An Assessment of the Sports Minister, Onifade Aisha Oyindamola

 

By Sanni Juliet Oluwadarapupo 

One of the strengths of student politicians is their ability to make promises, which are more often than not colossal in nature. Along the way, some of these promises come off just fine, a few are excellent, and some others are outlandish. Clearly, it's not a question of who makes the biggest or most modest declarations; it's a question of how practical the plans are, with little or no regard for theory and how diligent they are in executing their plans.

Manifestos are public declarations of the aims and objectives an individual vying for a political position, what they pledge to accomplish once elected into office. They serve as a guide to electorates in selecting which candidate is best suited for the position; they also have the power to influence the thoughts of the voters. 

The Sports Minister, Onifade Aisha Oyindamola, declared herself as the most qualified candidate for this position, stating, “Having gathered the necessary experience and leadership skills, I hereby present myself to you, fellow Queenites as the most qualified candidate for the position of Minister for Sports”. This article scrutinizes the proposals made by the Sports Minister and their outcomes. 

In accordance with the constitutional duties of the Minister of Sports, as stated in the 1996 Constitution, it can be noted that Onifade Aisha carried out her responsibilities. The constitutional duties are as follow:

Shall be in charge of the welfare of the Sportswomen. 

Shall be the Chairperson of the Sports Committee 

Shall handle all sports facilities and first aid materials given to the Sports Unit.

Shall identify, recruit women in the hall and encourage sports. 

Shall, in conjunction with the Public Relations Officer, mobilize Queenites for all sporting activities.

Shall execute such other duties as may be assigned to her by the Executive Council.

Apart from her constitutional duties, was she able to fulfill her promises, as outlined in her manifesto?

Evaluation of the Manifesto of Onifade Aisha 

Onifade Aisha’s Manifesto is segregated into five major segments, which we will look into, 

Work Out The Stress

As outlined in her manifesto, Aisha planned to organize a biannual workout session, one in each semester. According to her manifesto, she stated that this event is aimed at bringing Queenites together and will take place when Queenites are under academic stress, with the aim of improving their physical and mental well-being. 

In fulfilment of this plan, Aisha organized three workout sessions as opposed to her initial plan. The first workout session took place around the 5th week of the first semester while the other two took place during the 3rd and 8th week of the second semester. The workout session took place at Queens Hall car park. Fitness instructors, Obakore Victor, Hibatuwaldud Adeleke and Tolu were present at the event. The event encompassed both outdoor and indoor activities such as jogging, stretching, chess, scrabble and so on. 

She stated that the program will be open to Queenites in diaspora, creating an avenue for Queenites to network. When asked if Queenites that stayed outside the hostel were present for the workout session, her response was as follows,

 “I don’t know if they were around but I made sure I shared the graphics to the off campus Queenites group for publicity as well, so they could come”.

Sports Calendar

According to her plan, she proposed the release of a memorandum each semester stating the exact time of day sporting activities will be held. She also declared that a sports calendar for each semester will be released to keep sports activities in check and order, giving Queenites the chance to plan along with their academic activities. 

However, when asked about a sports calendar or memorandum being released, Aisha, a resident of H block, said, “No it wasn’t”.

Upon inquiry from the Sports Minister why the sports calendar and memorandum was not released as promised in her manifesto, she responded, 

“I didn't release a memorandum stating the exact time of the day for sporting activities. I wanted to do that. I informed the athletes I gathered that we'll be having a training on Saturday so I would be able to talk to them on how I would fix the timing for the training and the days too. But people don't show up for training. So the most active athletes I had were the footballers. I was able to fix days and the time with them. And they always showed up”.

She further added

“I only created a sports calendar for the football team alone, the other athletes weren't active”

Before making a decision that will benefit the general public, one has to assess the prevailing conditions. Creating a sports calendar just for the footballers alone does not represent the other sporting activities in the hall. When asked for more details, she said:

“The reason why I said other athletes weren't active is because they didn't show up for training. I've sent either one or two reminders for training and they didn't turn up with no excuses or reasons. 

