A Lover’s Return: Anzaku Shedrack Revives Democracy at Yakubu Gowon University
Sinach
Published Date:
Apr 8, 2025
Last Updated:
In the hallowed halls of Yakubu Gowon University, a wave of love and admiration has swept through the student body, a tide stirred by one of our own—Comr. Anzaku Shedrack, the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) General Secretary and a proud alumnus of this institution. Like a knight returning to defend his homeland, Shedrack led a NANS delegation under the presidency of Comr. Ladoja on a courtesy visit to our Acting Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Patricia Manko Lar, wielding a clarion call for justice: the immediate reinstatement of a functional and constitutional Students’ Union Government (SUG). His demand, rooted in a fierce love for student welfare, struck a chord with Prof. Lar, who heeded it swiftly. The 9th Assembly administration of our SUG, by the letter of its own constitution, expired one week after the matriculation ceremony held on February 6, 2025—a deadline now upheld, thanks to Shedrack’s resolute stand.
For us, the students, this moment feels like a verse from the Songs of Solomon 3:4: “It was but a little that I passed from them, but I found him whom my soul loveth: I held him, and would not let him go, until I had brought him into my mother’s house, and into the chamber of her that conceived me.” Shedrack is that beloved figure—our lover of justice, a guardian of constitutional integrity, and a true son of Yakubu Gowon University. We clung to him in spirit as he marched into the Vice-Chancellor’s office, unwilling to let go until he had restored the democratic soul of our union. His intervention has snatched our SUG from the jaws of collapse, a collapse engineered by the 9th Assembly administration—a tenure that leaves behind no legacy worth celebrating, save for the scattered efforts of a few individual leaders who shone despite the darkness.
Shedrack’s arrival exposed a deeper rot. Some within the 9th Assembly, now alumni shortlisted for youth service, have clung to power with a shameless grip. These erstwhile leaders, no longer students by any legal measure, parade themselves as union officials, feasting on the very welfare funds meant to shield us. Their actions mock the spirit of service, turning a sacred trust into a personal fiefdom. Where they should have nurtured, they plundered; where they should have stepped aside, they lingered. It is a betrayal that stings, but Shedrack’s presence has lit a fire of hope, a promise that such impunity will no longer stand unchallenged.
Through Prof. Lar’s visionary leadership and Shedrack’s unwavering advocacy, we see a new dawn for Yakubu Gowon University’s SUG—a body that will reflect the unity and ambition our institution embodies. Shedrack, with the NANS machinery behind him, has not just defended democracy; he has reminded us what it means to be loved and fought for by one of our own. We, the students, stand ready to rebuild, to hold fast to this lover of our cause, and to ensure that our union rises anew—constitutional, accountable, and worthy of the name Yakubu Gowon. To Comr. Anzaku Shedrack, our gratitude is boundless; to those who betrayed us, your time is up. The chamber of our mother’s house—our university—welcomes only those who serve with honor.
About the Author
Sinach
A les Avocat, living with the It Begins With Me Mantra and determined to dot all i's and cross all t's for a better Nigeria.
