"The Presidential Interview" - Garrick Speaks

• "How we intend to bridge the gap in relationship between Lecturers and students"

• Shares his plans for life after school. 

President Garrick Nosa.

Garrick Nosa John is the President of the Law Students Association (LAWSA), University of Benin. In this exclusive interview with UNIBEN LAWSA Press, the Final year student of the Faculty of Law, UNIBEN talks about his accomplishments, his future plans and challenges he has faced since assuming office whilst also giving a glimpse into his personal life. 

Excerpts:

ULP's Chinenye: it's  been almost a month or thereabout since your government came into office. Lawsans are curious. What changes have you effected? If non, Lawsans would like to know why such is the case?

Garrick: Thank you for your question. Well, I wouldn't say there has been any major change in the sense of Landmarks. I wouldn't say 'change' because LAWSA is still the way we met it, only a little bit of improvement in the sense that, the little things that were overlooked for over a year has been done. For example see these toilets that Lawsans have been complaining about, they were shutdown, I think for close to more than a session, but upon taking office, the next day it was opened; Also the notice boards outside, some people don't even know that we were the ones that did [fixed] the notice boards, as a matter of fact we did that from our personal purse just to ensure that things are moving on; and [we have also done] some other little things I can't account for now. But then 'Change' in the large scope is that the administrative structure has been improved upon, [and also] the synergy between the different arms of government. There has been a change in the sense that [for instance] there is this ideology about Parliament and Executive 'witch-hunting' each other, but today as a matter of fact, I had a meeting with The Speaker and we had a discussion that lasted for a very long period of time concerning how we want to move the faculty together. These are just the little changes, but in totality the changes that we promised are still on track. 


ULP's Chinenye: Concerning the re-opening of the toilets, is there a guarantee for maintenance this time or they have just been opened for people to go and mess them up? Because there are rumours in some quarters that the reason they were locked in the first place is because the cleaners said Law students would mess them up and they are not ready to clean up after them. Is there a guarantee that there will be proper maintenance of the toilets henceforth?

Garrick: As a matter of fact the statement that the toilets were locked because the cleaners were not willing to clean up after the students is actually false, on the ground that the cleaners themselves categorically met me and told me that they were with the key to the toilet for over the year. However it was jammed, in other words it couldn't be opened with the key so they needed a carpenter to open it, and so because of the complaint to the previous government and it wasn't handled, when the head of the cleaners approached me, the next day we called a carpenter and the carpenter opened it. So it wasn't locked because it wasn't maintained, as a matter of fact the toilet was new, it was about two months into its being renovated that it got jammed, it wasn't locked by anybody, that's why we even had the go ahead to open it. And for the maintenance, of course you look at the doors now, apart from the female toilet, immediately we opened the toilets, we took the initiative of locking the toilet and as a matter of fact I have a personal key that I lock the toilet with in the night; even though its not locked now, for the last three weeks I've been locking the toilet and the cleaners have been opening it in the morning to clean it. That will reduce the amount of stench that goes into the classrooms, because you'll find out that its not Law students that use these toilets at night, its the people that come to read overnight that mess the toilet up. 

ULP's Chinenye: I do believe that if someone is coming to read in the night, if he/she needs to pee, they have to use the toilet.

Garrick: Well I understand that nature, but you know, as a President, my first call of Duty is to my Law students, I know Law students come here to read. But if invariably whatever action that is taken will affect my students in a negative way en masse, then I will do anything to avoid that, even if it will cause a little bit of pain and inconvenience for some people. If you go to other departments you will see that they lock their toilets, its only Faculty of Law that leaves their toilet open, and maybe someone was so angry and jacked the toilet, therefore we're still going to replace that shortly.
Hall four(4) is just here for the guys, Hall Two(2) for the girls, if you are really pressed you can just go to the hostel and walk in and use the toilet. Its better than  messing up ours. 

ULP's Chinenye: We just hope people will not be pushed to use the bushes around because it will be worse in that case.

Garrick: Well I don't think we are in a state where anybody would want to use the bushes. Its an open environment, I don't think anybody would not be seen squatting.