If I call for training in the football team, if some of them won't come, they'll let me know by dropping the reasons in my DM without even asking them”.

A more in depth investigation should have been conducted if there were going to be active athletes for other sporting activities.

A political promise is an allegiance to the electorate and should be fulfilled with fairness and accountability. In response to that, there was no public announcement stating that the sports calendar will now be solely focused on football.

Increase Participation In Sporting Activities 

“I plan to increase the participation of Queenites in sporting activities. I will make sure they are trained as a team and offered coaching and training programs”, said Onifade Aisha. In fulfillment of this promise, Aisha stated that the sport facilities in Queens Hall are limited, which led her to direct some Queenites to the school team where they competed with people from other halls. When asked, she highlighted how the football team increased from 7 active members to 17 active members in a group of 22. For the football team, their trainings were scheduled for Monday, Wednesday and Saturday. With these, one would wonder if Football was the only sport given attention? When opposed, she said:

“No, it was not majorly Football. I  connected some people to the school team for training since we didn't have the facility in the hall. And they give me feedback about it”.

When a resident of the hall was asked about the participation of Queenites in sporting activities, She described it as good stating that she would love to participate next time.

Inter Block Competition

The Inter Block Competition was another plan proposed by Aisha. As described by her, it was meant to be the major highlight of all the sporting activities in the hall. The competition was set to take place in the second semester and it covered both indoor and outdoor games.

A Queenite who was present for the Inter block Competition commented, 

“The game consisted of so many activities e.g football, volleyball, scrabble, chess, ludo, cards and table tennis.I participated in playing volleyball and football with other team members representing our various blocks. Three teams ruby, sapphire and diamond were represented by people from different blocks . It was a competitive event by the way and then, certificates were presented to all participants in the inter block game. In a nutshell, it was fun and memorable”. 

This means that Aisha’s plan of making this competition a major highlight was attainable even though the turnout of Queenites was low as people were reluctant to participate in sporting activities. 

Inter Hall Games 

The bi-sessional UI Inter hall competition was included in Aisha’s manifesto. She stated,

 “If elected , I plan to work hand in hand to ensure that Queen Elizabeth II Hall is well represented”. 

Following this plan, it was noted that the Inter Hall competition did not take place. When the Sports Minister was questioned, she responded by saying,

 “Inter Hall competition was supposed to hold this session, the Sport Council of University of Ibadan was the organizer. But we were told there was no money to fund it, so it was cancelled. They have been training ahead for the inter hall games. And planned after the exam that we will do more. But it was cancelled. I've organized competitions with other halls to know what stands for the inter hall games and prepare ahead of it.” 

The Inter hall games were beyond her control as the ability for her to execute this plan depended on the School authorities. She explained that without their indulgence, the competition was not possible. 

Another plan stated in her manifesto was that she will make the SCR (Senior Common Room) available for Queenites to watch competitive games. In view of this, nothing has been done regarding that. When confronted, she stated that 

“what I meant by highly competitive games was what Queenites would be interested in watching and we'll be able to gather a crowd. The highly competitive games like the semi finals of AFCON, which they've not started. For UEFA they're still in the group stage and it was even during exams”.

While this explanation provides some a level a reasonable excuse, it leaves us to wonder, if there was a structured practical plan to make this happen? A political promise should come with clear strategy and concrete actions to follow them through.

In an interview, Aisha pointed out an addition she made to her manifesto. She described the plan as initially being infeasible which is why she did not attach it at first but later succeeded in achieving it. Queen Elizabeth II Hall football team now has its own jersey. She highlighted that all other female halls had their jerseys and that they have been borrowing jerseys from other halls. However, the team now has its own jerseys available. 

Summarily, the Sports Minister was able to execute her plans with the exception of the memorandum and sports calendar, which were not released, the SCR was not used to watch competitive games as the supposed competitive games have not begun and the Inter hall game did not take place due to the School authorities’ constraints. The introduction of a sports jersey for the hall’s football team was a commendable achievement. However, political promises come with responsibilities and while challenges may arise, accountability and communication is important.