At a time when the Alexander Brown Hall (ABH) is gasping for breath, battling inconsistent power supply, erratic water flow, crumbling infrastructure, and a general sense of neglect, what do we get? Not fresh visionary leadership, but recycled mediocrity. A select trio have tossed their hats into the ring for Hall Chairman, and quite frankly, it feels less like an election season and more like an assault on the intelligence of Brownites.
All three men have served in the Executive Council. All three claim to have delivered, and now they want promotions. Given the current crisis, it is crucial to examine the situation objectively and without bias, using the harsh and unforgiving perspective of reality. This article thoroughly reviews the performances of these aspirants and questions the merits of their candidacy. Given the current challenges we face, we must ask ourselves, are they truly the best options available?
Ofoma Charles: The Disappearance of Duty
Ofoma Charles currently serves as the hall’s Health and Sanitation Minister, a position that significantly influences Brownites’ well-being and living conditions, much like the Hall Chair. His campaign has run under the slogan “Count on Charles.” However, before we consider counting on him, we must recall the several promises made during his campaign for the HSM position. If executed, these would have improved the quality of life of the average Brownite.
Notably, Charles personally addressed faulty drainage issues, sometimes using his plunger to unclog blocked pipes, a task few in his position would be willing to do themselves. He also took proactive steps to pump water to available tanks when supply issues arose, demonstrating a hands-on approach in crisis moments. Furthermore, he ensured that incinerator waste was properly handled through a management company, significantly reducing smoke-related complaints and showing some responsiveness to residents’ environmental health concerns.
These moments, though commendable, sit in contrast with broader concerns about his tenure. After all, they are mainly customary and constitutional duties. Among the most concerning failings is his unfulfilled pledge to organize a medical outreach program. Medical outreach initiatives are a cornerstone of student-led community service and public health awareness, and for this hall, in particular, a time-honored tradition. By defaulting on his promise—an executive clarified that there would now be an in-reach instead, focused on Brownites—Charles raises concerns over credibility.
Equally troubling was his promise to provide regular reviews of the hall’s cafeteria operations. This initiative would have offered transparency, accountability, and an opportunity for continuous improvement in food services, an aspect that affects virtually every resident. However, no such reviews were made public during his tenure, despite repeated expectations that they would be. The explanation given to this effect was that higher-ups dissuaded execution. Still, there was no reason not to have ensured Brownites were aware of the reasons this plan wasn’t executed.
The urinals in the male blocks, which he promised to fix, remain in disrepair. Brownites continue to contend with substandard sanitation facilities, an unacceptable reality in a hall of this size and history. Likewise, the issue of irregular water supply persists, further illustrating how infrastructural challenges remain unaddressed under his stewardship.
What makes Mr. Ofoma’s candidacy disconcerting is not merely the failure to execute projects, but the nature of the projects themselves. These were not grand, utopian dreams requiring massive funding or bureaucratic navigation. They were basic, doable, and urgently needed. That they remain unfulfilled says a great deal. In a functional democracy, prior performance ought to inform future opportunities. Ofoma Charles has had the opportunity. He did not deliver optimally. Yet, he’s going again.
Moshood Salam: A Case Study in Resource Mismanagement
Moshood Salam or Oloba Icon as he’s popularly known also has his time in office presenting another deeply troubling narrative. One centered around poor resource management and administrative inconsistency. At a time when ABH was in dire need of internal revenue, the Fanmenwo Common Room (FCR) rental system, which falls under his purview, became a symbol of inefficiency.
During his campaign for office, Moshood promised to review the FCR rental policy, a necessary reform given longstanding concerns about accessibility, accountability, and fair pricing. However, this promise, like many others, was never fulfilled. The system remained unchanged, but worse still, it became even more poorly managed. Reports from residents suggest that the FCR was frequently used by individuals who had not properly booked or paid for their usage, often encroaching on times already reserved by others. The apparent breakdown in scheduling and monitoring reflects a lack of enforcement and oversight that cannot be ignored.
Such inefficiency is not merely a logistical inconvenience, it is a financial failure. Every unmonitored, unauthorized use of the FCR is lost revenue for a hall that desperately needs funding for repairs, improvements, and programming. One would expect that someone entrusted with overseeing such a facility would at least implement basic checks and controls. Unfortunately, Moshood did not.
What is most disturbing is that these failures occurred under his direct supervision. Unlike infrastructural projects that may require university approval or funding from higher bodies, the management of the FCR falls squarely within the jurisdiction of the Executive Council. There are few excuses here, and none convincing enough to explain the sustained mismanagement.
Per fundraising, in which his office requires maximum input, an assessment via conversation with the same executive referenced earlier yielded a ‘fair’ result, with the suggestion that he could have done much better. Mr Moshood’s relative quietness in the current campaign, three weeks in, with no concrete promises or plans made public until last weekend, only compounds the issue. It’s further compounded by the fact that his office’s sole program for the tenure is just about to take place this weekend. Coincidence, we think not.
That said, Moshood’s time in office was not without positive contributions. One of the strongest points in his favor is his commitment to transparency. He delivered financial reports within 72 hours, as he had pledged in his manifesto, a commendable demonstration of accountability, but again, the bare minimum.
Additionally, he initiated a financial literacy program aimed at equipping Brownites with essential money management skills, an important and often overlooked area of student development. While the timing of this program, coming late in his tenure and just before elections, invites some scrutiny, the value of the initiative itself remains clear.
In a time when the electorate expects transparency and a compelling vision for the future, a lack of clear direction can be interpreted as a continuation of the same passivity that defined his time in office. Mr Moshood has returned with a mandate of passivity and ignored duties.
