The Campus Activities Board (CAB) established in 2012, is one of the most prominent student organizations in the American University of Nigeria (AUN). Run entirely by students and for students, CAB has succeeded in making its mark on the AUN campus, in the hearts of prospective university applicants and beyond. “To outline all of its contributions and benefits for student life, in general, would quite honestly imply authoring a novel.” Said Sani Adeleke, current CAB president.
A lot of times, people fail to recognize the importance of the social aspect of student life. While it can be a great distraction for unfocused students, it is a breath of fresh air for students who work hard all week and deserve a chance to unwind.
CAB equips its members with skills such as event and budget planning, administrative skills, accounting, marketing, public speaking and so much more. They push the student body to come out of their comfort zones by encouraging them to run for pageants, walk runways, design fashion lines, host events, try out talent shows, theatre productions, and a host of many other activities that require stepping up and taking to the stage.
CAB also supports student entrepreneurs by creating opportunities for them to sell and promote their businesses with ‘Market Place Friday’; a gathering for student sellers and buyers. CAB provides vendor slot allocations at various campus events to boost trade.
“We are not only proud of the work they do, but we depend on the work they do to help students acquire the unique experience that AUN offers” the Director of Residence Life at AUN, Mr. Abdullahi Bello tells me.
To efficiently perform tasks, CAB is divided into committees that focus on different kinds of events. These committees include; Spirit, Special events and Comedy (SPEC), Scores, Concert, Films and Trips, Marketing, and the Technical Committee.
These committees plan events like the annual Homecoming week, Spring fling, Pre-independence banquet, live concerts with the best Nigerian talents, comedy shows, plays and dramas, a wide variety of sporting activities, fashion shows, movie nights, markets, festivals, community service, hiking trips and so on.
The Spirit Committee which is the branch of CAB that focuses on school spirit rallying events such as; ‘Spring Fling,’ and Homecoming Week, was able to successfully pull off the first-ever all-campus community inclusive Homecoming Parade in April 2012. Even more impressive than coordinating such a huge event was the fact that CAB enforced the university’s COVID -19 preventive guidelines.
Wearing masks and physical distancing however did not dampen the palpable excitement for homecoming. It is a miracle that CAB was able to pull this off as AUN takes covid-compliance protocols very seriously. The pandemic had been a deal-breaker for most events throughout 2020. Many threats of cancellation, and several postponements later, the Spirit committee put in their best. With the clock running and minimal resources, they defied all odds to put on a fabulous homecoming week for an activity-starved campus community.
“CAB is the heart of AUN.” Said Daphne Siminialayi an AUN final year student. Just like the heart is to the human body, CAB is really and truly indispensable. It represents the aspirations for a well-rounded education. With extracurricular activities, CAB balances student life.
As the saying goes, “all work and no play makes Jane a dull girl.” CAB is the play to AUN’s rigorous work. It is an integral and indispensable part of the well-oiled machine that is AUN.
As the university fulfills its promise of preparing Africa’s future leaders, CAB is making sure those young leaders get the full college experience so their inspired dreams will become Africa’s future.
Reported by Ruth Unde