The outgoing President of Nigerian Students Society Eastern Mediterranean University, Northern Cyprus and the Senate President National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) Turkish Zone, Mr. Salim Hamza Ringim expressed his delights as he leaves office on 11/16/2015 in an interview with Gundem’s Edith Ifeoma.
When asked about his evaluation of the one year term, Mr Salim expressed commendations on the ups and downs of his tenure as the president of Nigerian Student Society (NSS). He disclosed that evaluating the success of an individual or the administration should not come from the person but the students. He also stressed another reason why he can’t assess himself; he accedes that he can not because the Nigerian student community consist of so many people which might be an albatross to serve all but they did their best.
Mr. Salim was asked about the reason(s) why he has decided to be formally affiliated with the new administration and he disclosed that his administration gave the new administration a hundred percent support solely because they have great plans for the Nigerian student community. In his words he said, “Their plans include academic support to students through tutorials and also being ready to serve the Nigerian students in all necessary and feasible ways”. He emphasized the power of smooth transition from one government to the other and he asserts that it will be a great feeling to see that the present government continues from where the outgoing administration stopped. More importantly to him, he posits that the new administration can build on the weaknesses of the past tenure and make the mistakes their strengths. In his words, he said “ I hope they will perform better than my administration”.
Mr. Salim accedes that most of their plans were achieved especially in the area of academics and sports but he could tell that the major weakness of his administration was the social aspect were his words when he was asked about the high and low points of his administration. Stressing further on the social aspect, he also mentioned that the new administration should not rely only on the social director but a strong social committee should be formed with creative minds.
As the outgoing president of the society, Mr. Salim obviously have first hand information about the state of the society more than anyone, he was asked about the state of the society and this is what he had to say; “the society is in good shape because this is the first time the society has ever had a good relationship with the school management. We did our best to strengthen the relationship and I must say that the image of the Nigerians in EMU have been redeemed. Now, it will interest you to know that the school authority pay attention to our problems as Nigerians and the Nigeria student society. Ranking wise, the latest record shows that Nigerian Students Society (NSS) is the best society.”
“Thanks to all the Nigeria students for their support and corporation all through my one year tenure. I want to use this opportunity to seek the forgiveness of all the Nigerian students that were consciously or unconsciously wronged and I am doing this on behalf of my team and the people I worked with. Also, another topical issue is the disqualification of a candidate during the last NSS election. There were speculations that the disqualification was initiated by the NSS leadership. I am using this medium to say it clearly and pithily that these rules have been in existence for the past ten years or so and we have nothing to do with the disqualification.”
By Edith Ifeoma Ajah
