THE ICONS ORGANIZATION — a frontline platform for accurate, timely, and unbiased news coverage.

             Fawaz Adedeji The Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, on Thursday, November 11, 2025, held the opening ceremony of its 49th Convocation, with graduands, academics, university officials, and distinguished guests filling the Amphitheatre for the occasion. The event commenced at exactly 10:00 a.m. with the academic procession featuring graduands, principal officers, deans, invited guests, members of the press, and the Association of Campus Journalists (ACJ). Following the procession, the University’s Public Relations Officer, Mr. Abiodun Olanrewaju, led the National Anthem and OAU Anthem before the Registrar, Mr. Adetunji Bakare, formally invited the Vice-Chancellor to declare the ceremony open. Delivering his welcome address, the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Adebayo Bamire, congratulated the graduating students, praising their resilience and commitment to academic excellence. He described hard work as the “true harbinger of success...

         Oyinlade Adeyemi Across the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife campus, the increasing cost of living on campus is no longer just an abstract economic concept, rather, it has become an unavoidable aspect of the students’ daily lives, dictating the choices they must make to survive each day. However, to what extent does it affect their food choices, transportation, welfare, and overall survival?  To understand this reality and in order to have a well-rounded perspective as to why “on-campus” cost of living remains super-expensive, the ICONS correspondent engaged with both traders and students in an interview to this effect. Meanwhile, repeated attempts to speak with the Students’Union Welfare Director were unsuccessful, leaving students’ questions on official welfare support unanswered for now. The interviews conducted with the women at the OAU New Market uncover deeper aspects of their struggles, as they did not hold back in explaining ...

            Olatunde Joan & Damissah Ogiegie   In the evening hour of Sunday, 7th December, students and book lovers converged at the Ken Saro Wiwa Students' Union Building TV Room, for the fun filled launching and book chat of the book—”If I Were God, I’ll Do a Better Job"—the brain child of the erstwhile General Secretary of the Icons Organization, Omolayo Olufayo. The author, Omolayo Olufayo is a Nigerian author, scriptwriter and editor from Osun State, born and brought up in Lagos where she developed a passion for writing at a tender age. Omolayo is a graduate of the Department of English, Obafemi Awolowo University, and she currently works as a professional script editor and book writer. She is also the author of Faze, Yolo, Too Much and many more.  Speaking at the event, Omolayo revealed that she was inspired to write the book after observing members of her generation, especially the Gen Z, who struggle with understand...

          THE ICONS  The Editor-in-Chief of the ICONS Organization News Agency, Adetunji Oluwafemi, yesterday, bagged two awards at the seventh (7th) edition of annual Campus Journalism Awards of Youths Digest Initiative, held at Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja. Recall that Ezekiel Ogunniyi,  on Sunday, 16th November, reported that the editor, following a rigorous selection process, was shortlisted as an award finalist in two of the fifteen (15) categories of the 2025 (7th edition) Youths Digest's Campus Journalism Awards, amongst several other campus journalists from over 50 universities in Nigeria. The editor emerged the winner amongst other two finalists in the News Report Category, with his report "From 487 to 678 — the Mysterious Surge in Number of Ballot Papers Raises Doubts in Faculty of Law," thereby making him the best campus news reporter in Nigeria. Similarly, his news report with the headline; "Inside OAU: The Dilapidated State...

          Deborah Adeyemi  In many higher institutions today, a growing concern is whether students genuinely have passion for the courses they are studying, or otherwise. While some students were admitted into the university with a clear love for their chosen fields, several others find themselves pursuing courses they have little or no interest in, often due to parental pressure, limited admission options, lack of proper career guidance or for not meeting up with the benchmarks. This lack of connection between students and their course of study often leads to low motivation, lack of commitment to their studies, as they even begin to question their academic and sometimes career path. In an interview with the Icons reporters, Praise, a 400level student of Mass Communication described the deep connection she has with her discipline.  "I love speaking and engaging with people in an intellectual discourse. I am fascinated about all that mass c...

        Samuel Faseyitan  The Association of Campus Journalists, Obafemi Awolowo University (ACJOAU), on Saturday, 6 December, held its first sit-out session at the university Botanical Garden, where members network, connect, and socialise with one another while learning.  The event, which brought together the association’s members, executives, and editors-in-chief of various news agencies was moderated by the editor-in-chief of the Great Ife Network (GIN) news agency, Adeyemo Adeola.  The sit-out session featured games, dances, an interactive session and a dialogue segment where members of the association interacted with one another. The event was an eye-opener to the laughter and fun that exist beyond bylines. The ACJOAU Chairman Guild of Editors, Adedoyin Oguntade, exposed the members to the association’s style guide, highlighting capitalization, date format, titles and many other guidelines to ensure uniformity across the b...