ABH DECIDES 2025: AN EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH HONOURABLE ALONGE RAZAQ ADEBAYO, HALL SECRETARY ASPIRANT

As the political temperature continues to rise within Alexander Brown Hall (ABH), the atmosphere is unmistakably charged with the vibrant energy of democracy in action. With the hall election less than a week away, campaign fliers, banners, and active canvassing have transformed the environment into a buzzing hub of political engagement.

Several key positions are being keenly contested by passionate aspirants. Among the most closely watched races is the contest for the position of Hall Secretary, where Honourable Alonge Rasaq Adebayo—outgoing Social and Buttery Minister—has declared his candidacy. In a bid to understand his vision and assess his preparedness for the role, the ABH Press sat down with Honourable Alonge for an in-depth interview.

This report delves into that conversation, offering insight into his motivations, plans, and reflections on his time in office.

Can you please introduce yourself to our audience in ABH?

I’m Alonge Rasaq Adebayo, a 500-level Dental Student. I’m also the current Social and Buttery Minister of this hall, and I also double as an aspirant for the office of the Hall Secretary. So, that’s basically a summary about myself.

From common knowledge, you are the outgoing Social and Buttery Minister. But why have you decided to vie for the position of Hall Secretary in the upcoming election?

Okay, well, I think personally, one thing about me is that I don’t really go for something just because I want to or because of any side benefit—there’s really none, to be very honest.

So, flashback to when I wanted to go for SBM, I just felt the need to do it, and there were reasons for that.

Now, for the Hall Secretary, one thing I noticed is that—while I would commend the current Hall Secretary and the past one because they’ve really tried at some point (for me, it’s always the good before the bad)—I had to look deep, and I saw some things I would really love to work on, especially when it comes to correspondence within the hall.

Then, there are certain things I noticed in the secretariat which I’m not quite pleased with and would like to work on. These will be more highlighted in my manifesto very soon.

Another thing is the state of the reading room, because I feel a lot of things should be done about it. I would really love to share part of my plans, but at this point, they are still confidential. However, there are a few things I’ve noticed in the reading room that I would like to change. They are very, very paramount and key to me—both in terms of how people use it and in terms of its functionality and what the reading room actually stands for.

I do believe that the reading room is still sub-optimal because it’s not really serving the real purpose of a proper library, so to say. You know, as students, we are not really on the UI campus anymore, and as such, we don’t have the benefit of going to KDL. So, this reading room is more or less our own KDL.

Now, someone may say we have Odeku Library. But the truth is, Odeku is a medical library—do you get? And it only covers medical-related materials. A proper library should function across all other spheres of knowledge and life.

So basically, that’s why I felt the reading room holds significance—only for examination and reading—but it could be more than that. Those are part of the reasons why I’m running for the position of Hall Secretary.

Thank you so much. So, you’re saying you’re running to drive a change?

Exactly. And not to drive change alone, but to also build on the things that I feel are commendable from the past administrations.

Please tell us what this new role demands in terms of duties?

Well, I think to be a Hall Secretary, we all know the constitutional duties. Basically, you are just in charge of the secretariat, the correspondence of the hall, and also the reading room.

For a Hall Secretary, you have to be up and running in the sense that you have to be everywhere because communication is key. It means you are more like the transition between the Executive Council and the hall. You’ll be in charge of all the Executive Council meetings, and then you’ll still be the one to convey it back to the hall, if need be.

Which means you need to be a keeper. You need to have open ears. And you need to know how to relate and listen too. Because information is not one-sided. You have to send to them; they have to send to you. You have to know how to receive, send to the EXCOs, and then get back to them (Brownites).

Which means you have to be readily available. You have to have very good communication skills. And when people call you, you need to know how to reach them and to, you know, explain to them what’s going on—make them well informed, make them feel carried along.

Even if you are not really a people-person, so to say, but as per the office that you are holding, you have to be familiar with everyone. People need to know you—that you are doing something, that you are really reaching out to them, and you are carrying them along. That’s on the part of communication.

Then, for the other parts, you have to be ready to work too. Because it’s really a lot to run around—keeping the reading room in check, being accountable for things that are there and being ready to fix things.