ULP's Chinenye: Thank you very much for that elaborate answer. The second question, as the President of Lawsa, Lawsans expect that in trying times we can approach you. We understand that as a final year student, you have loads of academic work before you but you are also the President of Lawsa. How accessible would you say you are to Lawsans?

Garrick: As a matter of fact I've heard people call me 'People's Person'. Funny thing is that my life revolves around people even if its not necessarily Lawsans. I am more of a people's person than an individual, I actually find it very boring when I stay alone or when I am not talking to somebody, doing something. How I balance my academics and Lawsa work, I think that's left to me, I have been doing a pretty good job. I am actually very accessible, my office is actually open from the hours of [7:30am-6:00pm]... I get to Faculty probably before more than half of all LAWSAN's.

ULP's Chinenye(interrupts): Do you intend at a point to give out numbers, your numbers to LAWSAN'S?

Garrick: We are all Law students. My number has been constructively given. My number is on the letter headed paper there, that is my number. So it is accessible if you want to call, that is the essence of it being there. If I did not want it to be known by anybody, I would not have put my number there. And the office is open from 7:30am till 6:00pm, I do not leave the Faculty till 6:00pm, so that is more than enough time for any individual that wants to see me, see me and discuss pressing issues.


ULP's Chinenye: At the beginning of this interview you said something, when you were talking about the changes, you said something about the executive trying to balance the powers, to stop the witch hunting between the Executive and Parliament. How would you describe your relationship with other arms of government thus far? And consequently, the Judiciary how do you plan or how do you intend to balance the powers? Because we know in the previous government, there was a case were people said the Executive had issues with the other arms, it was just them {independently}, like they {executives} exerted a lot of power over the other arms of government. So how do you intend to balance separation of powers between the arms of government and how have you been doing that so far?

Garrick: Having been in this Faculty for four years now, going to my fifth year, I've realized that over the years, people have the misconception that the fact that you are in a different arm of government means you are superior to the other. Of course prima facie, that is as a matter of fact, when the Faculty Board, when they talk about student's issues the first person they call is the President. So to the students, the other arms of government might be known but to the body, the other arms are not known. However it will only take an individual that is not a leader to let this get into his head. Now the way I have ensured that there is no overlapping of power, or should I use the word usurpation of power and jurisdiction, I showed a very good example. Now in the Congressional Inauguration It is not against my place as a President constitutionally speaking, to be the one to handle the Inauguration and the election of principle members into the office. However, being a Constitutional Lawyer that I am already, I know that interfering in legislative matters is a big usurpation of Jurisdiction, and so what I did was to invite the electoral officers to handle the election, therefore cleaning my hands from such interference. And so far I think I have been able to work with The Speaker, and like I said earlier on we just concluded a meeting that lasted for about two-three hours and we discussed at length, how and ways, the manner in which we want to move forward. So I think the answer to that question is already in the actions, what I have already done in the Faculty in the last one month and I think its glaring for everybody to see; that's just in Parliament. Now for the Judiciary, I think over the years, there has not been any issue between the Executive and the Judiciary because to an extent there is no clash [in powers] between them. However even though that [clash of powers] has not been there, I still want a way and a manner where every Principal member in the Faculty is duly recognized for the amount of actions or work that they have done because there is no amount of money that you can bring to actually pay or that is commensurate to the work that you do, but recognition and appreciation is actually very key and that is one thing I want to bring, to bring synergy among the three arms of government. 


ULP's Chinenye : Do you have a Personal Assistant? If you do what was your criteria for choosing him/her.

Garrick: *laughs*, Thank God the word is 'personal' and it is assistant, so it is a personal choice and the work is to assist me. So I think that is beyond your purview.


ULP's Chinenye : Moral, political or economic thinker, who has the most impact on your views, in the Faculty. It could be a lecturer, another student, anybody. {Your influence?}

Garrick: Within the Faculty, I do not think I have any role model in the Faculty, especially when it comes to politics. I only have one role model when it comes to politics in this world and that is Barrack Obama. I follow him closely, that is the only role model I think I have politically. But for this Faculty, of course nobody is an island, I have individuals that advise me, even though they don't bear the name advisers but they advise me. But to mention their names, I think it would not be proper to mention their name since they do not have that official capacity as in, 'advisers'. 