Olabisi Olaoluwa: A Communications Officer Who Went Quiet
There are letdowns in leadership, and then there is Olabisi Olaoluwa. A communications officer who, despite occupying one of the most visible and crucial positions in the Executive Council, managed to make himself poorly visible for most of his tenure. He runs his campaign under the slogan “All and There for ABH” which is supposed to mimic his moniker “Hollandia.”
To have a bold slogan like that one would assume that the candidate has been “all and there” for ABH in the past, or maybe his campaign implies that he just intends to start, because it is genuinely baffling that an individual whose primary responsibility was to keep residents informed, engaged, and connected could go through an entire tenure and leave behind so little in terms of impact. And yet, despite this poor record, he now steps forward to contest for the highest office in the hall.
Let us speak plainly. Mr. Olabisi came into office with clear promises: a monthly newsletter to keep residents updated, a Google Form to receive feedback and complaints, physical suggestion boxes, a revival of hall-wide communication, and support for the various ministries in their publicity efforts. Not only were these promises reasonable, but they were achievable, small, actionable items that simply required consistency and basic administrative will.
That newsletter never materialized. Equally absent was the anonymous feedback system he had pledged to introduce through a Google Form. The idea was practical, cost-free, and required minimal effort to launch. Still, it never saw the light of day. Suggestion boxes, which he committed to placing across strategic points in the hall to collect input from residents, were also forgotten. These tools, all promised as part of a communication overhaul, were either dismissed or neglected outright.
Equally troubling is the hall WiFi (COMUI WiFi), which stopped working in September and has remained unfixed till now, with the Information Minister only releasing an update on the WiFi recently during the election season. The notice boards, once a core avenue for public updates? Obsolete, untouched, earmarked for use by politicians and religious bodies in ABH and beyond. Even birthday graphics, one of the more routine jobs, were sporadic at best. Since being sworn in last June, graphics were only released for five months: September, October, December, February, and April.
However, while many of the major promises were left untouched, Olabisi’s tenure was not completely devoid of effort or moments of impact. To his credit, he did introduce the Spotlight Series, an initiative where the achievements of Brownites were consistently recognized and celebrated. He also made thoughtful use of a mobile P.A. system, especially during urgent or necessary announcements, a temporary alternative to the hall’s official P.A. system, which he had initially promised to reactivate
Moreover, Olabisi continued the custom of sending good wishes to specific classes and departments during exams, a small gesture on the surface, but one that reinforced a sense of support and presence during crucial academic periods.
Yet, these highlights stand in contrast with the broader reality: that for most of his tenure, residents felt uninformed, disconnected, and in the dark. This is not an exaggerated critique. For an executive whose sole task was to manage information and publicity, the silence was deafening. So much so that other ministries, like the Female Affairs Ministry, almost throughout the tenure, were forced to design their graphics, and he even received a query. Residents were considerably uninformed. And the administration, as a result, felt distant and opaque more often than preferred.
So when Olabisi Olaoluwa steps forward and announces his candidacy for Hall Chairman, the most pressing question is not “What is his vision?” but rather, “What exactly is he running on?”
An Election That Demands More But Offers Less
When elections arrive, they are supposed to mark a moment of renewal, a chance for new ideas, leadership, and energy to emerge. But instead, this year, Brownites are being handed a recycled trio of passivity. There is minimal innovation, vision, and no sense of urgency. Instead, we see aspirants whose track records should disqualify them from further office, not launch them toward the most important role in the hall.
What is especially disturbing is the complete lack of campaign substance. We are now several weeks into the campaign season, and just one of these candidates has released a manifesto—although all three appear to have engaged Brownites at the class level—detailed agenda, or even a clear set of goals. Their silence is not strategic. It is indicative of the same passivity and complacency that characterized their tenures.
All three candidates padded their list of “service records” with routine constitutional duties as if merely doing the minimum, what was already required of them, should be considered exceptional. Mr. Olabisi took it a step further by including himself as a member of all committees whose WhatsApp groups he created, despite not being ratified by the Hall Assembly to that effect. This attitude is, at best, perplexing and, at worst, an outright insult to the intelligence of the residents of Alexander Brown Hall.
It is as though the standard has fallen so low that fulfilling basic responsibilities now qualifies someone for higher office. This is not leadership. It is opportunism. And it is offensive, very offensive, to every Brownite who still fetches water because of poor supply, who sleeps through heat because of unreliable power, and who walks past broken urinals and neglected notice boards daily. It is offensive to expect that residents who have endured poor service should now reward that same service with the highest office in the hall.
Where Do We Go From Here?
Alexander Brown Hall is facing real, structural problems. Excuses might arise for some of the inadequacies of these executives, in form of the peculiarities of this tenure concerning the light issues, but these issues are far from over and the next Hall Chairman must be a leader who can engage meaningfully with complex challenges: negotiate power and water supply issues, revamp infrastructure, manage limited resources, and restore trust in the hall’s administration. And so to you readers, as the electorate, your duty starts from now. To ask questions and to participate actively in the electoral processes. Come for the press night. Come for the Manifesto Night. Observe these candidates. It is your duty to the hall to select your preferred candidate not by who trolls best, who spams more, or who makes the most noise on the Brownites group, but who out of all these options is the best by objective standards. Ask for their plans, and question their previous ones.
Alexander Brown Hall deserves leadership that respects its people enough to follow through on promises, that communicates clearly and acts decisively, and that treats the office of Hall Chairman not as a trophy but as a trust. This election will determine whether we choose progress or perpetuate passivity. Let us choose wisely.