For example, part of the issues that we used to have in the reading room is the cleanliness issue. Another one is the infestation of bedbugs. So you have to pay attention to details. The ability to see that something is dirty and to work on it—not everybody has that ability. Some people are naturally just dirty. It’s not like I’m really talking in parables like that, but if you are going along with me, you know what I’m saying. So, you have to be able to do more.

And then one final thing is that the Hall Secretary, as an office, is somehow “chilling” to a common person. And when I say chilling, it means it is very, very easy for you to be lazy. Because it’s not something that is really noticeable most of the time to people. For example, I’m comparing it with the role of HSM, who is in charge of pumping water. You dare not pump water—people will notice, and there will be wahala. And like an SBM now, you have to work on the TV room. There are schedules and times when people need that TV room to be opened.

So, it is very, very easy for you to just sit there and do nothing as a hall secretary. So, you have to have the energy to drive yourself to do what you promised people. That means you have to be tenacious, you have to be hardworking, and you have to be ready to push yourself to work—even though you have the chance to just stay chill and stay hidden.

So, I think that’s one of the attributes that a hall secretary should have. And I want to re-emphasize communication skills and the way to relate because you are the face of the hall in terms of releasing correspondence. If the HEC are going to meet sponsors now, you will be the one to do all those things. So, it means you have to even be able to relate with older people, who are like the bulk of our sponsors, and delegates, and all other people too.

So, I think those are the skills that are prominent. 

Why do you think you’ll be able to succeed in this new role?

Well, I think in leadership, nobody is perfect — let me just say that. But there are some sets of people who, as they enter the role and settle into it, tend to get used to it, learn on the job, and eventually come out well.

For me personally, I believe in genuine leadership. Because the moment you go to your room, reflect, and feel like you can do this thing, you make a plan, you write a manifesto (which includes your plans and promises) and then you should deliver. And I feel that’s one of the things that really struck me, even as an SBM. What I did was make sure I fulfilled all my campaign promises.

So it’s not a matter of odds along the line; it’s a matter of you against the odds. Because there will always be some odds against you and you have to be ready to fulfill what you promised to do. Personally, I feel I’m someone like that because I’m a very transparent person, and I value accountability a lot. It’s something I can’t overlook.

It’s not like anyone is inherently meant for any job. What we all do is go there, believe we can do it, make plans, and strive to tick those plans off and make them a reality. That’s it.

Secondly, regarding correspondence and releasing timely reports on duties or updates within the executive council — I like writing, to be honest. Before this political journey, I used to be the Editor-in-Chief of a particular press within and among the associations here. So, I communicate well through writing, and I think it shouldn’t be hard for me to relay things across the board.

Some people don’t really like writing, which is one of the essential skills a hall secretary should have — because you write, release correspondences, and issue letters. I can relate to that angle, so I feel I have what it takes to hit the ground running. Maybe not perfectly, but when you get the job, you still learn on the job.

Thank you. What are your plans to fulfill these constitutional duties?

Since we are talking about my constitutional duties now, let me just restate them. The first thing is that you’ll be in charge of the secretariat. That’s the first thing. You’ll be in charge of the reading room, and you’ll be in charge of the correspondence within the hall.

Secretariat: Well, our secretariat—I still want to pay homage to those people, the former admins. They’ve tried their best to keep it in good shape. So a few things that will be done: I noticed that some of the furniture there is bad. I would like to get sponsors to fix those. And you know, student politics—we don’t have any money anywhere, so we are always banking on sponsors, alumni, and all. But what I’m trying to do is this: I’m not promising new chairs. We have to fabricate and repair the ones that we have so as to save costs, because feasibility is another thing. You don’t just make promises. So I intend to do that little bit of facelift for the secretariat.

Reading room: Then on the reading room—I do believe that something you and I are both concerned about is the functionality of the reading room, which I believe can be much better. Then about the non-Brownites that use the place: while it’s good to give people access, there’s always a downside to it. So we need to make those people really familiar—to hold them accountable—because there are some downsides to it.