ULP's Chinenye : There is a concept of lecturer appreciation day. Lawsans would like the concept explained further because we don't really understand. What is the criteria for appreciating the lecturer? Like what are the prerequisites for, if you are going to appreciate the lecturer what are you appreciating him for? What qualifies him for that appreciation, so to say.

Garrick: First of all, to answer your question from behind, what qualifies a lecturer to been appreciated as a lecturer is the fact that he or she is a lecturer.


ULP: So you are saying that you are appreciating all the lecturers in the Faculty of Law.

Garrick: As a matter of fact, Yes I am. I am appreciating all the lecturers in the Faculty of Law from the old to the new, if they are new we are appreciating them in advance. Now reason been this, whatever you are as a Faculty of Law student, whatever you have become as a student as far as your educational life is concerned, these people have a great input. They might not totally make you as an individual or as a student, [of course] you have people that make research on their own, but these people are there, they guide you and give you the fundamental basis. And my rationale for having lecturer appreciation day, as a matter of fact, if you were present at the manifesto, I made that clear that there was going to be a lecturer appreciation day, and the reason: it fell under the area where I put it as "bridging the gap" between lecturers and students. The idea is this: Law students have been complaining that; {last two years that was the last time we had a 'Law week' if I am not mistaken}, about lecturers setting classes on the week we are supposed to have law week. Now it is not as if the lecturers do not understand that there is Law week, there is no synergy between the lecturers and the students. If we appreciate them and recognize them for who they are, it bridges the gap between us and we can actually approach them and bringing forward our programmes towards them say "this is what we want to do, can you assist us?" After this lecturers appreciation day, I am so confident that their mind set towards us is going to change, and they would have a softer spot for us.


ULP: Mr President, now we understand the concept with the lecturer appreciation day, the question now is HOW? How are we going to appreciate them? Will every lecturer be appreciated equally? Is it the same way? Also too, what is the modus operandi for appreciating? Then, taking in to consideration the fact that, most of the students see lecturers as their enemies, or some lecturers as their enemies, how would you integrate these students or convince these students to participate, if they are really to participate in appreciating the lecturers.

Garrick: First of all, there is a reason why I am President and the reason why I am President is not because I put myself there. The reason why I am President is because the Lawsans put me there, and the reason why they put me there is because they trust me and trust the judgments I will make, with the mind set that everything I do is with the intention to promote them and not any other person above them. The mode, the way lecturers are going to be appreciated is just this, it is actually a simple ceremony, it is not so verbose. We call together everybody, consensus ad idem in the Jural Court which is our proposed venue, and we get certificates of excellence just for your contribution to our lives as students, and we issue the certificates to the lecturers, and the Dean of course, give him an award of excellence for his work. People might see the Dean as difficult to approach, but if you go beneath that skin, in my personal relations with him, I discovered that he does things for the best of the students. You will find out that last year, I think about 99 or 98 percent of them are in Law school, for the last set. I have not seen anyone that says he is at home, except the person wants to be at home. So these are the things that the Dean himself had to bring to the Council of Legal Education. I think that is worth celebrating because it has not happened for a long time, where even now my set, my classmates are confident and sure that they will be going to Law school because the slot is enough for us. And this little remarkable change that has happened in this last year, will continue to affect even those that are in hundred level now, save for if a set is filled tremendously, which I doubt. So you see, those little things are things that we should at least shed light on. Yes of course, not every lecturer can be a friend of all students, there are lecturers that the students say they hate. But the question is, in such situation, if you had to ask those students individually, "why do you hate this lecturer", and you find out that some of the reasons why they hate lecturers are trivial matters, very trivial matters; maybe you failed the course, you might find out that you really did not read and prepare for the course and you failed; because I don't think any lecturer would just set out to fail a student except there is a personal beef with the student. So based on that, we cannot judge this based on one person's reason but we apply equity and apply across board and appreciate everybody. Putting yourself in their shoes, if we appreciated fifty nine lecturers and do not appreciate you, how would you feel? So that is it.


