President of the Students’ Union Government at Rivers State University, Port Harcourt, Anele Miracle, who was seen in a viral photo with bodyguards, tells DENNIS NAKU, why he chose to arm himself with security details and over 12 other aides, among other issues

When were you elected as SUG President at Rivers State University?

My name is Anele Miracle, the President of the Students’ Union Government at Rivers State University. I am a 300-level student in the Department of Sociology, Faculty of Social Sciences. I was elected on October 14, 2022, and inaugurated on January 30, 2023.

How would you describe the electioneering and outcome of the election that brought you into office as SUG leader?

So, my election was such that the students’ community got so much involved in it. Over time, the students’ community felt that the process of electing their leaders was not solely in their hands. So, for them to change the narrative, the election took a different turn, by getting a lot of them involved. The students were the ones who picked me, who took over the elections, and the campaign process. On the day of the election, they came out en masse as against the normal routine of the electioneering period. In fact, my election had a significant number of votes as against the past elections held in the institution. I won with a margin of over 1,000 votes. I had over 2,700 votes, while my opponent had 1,500 votes. The other one had 500 votes and all that. So, in the past SUG elections, the position of President was such a competitive one, that the margin one could only win with could just be 100 to 300 votes.

How did your opponents react to your emergence?

It was very evident to everybody and apparently, they knew that the students wanted me. So, without any sentiment, they had to embrace the outcome. Some of them came to me seeking to work together, and we are working together, while some of them – you know nobody likes failure – decided to go back to their shells and continue their normal lives.

The management. The moment you’re elected as the SUG President, you have the privilege to work with Man O’ War officers because the office is such a sensitive one. So to avoid harassment, embarrassment and all that. For me, I just added value to it by making sure I kit them up,and it looks like they’re were hired from outside. No, they were not. They are students and members of the community.

How did you kit them up?

It’s just by getting their security outfits. If you saw the pictures on the Internet, you would have seen them wearing kits for bouncers. One of them wore a suit. They are not armed at all, the management will not allow that. I’m still a student aside from the position, so why would I go about with armed security? Although, there was an occasion I was harassed sometime ago. Aside from that, I have not received any issue of harassment from any student or anybody. So, why would I arm the security (aides) working with me?

On what occasion were you harassed and where?

Oh, that was the day of the town hall meeting with a former governor, Nyesom Wike, at the Obi Wali International Conference Centre, Port Harcourt. Some cultists came up with the notion that some dollars were given to the SUG president, so they stampeded me with some other SUG presidents. Even some of our guys were stabbed and all that. So, my security aides helped me to escape the scenario and rescued some of our colleagues. So, that was the benefit of having them around me.

The kind of security aides you have suggests that your life is not safe. Are there issues of insecurity or cultism at RSU that raise concerns and bother you?

To be very frank with you, the issue of cultism and insecurity in the Rivers State Union has been addressed a long time ago before I emerged as the president. This university, some years, say five years ago or so, was noted to be a school where cult activities were recorded. But in recent times, the vice-chancellor, chief security officer and other management staff with the support of the Students’ Union Government have been able to tackle that issue. So, we cannot say that we have any issue of insecurity. The little ones that could be found daily are minor issues that are addressed by the chief security officer and with my support and my team. So I must say that there has been peace in the school.

How many security aides do you have?

They are just two as you may have seen in the picture. My chief security officer and my aide-de-camp.

How much do you pay them as aides, considering the risk involved?

No, I don’t pay them. We are all working for the students’ community. Nobody pays me; it’s community service, if you ask me. It’s a privilege for me to serve, and maybe a little allowance can come to the office of the president. They are recognised by the management of the university, but they work with me, and from time to time, they could be given incentives. But the management doesn’t pay me or anybody. It is something we pledged to do as a service to the community. So, why would they pay us for it?

Aside from the CSO and ADC, how many other aides do you have?

The SUG constitution allows me to make five appointments. The CSO, the chief press secretary, the personal assistant, the attorney general and the chief of staff. However, the president is at liberty to make other appointments. So, what I have is my social capital project committee, which comprises one person per faculty. We have 12 faculties, so I have 12 representatives that could serve as liaison officers between the SUG and faculties.

I also have my committee members for programmes; whenever I’m organising programmes, there is a directorate for programmes. Then I have the directorate for projects because there are things I want to achieve and these people help me to do the planning and execution of the projects. Aside from that, I don’t have any other. I have a head of media and communication who works under the CPS and is very important. (Courtesy of Saturday PUNCH)

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