I'm Not Proud; I'm The Most Fit - Femi Edward (Elected Students' Week Chairman)
DATE: 27/ 2/2017
Please introduce yourself to us.
My name is
Emmanuel Femi Edward. I am a student of the Nigerian Institute of Journalism
and in HND 2 Broadcast segment. I work with Ovation Magazine and I am a feature
writer as well as profiler.
Your new election as the Students
week’s Chairman has been made public, what are your plans to make your tenure a
memorable one?
Yeah, as a
matter of fact, it is not about what I plan, it is a matter of what are we
planning because on my own I can’t do anything. I can only come up with Ideas
but without the help of the students, we cannot achieve anything.
Concerning
plans, one of our plans is to make this student week a memorable one, something
remarkable, something that will slowly edge itself in the sense of time. Also
we hope to increase studentship bonding as well as reach the motherless babies
home, help them with whatever we have. Above all, learn something beyond
ordinary because the outline for this student week is “Beyond Ordinary”.
Can you tell us if you have ever held
a leadership position before whether within NIJ or outside it?
Yes. I used
to be the governor in my ND 1 as well as my ND 2. As a matter of fact, even
when I was away, my fellow students called me, normally I was suppose to have
graduated but then they called me back to come and lead the class again.
Asides from your leadership
abilities, do you think you have the needed skills to sustain this position?
Honestly, it
is not a matter of being proud; I think I am the one most fit for the job
because I have slowly gathered experience over the years. I have once worked
with TA as a presenter, with Showtime Africa. I think I have been working with
Ovation close to three or four years now. During that process, I have been able
to interact, make contact and learn from what I do, you understand. As a matter
of fact, I think I am well equipped with the right knowledge to lead this job.
You contested amidst two other
people, what qualities will you say you have that made you come out on top?
I am a team
player. I am open; I welcome ideas no matter how stupid they might be because
in stupidity you can get wisdom .Two, I am an average reader, I read more on
the scope of Journalism and as such to keep an open mind. I work in the field
of Journalism and not just a student of Journalism. If you look at the other
two contestants, I was hoping they work but they don’t work for any notable
organization and for me, working with Ovation has given me the bragging rights.
SRC and the student week committees
have been having several meetings, what can you say you have achieved so far
that will give the students a kind of high hope ahead of the student week?
Um, let me
just give this as a tidbits. Yes, we have been able to organize committees and
we have been able to get positive response from the few in their department as
well as from some big companies in Nigeria.
Some of the students especially the
freshers don’t know what the so much anticipated students’ week is all about. So can you intimate them on
its orientation?
The students’
week is a tradition, we started this course in 2011 and it was used more like a
perfect escape from the assertions of the session and that way students were
able to bond, interact and also having this euphoria of having celebrities
among yourself but then it wasn’t as prominent as it is right now because the
students week has become a tradition for NIJ that I doubt if …
Was the students’ week initially the
idea of the SRC?
There was no
SRC at that time. It was just the idea of a man, Abraham Ala because it was his
innovation he thought of it that we can’t just be learning and learning without
any form of entertainment. That was how it started and since then, it has been
NIJ’s tradition.
The Post Graduate Diploma (PGD)
students and the part-time students are often left out in one way or the other
when it comes to the students’ week. What are your plans to bridge this gap?
We already
have Part-Time and PGD students as members. That’s because as you likely said,
we don’t want them to seem marginalized. As such, we want to carry everybody
along and if I am right, we’ve given the PGD students and part-timers notable
positions in meetings in order to help achieve success and equity.
Can you disclose the positions?
Yes. One of
the PGD students is actually deputizing as well as one of the Part-Time
students as well.
We know that some students have paid
some specific amount for the students’ week as part of their fees but how do
you intend funding this students’ week aside from sponsorship?
We intend to
look outside NIJ. If you will agree with me, the funds currently available will
not be enough to organize a remarkable students’ week so we have decided to
look beyond NIJ to partner with other Organizations that can help us in cash or
tools. Their help might not necessarily be in cash. They can also give us some
materials from their product. For example, if you look at Cowbell, Milo, if
they can give us some of these materials, it will be used for some of the
activities that we have lined out for the week.
The students’ week is for NIJ alone
but is there any chance that outsiders can also visit the event?
Prior to
this time, we never had anything like external participation, it was strictly
NIJ students but this year we are taking a break from the norm. That is why we
call it “beyond the ordinary” .As
such, we have decided to invite students from Unilag, Lasu, Yabatech, and
Mapoly, Ojere. It is not just because we want their presence alone; we want to
be able to bond with other students especially their Mass Communication
students. We are students of Mass Communication but we want to learn from
others because no man is an Island of Knowledge as such we want to project the
image of NIJ beyond ordinary.
According to observations, most
students don’t know the time the students’ week will begin; can you fill us in
on that aspect?
We just met
with the school management and we have it from the authority, students’ week
will be holding on 8th of May and is going to run for six days.
It is obvious that NIJ is a
Journalism school which also carries the name “Nigeria” but majority of
Nigerians don’t know about this school, probably never heard of its name, how
do you intend to make this school popular through the students’ week?
Honestly,
one reason why I took up this position is because I felt that I am a bonafide
student of NIJ and a proud one for that matter and NIJ has been able to change
my life positively and as such I felt it that we need to project the image of
the school. What we will be doing is to engage the media. We are going to be
having the media tour; we are going to create a buzz across radio stations,
online magazines, and TV stations as well as print media. That way, we can
actually reach people and by inviting other students, we have been able to
project the image so they will reckon with the name NIJ.
Is it going to be streamed live?
We can’t
make promises yet but by God’s grace, we should be hoping to streaming
everything live.
You talked about bringing in
celebrities. What kind of celebrities do you plan to bring that will make the
students excited ahead of the students’ week?
Well, if you
look at it, we are just two to three weeks old, so we can’t make promises now
but one thing is certain, we are going to bring in celebrities.
Thanks a lot for your time; we really
appreciate.
You are
welcome.
WOW!
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