ULP's Chinenye : Section 54(5) of the Lawsa Constitution provides that "copies of this constitution shall be made available to all Lawsans" yet more than two third of Lawsans do not even know that a constitution exists, talk more of seeing one. What do you plan to do about this? We know getting plenty copies and distributing them will cost money, we know there should be a procedure about it, but I mean, should we not at least know that there is a constitution we go by? Based on the fact that we as an association, are bound by the Lawsa Constitution and it says in the constitution that people should have it and Lawsans do not.


Garrick: Well, to be honest, like I told my friend, a junior colleague, I said my administration is a foundational administration. It is an administration that is restarting Lawsa as an association. As a matter of fact, every loophole that exists right now are loopholes that we have seen and we want to solve. They are loopholes we met there, we did not create them, we as students even have suffered from these loopholes. Now for this issue of our constitution, as a matter of fact, today, in my meeting with The Speaker we spoke about the distribution of constitution and as a matter of fact he has taken it as his pet project, myself and him, we've  discussed that upon the amendment of the Constitution, there will be a process where this Constitution will be made into the actual copy that will be distributed. Now of course, distribution will start as from next session, that is for the new intakes. So as they come and pay their dues and everything, then a little incentive and they add and they get their copy of the Constitution, then any responsible Lawsan that wants to be aware, can also approach the secretariat and get the constitution. This is our plan on distribution of the constitution. However, the issue of Lawsans not knowing about the constitution is a matter of bureaucracy that has existed in the past. I promised that I will call a general assembly two weeks after I was sworn in. As a matter of fact we all know the issue of the swearing in and everything but irrespective of that the doctrine of necessity covers it. And by January when we resume, of course there is going to be a general assembly where the Speaker and myself will address the full house and they will know of these things that are on ground and I am sure people will be aware.


ULP's Chinenye: We would like to know the real issue, what is the issue with the swearing in and the oath taking, why is it taking so long? What is the problem?

Garrick: There is actually no problem. As a matter of fact, although the Constitution says that swearing in can only be taken upon by any legal practitioner , meaning any lecturer can actually swear us in, preferably the Staff adviser. Convention has come to take place, that the Dean himself delights in swearing in, not only [the present Dean], apparently, even the previous Dean he was the one that swore in executives. And the Dean being a very hardworking man, has a lot on his plate now and cannot actually do that immediately, but hopefully this January it will be done before lecturers appreciation day. However, the express mandate has been given to us by the staff adviser, that we should go on with our work and not let that deteriorate our movement and pace.

ULP's Chinenye : The constitution, section 48(1) provides that "nobody shall perform the function or exercise the power of any office unless and until he has taken the relevant oath of office". So technically you can not do anything at the moment. Everything you have said or everything you have done so far you do not have the right to do them. Do you not feel like it is a limitation, do you not feel it is something that you should as the "Lawsa President elect", talk to the Dean about? Because you should bring it to, we feel you should bring it to his notice that this is what the Lawsa constitution says, this is something you have looked at and if it is something that he cannot do, then there's obviously the delegation of powers. If he can not, if he is too busy at the moment, if he has a lot on his plate... The constitution even provides for legal practitioner to do so.

Garrick: Like I already stated, I think I already answered this question before it was asked. The situation on ground is what I have already stated it to be. But as a LAWSAN take for example, I go by that particular section and I sit down in my office and do nothing, then all the questions that you have asked me here would be irrelevant; and if you had not recognized me as being effectual or doing something or supposed to have started doing something, then I do not think this interview would be called for. Now the doctrine of necessity covers this, because I have practically six months of office right now, four months of movement, because only two months, I probably will be concentrating on my project and the rest of them. So there is actually no time to do everything I wished I could do but at least, the little time that we have now, we could just make somethings happen and forget all the bureaucracy that exists here.


ULP's Chinenye : Past administrations have pointed out consistently, as they like to put it that 'LAWSA has no money'. This is baffling as Lawsans are made to pay LAWSA dues, in addition to the little contributions to LAWSA here and there. Can you please explain why your office claims to never have money? Is it going to be the same story with your administration? Because section 35(4) provides for a finance committee whose primary duty shall be 'to raise funds for the association', has such a committee been setup?

