In a special election held on Saturday, June 26, 1999,
Chief Dr. Ademola Iyi-Eweka was elected Vice
President, barely two months to Afest 99. Iyi-Eweka
immediately went to work as Chairman of the Monitoring
and Evaluation Committee, a position that the Festival
Planning and Implementation Committee reserved for the
Vice President. As the Vice President, he
automatically becomes the next President on Saturday,
December 4, 1999.
Dr. Iyi-Eweka will be both President of the African
Association of Madison, Inc and, President of the
Union of Nigerians in Madison, UNIMA. His position
also, unless changes are effected, makes him Chairman
of the Festival Planning and Implementation Committee.
Therefore, he will be juggling among three
responsibilities of equal pull. He may succeed with
all three depending on how he galvanizes his troops.
Or, he may choose to forgo two responsibilities and
focus his energy where there is comparative advantage.
In the last two administrations, the Presidents have
tapped their Vice Presidents. Akyea easily welcome
Yarl as his Vice President. Yarl tapped Cole for the
position. Who has Iyi-Eweka tapped for the Vice
Presidency? Barely two days to the next general
meeting, the Electoral Board has received no
nominations. Who would be our next Vice President?
Our next Treasurer? Our next Financial Secretary? Or,
our next Secretary? These are questions for Dr.
Iyi-Eweka and these would be crucial if he should
succeed in all the responsibilities he now carry.
There is some concern within UNIMA that Dr. Iyi-Eweka
should not have accepted the Presidency of the African
Association at the special elections. "He definitely
needed to address the UNIMA issue first before taking
on an extra role," said a member of the organization
who prefers not to be named. The issue been referred
to here is a consensus among UNIMA members asking that
Dr. Iyi-Eweka resign from the Presidency.
Another concern is the role of the Chairman in
Planning and Implementing Afest. When put together,
it may seem easy, may be it is justifiable to say so,
that is, if all the drivers for success are timely
and appropriate. The past two Presidents, Akyea and
Yarl put in several hours that involved endless and
sleepless nights. Physically, it was a drain and its
impact was and still visible on Yarl. Would Dr. Iyi-
Eweka subject himself to this strain in the face of
certain uncertainties?
Many questions remain to be answered. But it is time
to begin looking at the Association as an institution
in the making. Like all successful organizations, it
is now time to move forward with the appointment of a
Director. The General Paid up membership shall
constitute the Board and establish policies for the
organization. This involves planning but luckily we
do have the talents to facilitate the process and we
must revisit with them again, if Afest 2000 should be
successful.
Askia Med Hassan.
=====
21st Century African Youth Movement
International Coordinating Secretariat
P.O.Box 8582
Madison, WI 53708-8582
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
"Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." -- Einstein
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Thousands of Stores. Millions of Products. All in one place.
Yahoo! Shopping: http://shopping.yahoo.com
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, visit:
http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/aam.html
AAM Website: http://www.danenet.wicip.org/aam
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