Like I said earlier, bed bug infestation, and the mere fact that they’re using our own facility. And to be very honest, you guys pay for it. Talking now as a member of the first floor (E-block), those guys sometimes used to bastardize the toilet. So we intend to make them familiar so that we can hold them accountable and, at least, contribute a quota to helping out with the maintenance of the reading room.

For example, as little as doing a bi-monthly fumigation to reduce the bed bug load there—which is one of the reasons why some people don’t want to go there. They are discouraged because of the state of the place and the dirtiness around it.

Academic Committee: One other thing I plan to do is to make the academic committee more functional, because I feel the academic committee—solely under the office of the secretary—has been really dormant. I’m a member of the academic committee, and I do believe they are sub-optimal. This year—I’m just talking about this year—so I intend to make them more active, to carry them along, and make them functional so as to do a perfect job.

Communication: Then, for communication, I intend to communicate at all times with all Brownites—release anything that we discuss in executive council meetings that is needed for them to know—then provide avenues for them to get back to us in terms of recommendations, suggestions, and objections too. This will help to ease the tension that used to come between hall members and the EXCOs, in terms of being carried along. So, those are the few things I have in mind.

Thank you. You said the academic committee has been suboptimal this tenure, and I agree with you on that. But how do you intend to correct the deficiency?

I feel one of the most common causes of an inactive committee is, one: if the head does not really have a plan, or two: the head has a plan but fails to execute it.

One of the things I plan to communicate to the hall, if elected as the Hall Secretary, is not only conclusions from meetings. Another thing is the schedule of the Hall Council across different offices, so that people can hold us accountable for what we promised to do but are not doing.

For example, there are a lot of campaign promises, but if those campaign promises are set on paper and there are dates allotted to them, it becomes easier for people to track. So now, in my own office as Hall Secretary—I’m just saying, if elected—if you have planned and you have time documented and communicated to the people, you know definitely we have to perform and do this.

Once there is a plan and there is allotted time for everything, I think everybody will just adjust to work. Because now, I can remember in my own position as SBM, some of the things we did were the Freshers’ Orientation Week, which we had time for, because there would definitely be an Executive Council Plan for the year. So it was accounted for there. Then we had the end-of-the-year movie night. Currently, we will be having our Common Pot and others.

So, the moment we have plans and they are dated, it means we’ll definitely strive to do them.

I just think it’s about delegation of tasks and having something to work with. Because if you communicate well that, “My committee, this is what we are going to do for this year,” they too will be ready, knowing that we have plans. But if you didn’t communicate anything, and there were no laid-down plans for them, they too will just chill and sit in one place.

So, I think once we have plans, have dates set to them, and it’s made clear to all the members of the committee, they will be ready—knowing that there’s no play this year. But if they are just there seated, nothing was communicated, no plans, no focus—then it’s very easy for everyone to just zone out and do nothing.

Do you have any secretariat experience or have you ever worked in an academic committee? I think you already mentioned that you’ve worked with the present administration academic committee. But any secretariat experience?

Fortunately, as an executive, I’ve related a lot with the secretariat — been to the place severally. And I can say that, to the best of my knowledge, this tenure, I’ve really studied both factions of the whole office: the reading room, and also, as a regular user of the reading room and the secretariat. We’ve had a lot of meetings there, and the way things were — because as a sitting executive member, your duty is not just for your own office. It is your duty as the owner of your office, and also to handle other duties assigned to you by the executive council.

So sometimes, let’s say the HSM is not around — you can be asked to step in. So you still learn across board, because the executive council is a team. Many times, we’ve had to go for meetings, set meetings, and hold meetings in the secretariat. So, I’m quite familiar with the two buildings.

Also, I’m currently the secretary of the Hall Week Planning Committee, and I’ve handled budgets, presented to the House, and I know the way the budgets are meant to be and the requirements of the House.

What are your achievements, your previous and your present achievements?

Well, I think I would just narrow it down to my political and leadership experience. Like I said, I’m the current Social and Battery Minister, which made me the head of the TV Room Committee and also the head of the Price and Quality Control Committee.

Currently, I also happen to be the Secretary for the Hall Week Planning Committee — by virtue of being the SBM. So it’s more like it falls under the office of the Deputy Hall Chair, but I’m the secretary.