Garrick: Yes, the Finance Committee has been formed, it was formed about three weeks ago. And now the finance committee, where the Financial secretary is the chairman of the committee and he actually drafted members across points and they already have their plans on ground for sourcing of funds. For the issue of LAWSA not having funds, when I was contesting for the position of President, I made two sacrosanct points that was the ideology behind my running: structure and continuity. Now the issue we have had is continuity and structure, in the sense that previous Presidents, no offence to any, they did not understand totally the issue of sacrifice. And as such, when it comes to the financial aspect, we find out that, maybe they say "the last President did not leave anything for me so I will take everything and do everything, finish the money so I won't leave anything again", so that is the mindset. When I got into office, I realized that I inherited a debt of twenty nine thousand naira(29000). So I started the office with minus twenty nine thousand naira, and since then we have been able to raise a little bit from the dues, we have not even started using from the money. We have been using our personal funds since, just to cut corners, for us to do things. Now for the issue of finance, Law students are supposed to pay dues...

ULP's Chinenye : How do you... we hear most of the time Law students decide not to pay their dues until 500 level when it becomes compulsory, so how do you intend to let Lawsans know that these are dues we have to pay and make it compulsory, so that at a point Lawsans will actually know that they have to pay these dues for the continuity of Lawsa?

Garrick: There are two ways to making people pay dues: Diplomacy or by Force. I have not chosen to use force to collect dues from Law students. The only level I know, that it is actually compulsory for dues to be paid for now, that I am aware, is 400 level. But for the other levels there is no element of force been placed there. However we must recall that over 485 people voted me into office, out of about 550 or almost 600 voters, so you can see that there is a high level of mandate that has been placed on me. So I think the best way to ensure people pay their dues is diplomacy. How do you get these people to pay their dues? That is the necessity of the general assembly, to make people understand that we cannot do this without each other and we cannot achieve anything, and make them see that every plan that I have would be handicapped if they do not support me. 


ULP's gafar: Mr President, we took the liberty of asking Lawsans if they had any questions and some of them responded.
James Uro is in 400 level, he wants to know if you've  had any challenges so far since you became President and if you have, he wants to know how you have been able to surmount or plan to surmount such challenges?


Garrick: As a leader, apart from being the President of a Faculty, you have challenges. As a person, first of all, you have challenges everyday, so I think its rather not large, a question. Specifically speaking, the challenges that we have had as an association, I do not want to speak for myself now as a person because I represent a body, is just majorly finance. We have every plan down, we have every means of execution, save for finance; the only thing we need to make these remaining months we have a success is finance. Every thing, every mechanism is in place and ready to be executed. I think that is the major issue I've  had; other things are just normal that I can actually surmount. How I want to surmount this challenge, I answered it previously, we get dues and external contributions from well to do individuals, but the challenge in this road is that with these individuals, they want to know what is in it for them, most of them are actually politically related and they want know what is in it for them, so you have to tread carefully. That is one of the reasons why you do not just jump any anyhow, so we have to be careful, inasmuch as we want to get money for our association.


ULP's gafar: We spoke with Emeka Onyeri, he is also in 400 level.
Emeka wants to know, he says all the electrical sockets in L.T III or most of the electrical sockets in L.T III are functioning properly, but for the other two LTs they are not working. He wants to know if your administration has any plans to rectify this problem.

Garrick: Yes we do. As a matter of fact we have taken an estimate of the electrical repairs, and although it is way out of our budget but before the end of January it should be fixed at least some aspects of that.


ULP Chinenye: Mr President, subject to section 8(2) of the Lawsa constitution, the 'Law week' was mentioned and the previous government did nothing concerning this very relevant activity meant for Law students. Are we to expect a Law week under your government?

Garrick: Yes. Definitely. 


ULP's gafar: Also we spoke with Mafi.
Mafidon Okupa is a 400level student. His complaint is a bit funny, but it's his complaint. He wants to know, he is worried, his complaint is about the front mirror we had in the entrance of the main building. He wants to know who removed the mirror and if your administration can bring back the mirror for Law students. Because it is written in the Constitution that Law students have to look 'dapper {The Second schedule of the constitution, Lawsa Conduct and Etiquette, Rule 6, on 'Dressing'}, so how do we look 'dapper when we do not have enough mirrors to assure us we are looking 'dapper?.

