than I did in preclinicals.

Q: How has this position challenged you?

Emmanuel: I’m so stressed. I’ve realised that human beings are difficult. I think the biggest issue in any leadership position or business is the people. It’s not even about the money. It’s because people have different ideologies, different mindsets, different thoughts on how they actually want to get what they want. So once your idea doesn’t align with theirs, there will be an issue.

Q: Can you give an instance?

Emmanuel: I remember when a class was fixed for 7 am, and some people started blaming me for it as if I was the one who fixed it. They were like, “Agboke, did you even talk to them?” It was really challenging. This position has helped me to learn how to manage different personalities. I’ve learnt how to manage individual differences between people, and of course, I’ve learnt that on Fridays, Muslims have to go and pray from 1 pm to 2:30 or 3 pm. It has not been an easy ride, and I’m still learning.

Q: What do you think the biggest complaint has been?

Emmanuel: Well, things have been pretty stable since I became the class rep. We’ve not really had in-house disagreements. I think the only time was when I had to fix a class on a Friday, and I didn’t know at the time that Friday prayers start by 1 pm. So, Muslims were not allowed to enter the class when they came back. After, I apologised for the situation. There was a test that day, so I went to the lecturer, and he allowed them to write it.

Q: What about a conflict with another class?

Emmanuel: Why not? [laughs] I know there was an issue when 2K24 crossed over to clinical school, and they had issues with their accommodation. I tried not to even delve in, but you would just hear people insulting your classmates. We were trying to tell them to allow us to finish the MB, but it was a very serious issue. I think we were still cool about it at the end of the day. Eventually, I just told my classmates to leave the rooms for them. But things eventually worked out; we had the CARTA block, so we stayed there till our MB finished. Everything eventually worked out.

Q: What would you regard as the peak of your service?

Emmanuel: For me, it would be getting a distinction, and then we had about 95% pass rate [after the resits]. Also, we won the Ulympics football tournament this year, both male and female categories. Another one is the way they celebrated my birthday [last year’s]. They brought a cake, trumpets, and gave me money. I didn’t even expect it. Funny enough, I wanted to go and buy a cake for the class and just share it, but they surprised me just when I wanted to go.

Q: What do you think was your lowest point as a class rep?

Emmanuel: I’m trying to think about one now. I think there was a time I was trying to do some things, but people didn’t really encourage me. It felt like they thought what I was doing was unimportant. I don’t want to go into the specifics, but I expected that people would have understood why it happened.

Q: You’ve served on the UIMSA Senate, and now, you are leading it. What has it been like?

Emmanuel: When I became a senator, I immediately became the Senate Registrar. It was really stressful having to write minutes and send them out. But then, it was an opportunity to learn how to write letters and minutes. Things have been alright. Hopefully, they won’t scatter in this tenure. UIMSA Senate has taught me a lot.

Q: What opportunities do you think being class rep has opened up to you?

Emmanuel: To be honest, the connection with lecturers is a major one. It makes it easier to get recommendation letters for things.

Q: What measures do you have in place to properly organise the activities of the class, like sports, welfare, etc.?

Emmanuel: We have five committees in my class – social, welfare, sports, quiz and the literary and debate committees. We have congress members and senators in charge of the committees, but we still elect heads over them. So, the social committee is in charge of graphics, birthdays and content on social media. I’m in charge of the welfare committee, and we just track the welfare of members of the class. The sports committee is in charge of sports. Financially, we use class dues for the activities of the class. The quiz committee is led by Seunara. The committee is responsible for the preparation of the class’s quiz team. The literary and debating committee also does the same for debates.

Q: How do you balance personal life with school life and then leadership? Because maybe if you’re not a leader, you’d have time for extra stuff on the side?

Emmanuel: To be very honest, I would have time for other things, maybe to just work on myself. I’ve been trying it, but it has not been easy.  So basically, I try to organise things as much as I can. I also prioritise what is important at each time, and I become robotic [working strictly on schedules] when I need to.

Q: Do you ever consider stepping down?

Emmanuel: Not really, but I did around Block 1 Pathology and Pharmacology.

Q: So, nothing else has pushed you since then?

Emmanuel: Not really. It’s a role I have gotten used to. There have been issues, but my classmates trust me to handle the class well. Funny enough, I don’t know if this has ever happened in UIMSA, but in the last election, there was no ‘No’ vote for me.

Q: At that point, you must have convinced them that you are worthy enough to be their majority leader. Moving on, do your classmates have any habits that stress you out? For example, there are some people who think that the schedules of already fixed classes must be sent to the class group every day.

Emmanuel: That’s one of the issues I face. Even when the schedule is available, there are people who will still call to ask if a class is going to be held. Sometimes, I just switch off my phone when it gets too much. There was something that happened when we had light issues in either Block 2 or 3. There was a sit-at-home because of the issue, but some people actually went to class. I knew that lecturers would call me, so I just switched off my phone and used the light issues as an excuse. It was actually a scary moment for me.

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

Emmanuel: I think they see me as a friend. I can talk with anybody in my class. I think that’s one of the lessons I’ve learnt. I see them as my guys.

Q: Did being that accessible give you issues?

Emmanuel: It’s just the way I am. I’m a very accessible person. Anybody in my class can just approach me if they need anything or advice.

Q: Do you think there is political apathy in your class?

Emmanuel: Yeah, I think so. People are not very interested in politics. It wasn’t this way in preclinicals. Then, we used to have like 15 people running for the 6 senate slots. People actually came out for the recent [last year’s] ABH election. You know, some of our classmates were running, so people actually came out. But in UIMSA, I don’t think people are that interested. Priorities change along the way. But if you look at organisations, my classmates are active there. Many of the executive members of CRIH are my classmates. In school fellowships, there are presidents. So, it’s not that they are not interested in leadership roles. My guess is that they feel there’s no reward for the stress in UIMSA Politics.

Q: Since this is your last tenure in UIMSA, what are your expectations? Do you think it will be your toughest tenure so far?

Emmanuel: It could, to be honest. It’s a very long tenure. I have two MBs to write this tenure, and we also have to start planning for the final year events. I’m going to have to do a lot of studying. I don’t have a plan to balance it out yet, but I’m sure the plan will come. Since I’ve been class rep, sometimes, my planning has been impulsive. Someone I reach out to for advice most time is Adesola [2K21’s majority leader]. I’m sure everything is going to work out. I also have class members who are ready to assist, so I’m sure it will be fine.

Q: Finally, what advice would you give to someone who wants to be a class rep?

Emmanuel: Well, one thing I will say is that it is true that as the class rep, you are the leader of your class, and you have to make sacrifices. But you must come to the realisation that if you fail, your class will move on without you. What they will tell you is sorry, and then they will move on with their lives. Of course, you should do your duties as the class rep, but the priority is your studies. You have to create time for yourself so that you don’t crash out. There were times I wanted to crash out because I had so much to read. That’s why sometimes, I switch off my phone so that nobody can reach me. Another thing is that you cannot satisfy everybody. Always do the best that you can, but you must find satisfaction in the fact that you did the best you can.

Q: Do you have any last words?

Emmanuel: I just want to thank UIMSA Press for this opportunity. It has allowed me to remember some of my experiences as the class rep. I mean, I’ve learnt so much by connecting with people on the senate floor and with lecturers. The position has pushed me to do very well in academics, too. Of course, I was good from preclinicals, but I probably wouldn’t have gotten a distinction in Pharmacology if I weren’t class rep. I don’t know why, but that’s just what I feel. So, thank you for everything.