Outside ABH, at some point, I happened to be the Deputy Editor-in-Chief of the Dentatics Press, Deputy Chairman of MSSN, and the last Deputy for the Ramadan Planning Committee.

So that’s really about my leadership experience. 

While serving as the Hall Social and Battery Minister, were there any challenges you experienced and how did you resolve them?

Well, I think I should tell you to calm down and listen to my tale, because there’s a lot of story behind that. To be very honest, I do believe that one of the most tasking — if not the most tasking — roles is the Social and Battery Ministry. Because, you know, it covers a lot of things. And even with the peculiarities of this administration now, your duty is even extended.

The usual thing is that you’re in charge of the cafeteria and all the vendors in the hall. You’re in charge of the TV room and all the social facilities in the hall. And now, they’ve added the charging hub to it. So it’s more like, to some extent, you are still the Minister of Power, so to say. And that’s even excluding the other duties that might just come from the Executive Council.

Also, I already told you that during the Hall Week, you have to be the Secretary for the Planning Committee.

So, one of these challenges was that when I came in, there were a lot of issues in the cafeteria: a lot of complaints, dirtiness, flies, exaggeration of prices, a lot of complaints with the customer service. It was really, really bad during my tenure — the quantity of food being too small. So I had to step in because I was really confused then, and I was really stressed.

You’d see people come to my room early in the morning, come and knock: there’s an issue in the cafeteria, I should come and talk to them — they are attending to them abnormally. Some people would just send pictures into my DM showing flies on food. And it was really, really bad. I was so confused. I had to sit down and reach out to the Deputy Hall Warden in charge of the vendors and cafeteria. We talked. We had several meetings with the cafeteria people.

And you know, it’s not like I was having meetings with fellow students — I was having meetings with people that are as old as my own parents. So I had to reason as a student, and also reason as a businessperson too. Because you know, this is not one-way — business is business. So it took a lot of time to learn how to relate with elders, and to the grace of God, we happened to do our best.

And as you can see, the tension in the cafeteria — we are not perfect, but to a very large extent, I’m very cool with the cafeteria owner. Things have been running really fine. We’ve been able to manage prices, even though the economy is very bad and we know things are quite expensive — we’ve been able to manage it.

Also, one of the things that they complained about back then was variety — that there were some things that were not in the hall. We tried our best. For example, we just recently got Akuna Matata into the mix, just to provide a lot of things for people to buy.

Then, another challenge that I faced was the TV room. When I entered, the DStv had always been a problem because it’s a monthly subscription. Immediately before I entered, the monthly subscription was ₦23,800. Then, when I entered, it jumped to ₦30,000. And in the middle of my tenure, it jumped to ₦36,000.

So I had to run up and down and do room-to-room. Still, there were times that I would even have to add my own money. There was this particular one that I did — we used to do this MDCN simulation where they would call you out. They paid me ₦10,000. My friend can testify to this. I carried the ₦10,000 and used it to subscribe.

And then, we used to have light, but then it became inconsistent and there was a blackout. So we had to keep buying fuel. It was really difficult getting money — but we scaled through it.

Another thing was the complaint about the ventilation of the TV room. So we had to walk around, look for sponsors. And we eventually secured two new fans in the TV room and had some old fans repaired.

It was really tasking — funds, relationship with people, and how to deal with older people.

About the non-functional ACs and the issue of mosquito bites in the reading room. How would you solve this problem if elected?

Well, the AC used to work. A lot of things just happened recently, and it’s been silenced. Now, I do know that one thing I can assure you is that the hall management is quite concerned about the reading room because it’s a core part of the building. So, if need be that we have to repair the AC, then I do believe we have to work with them—tell them our problem and see what can be done.

And if hall management is not ready to do it—which I believe they would be willing to—then, like I said, it’s still sponsors and alumni that we have to call on to fix it. But I know that the ACs are quite good; it will just be minimal repair to restore their functionality.

Then for mosquitoes, there’s always a downside to everything. But what I can assure you is that probably they just need to fix the door. And I plan on doing a bi-monthly fumigation in the reading room, especially for bed bugs.