Garrick: The mirror was ordered to be taken away by the Dean, as a matter of last dispensation, I was actually there when it was done. But his reasons are actually very cogent, I actually support his reason. The reason being that a lot of students, inasmuch as you have students that understand principles, you still have some students that are learning, I do not want to say they do not understand. You find some students playing all sorts of unnecessary plays in front of the mirror and that is a strategic point, being the fact that it is the entrance of this prestigious Faculty, so the mirror had to be taken away for the image of our Faculty. However we have one mirror in the corridor beside L.T I, but I know that is definitely not sufficient. We will look for other ways, other strategic places where we can place mirrors, but definitely not that strategic point.


ULP's Chinenye: Mr President, in an event where you are accused of malfeasance or wrong doing in office, or your cabinet members, will you address the charges publicly so that Lawsans can see your response to issues involved? Or will you go with the 'operation sweep everything under the carpet' which has been the practice in place already?

Garrick: Well the issue of addressing issues publicly, like I said my role model is Barrack Obama, you do not see Barrack Obama being accused of maybe, wrong policy and he comes openly to address the issues. The issue of 'openly' is this: I believe if I am accused of any unconstitutional act, it will come mostly from the Legislative arm, so I will be asked to speak before with relation to that. And the Legislative members I believe, are deemed to be representatives of every level and they are supposed to give their levels feedback. So me addressing the legislative arm is already tantamount to me addressing the Faculty of Law. I do not have to call a general meeting to address the issue, I think that would be me doing the job of the Legislature and usurping their jurisdiction. But I do not intend to do anything that is unconstitutional, to do anything that would cause a breach, and I do not believe I am an individual that will want to sweep things under the carpet especially when it comes to office, because like I said before, this is just a very short period. We have Senators here, we have Governors here, we have Presidents in this Faculty, some of them might be my seniors, some are my juniors, some are my mates. I might be a political appointee of one of my juniors, maybe because he liked what I did one time and he says "I remember what Garrick did so I am appointing him as this". So my integrity is actually on the line, and I would not want to play with that.



ULP's gafar: Mr President, Ikenna Agbowo  is a member of the Supreme Parliament, SUG, he is also in 400 level.
Agbowo is worried, he is complaining that inside the law library, we have just one person that operates the photocopying machine. And then he is of the opinion that competition breeds effectiveness, and the Photocopying machine in the Law library, their prices are higher and they are somewhat shoddy with the customers. He wants to know if the association can bring somebody else if there is, to reduce the monopoly?

Garrick: Well, even in government, every government and every parastatal, Local, State or Federal has its jurisdictions. And even as much as the Library is where Law students read and everything, our jurisdiction there is somewhat limited in the sense that; even though the welfare of lawsans are key and paramount, suo moto, on our own, cannot put an individual there. As a matter of fact when it comes to photocopying, our jurisdiction are just the individuals that are within the Faculty. We can ask any of them to leave and any of them to come there. For photocopying, if the individual at the place is not co-operating, now that I am aware, I would actually investigate into it. But as to remove the individual there, it would not be proper, or bringing another individual there to cover up. I do not think the prices are actually different from outside prices because she knows or he knows that the students would not sit back and watch her inflate prices. But as for the shoddiness of him or her towards student I think that is an issue of personal character and not the generality of the case. 


ULP's gafar : While we are on this issue of "photocopy", we would like to ask, for clarification because personally I have always wondered, these people that are photocopying{business} inside the administrative building, beside the secretariat, they fall under the purview of LAWSA so I think it should be another source, theoretically, another source of revenue for LAWSA to make money because I think they have to pay rent or something of the sort at some point?

Garrick: It is already a source for generation of revenue, even though it is not a constitutional provision; it cannot be because it is a shady constitution. Over the years it has been a source of revenue, but the revenue there is majorly for paperwork. We don't end up even collecting the money prima facie, we have a tab that we do paperwork and we deduct it from the rent. So it is not express, and the money that is even gotten from there, is not something that should be heard on record, it is very small compared to other places. But we used it majorly for paperwork, to print, official businesses.


