SOMETIMES, CHANGE NEEDS TO COME FROM YOU.
I BELIEVE I AM THE CHANGE- ADETAYO TOLULOPE
'SWAGGERTOLZ'(PRESIDENT, THE LAW SOCIETY).
A s
n e w
administrations take
over in the various
faculty associations on
the campus of the
Universoty of Lagos,
the new president of
The Law Society
discusses with Fatai
Waleey Opeyemi on
what he has in stock for
h i s f a c u l t y.
Can we meet you?
My name is Adetayo
Tolulope Emmanuel, a
500 level student of
Law and President, The
Law Society,
University of Lagos.
Toluswagger is a
household name in
the Faculty of Law,
what brought about
t h i s n a m e ?
(Laughs). My name is
not Toluswagger. They
call me Swaggertolz. I
guess the whole thing
came when I was in
year 1. I used to be this
type of guy that dressed
in a funky manner,
wore skinny jeans.
That was when people
had this mentality of
'swag swag'. Having
the fact that my name is
To l u , p e o p l e j u s t
shortened it to
Swaggertolz.
What inspired you to
s t u d y L a w ?
For me, I never
wanted to study Law. I
wouldn't know if that
sounds surprising to
you. All I wanted to
study then (when I was
in secondary school)
w a s
M a s s
Communication. I
wanted to do
something that could
make me impact the
society without much
stress. I knew that Law
came with stress. But at
a latter date, my dad
had to change my
mind. One thing that
made me change my
mind was basically
what my dad told me
that “there is
difference between
'abinibi' and ability”.
'Abinibi' is what you
have innate why ability
is your talent (nobody
can take this away from
you). In that scenario,
Mass Comm was what
was in me and Law was
what I wanted to learn.
M y d a d s a i d
FATAI OPEYEMI WALEEY
eventhough, I was going
to pursue my career in
Mass Comm, I should
start with Law. So when I
chose Law, I believed
even if I didn't get in for
Law, I could still go for
Mass communication.
But all thanks to God that
I got Law. Here we are
now, started from the
bottom, now we are here.
As the immediate
former General
Secretary of The Law
Society, can you tell us
how you have touched
t h e f a c u l t y ?
I will not really want to
blow my own trumpet.
Being the General
Secretary makes you the
engine room of the
Faculty and the Society as
you will be the one to
source for funds, liaise
with others, communicate
the faculty authority, write
letters, etc. I was able to
impact the faculty with the
help of other executive
members. It's evident in
our various projects. In the
Law Annexe now, we
have a statute there. That
was done by God through
us. We did a couple of
things. All I can say is that
I have impacted many
lives through teamwork.
If your people don't
cooperate with you, you
can't get there. Kudos to
my then president, Seun
Lari Williams. However,
we hope to deliver more
this session. Just watch
out for my team.
Politics in the Law
Faculty should be
distinctive, how true is
t
h
i
s
?
Politics in the Faculty of
Law is mature in the
sense that we believe we
are the learned. We
organise ourselves in
such a way that people
will understand that
these people understand
the Law. For example,
some political
contestants in other
faculties campaigned
before the school lifted
the ban on election
campaigns, that didn't
happen here. It means
that we follow the
procedures to the
letters. We are never
caught unawares. We
don't bend the Law to
suit us. In that line, I can
say that politics here is
m a t u r e .
Why did you want to
become the president?
And now that you are,
what do you feel?
Okay. Hmmm, I
believe in continuity.
Sometimes, change
needs to come from
you. I believe I am the
change. As a leader,
your followers must
appreciate what you do. I
started from being the
Assistant General
Secretary in my 300 level
days, the General
Secretary now in my 400
level and now the
President as a finalist. I
have seen the past
mistakes made by the
former leaders, I give
kudos to them but I don't
want to repeat such. I
Secretary,can you reel off to
u s s o m e o f y o u r
a c h i e v e m e n t s ?
I was the Chairman, Career
Day Committee. Like I said
earlier, I was like the engine
room of the faculty. I sacrificed
a lot, it got to a point that I didn't
attend any of my classes. I
attended just five classes in a
semester just for the success of
the whole event. I was also
instrumental to the success of
th H[