But then we’ll look into it. Maybe sometimes, if we see that the load of mosquitoes is getting too much, we might want to look into using insecticide at some point. But it’s not really feasible because insecticides are quite expensive.

My focus, basically, is really bed bugs because that one—they can be so annoying. Infestation can occur. People tend to carry it to their rooms and spread it a lot. So mosquito-wise, I still believe we can control them. Probably wear socks and just stay active and all.

But we’ll try our best to look into it—into insecticides. I’m just concerned about the feasibility. Insecticides are very expensive now. And the reading room is quite large, and we can’t say we want to be using Sniper for mosquitoes, because once you spray Sniper like this, you have to abandon the reading room for far too long. So it is not feasible for mosquitoes. But we’ll look into that.

We are aware you have an opponent for this same position. So what quality or qualities do you think gives you an edge over your rival?

Well, I don’t think there really is. I do believe the person seems like a solid person, and definitely, everybody vying for a post will definitely have a plan. I do believe he’s smart enough to know that when you are coming for secretary, you have to have a plan. And I do believe he has a plan and he’s well ready for the position.

But then, I think one thing I would say is paramount—especially in the executive council—is the fact that you are going for the number three person within the hall, which is quite up there. Because after the hall chairperson and the deputy hall chairperson, the next person is the hall secretary, which is number three.

So, experience is key. Experience is very key. Because they used to say, “Experience is the best teacher,” and no matter what, you can’t remove experience.

There’s a relationship across the Executive Council itself—the way things were, and the way things are going among the Executive Council. Another thing is the relationship between the Executive Council and the Hall Management. Another one is the relationship between the Executive Council and our list of sponsors.

So, it’s easier for them to just build on the existing relationships—familiar faces. That’s where experience comes in. And you, who are already in the system and know the way things work, find it very easy to blend in.

Another thing I want to use as an example is that one of the immediate jobs of a Hall Secretary is that, the moment you enter—after a few weeks—you have to present your budget. You have to present your budget, and it will be the Hall Secretary who does that.

Sometimes, we have issues of going back and forth because the budget is a very sensitive thing that the House needs to look into. So, you have to have the experience to do it.

Now, I’m currently the Secretary for the Hall Week Planning Committee, and I’ve had to work with a lot of budgets across all our subcommittees—we have like 12 subcommittees.

Even in the Executive Council, we have, I think, about 10 executive offices. And now, I’m working with almost 12 subcommittees for the Hall Week, which means I’m handling budgets that are as big as the Hall Executive Council budget already. You know, that’s an advantage for me because I already have the experience of how to make budgets and present them to the House as the Secretary of the Hall Week Planning Committee. So, that’s the matter of experience.

Another thing I would like to say is that what you’ve been doing matters, because the only thing that will give you the leverage to come and talk to people to vote for you again is what you’ve been doing.

And to the glory of God, when I entered, one thing I promised people was to do orientation for the freshers—which I did. I promised to do the end-of-the-year movie night just to cool off, because the whole year was very, very tense—and we did. We promised to ventilate the TV room—which we did. And we promised to do our first ever Common Pot, which will be coming up on the 13th of April, which is this coming Sunday. So, I think that’s just it.

What are your final words to Brownites?

Well, my final words to Brownites are that I know loyalty is key. People tend to play politics by poll or by regions now—“If I’m in 2K29, I would definitely go for someone in 2K29.” Or, “If I’m an Igbo, I should go for an Igbo guy.”

I’m just imploring Brownites to stay in the caliber of intellects that they have and look for the person who is truly the best for the position. It is quite clear—people will come with their plans, and you’ll be able to judge based on what they have for you.

People should not just come out and vote. People should come out en masse for the manifesto, for the press night. Look at the aspirants, listen to what they have to say, and make objective decisions based on plans and based on what they feel is right.

They should do the right thing—not just the necessary thing. I don’t know how to put it—but they should do the right thing and vote for the right person, not using any other bias like, “It’s my person, it’s my classmate, it’s my tribal person.”

Vote for the right person—the person that truly wants to serve and truly has a plan for the Hall. So, I think that’s my advice for them.

Thanks for honouring this invitation and for your time.