ULP's gafar: Finally we are rounding up, our listeners, Lawsans want to know. Mr President sir, it is a rumour but we are not sure...

Garrick: *cuts in* what rumour?

ULP's gafar: That is what we'd like to confirm from you now. Are you in a relationship?

Garrick: As a President it is wise to live your personal life outside ... 

ULP's gafar : Some will argue that as a President you no longer have a personal life.

Garrick: Well as a President, you have a personal life. Like I will say, Barrack Obama who is also my mentor is happily married and has children but he does not go about telling the world his private issues...


ULP's Chinenye : We did know he had a very previous relationship, long relationship with his wife before they ended up married.

Garrick: Well, since it is a personal matter I elect to leave it at personal. Thank you very much. 


ULP's Josh: So we want to know, after leaving UNIBEN, leaving the Law Faculty, we do not know if this is the first position of a political standing that you have held, do you have any intention in life to go further, 'politically'.

Garrick: Well politically, first position politically, I would say was in secondary school, I was the senior prefect in my secondary school. And the way we got there, I think there were six of use that the teachers interviewed, and out of six of us they drafted us down to two. So myself and an individual, we were now left to contest, so I think that is also a political position, I won. And also, I have actually held other political positions. After UNIBEN, of course, I do not see myself running for Governor or President, maybe probably till I am about 50. But before then, I will be looking for political appointments mostly and also Senatorial positions. I actually told my dad I was going to be a Senator when I was in SS2, although he told never to try it, but then I think I will actually go into politics. 


ULP's Josh: The assembly, general assembly. Conspicuously, there is no theatre, no room that can contain every Law student, so I do not know, how do you intend to bypass this challenge? Do you have a plan for a venue?

Garrick: Let us understand the context in which General Assembly comes. General Assembly does not necessarily mean because it is 'General' and it is an 'Assembly', the assembly of all Lawsans, you mean almost 1000 of us. General Assembly by virtue of the constitution, when you have about 150 people, connotes General Assembly and we know that the LTs can contain about150 people. And I believe it is going to be more, although you might have some people standing and everything. I have plans of bringing extra plastic chairs to cover up some space and increase the intake of students that are going to be present for the general assembly. I think that will go a long way. If we have 200 people having a particular message, I think the others would get it.


ULP's gafar: Sir you have a very wonderful cabinet, we've been privileged to meet quite a few of them personally. Who would you say among your cabinet members is your most favourite?

Garrick: You want to put me in trouble *laughs* 

ULP's gafar: It follows logically that when you are in a group of people, you flow with specific kind of people the more, and it will be easier for you guys to understand yourselves. Who would you say you have that kind of relationship with?

Garrick: I elect to use the 'most favorite nation principle" to cover up this. The principle basically talks about, "whatever you do to A, you must do to the others". So I think I use the most favorite nation principle to cover this question in the sense that, everybody to me is equal, it is a team, it is not a competition. Of course whether we like it or not, we are humans and we have the tendency to tilt towards favoritism or bias for a set of people. But then, even the fact that you are a human, what qualifies your human nature, my human nature is the fact that I am a leader, and a leader does not show favoritism on the people that he leads. He carries everybody in equal love and care.


ULP's gafar: Can you tell us one thing that Lawsans do not know about you.

Garrick: Me?... I don't know oooh!
I think I am practically open. If there is anything I want the association to know, I think they would have known, or before I graduate they will know. Or probably I would just have a programme that says - "Know Garrick"


ULP's gafar: We saw you come up with something very extra ordinary. You did a programme "Words Unspoken" and it was a huge success. Are we to expect a repeat of that programme this year?


Garrick: I do not think so. "Words Unspoken" was supposed to be an annual programme, I think for my sake and my development sake, and career pursuit, it is deemed to be a biannual programme. So the next edition should be 2017 after I am called to bar. But it is not going to be University of Benin definitely. I am looking at somewhere, maybe probably University of Lagos. That's for that. 


ULP: Thank you very much Mr President for your time, we appreciate and God bless you sir!


THE END