Constitutional Review 2025

 

 

CONSTITUTION

 

Of

ST MARY'S (RCM) PRIMARY SCHOOL 1990 SET

OLD STUDENTS’ ASSOCIATION

OF NIGERIA

Content:

PRELIMINARY PROVISIONS

i.       ARTICLE 1: NAME AND REGISTERED OFFICE

ii.      ARTICLE 2: COLOURS OF THE ASSOCIATION

iii.    ARTICLE 3: AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE ASSOCIATION

iv.    ARTICLE 4: MEMBERSHIP AND DUES GOVERNANCE STRUCTURE OF THE ASSOCIATION

v.     ARTICLE 5: ORGANS OF THE ASSOCIATION

vi.    ARTICLE 6: THE BOARD OF REGISTERED TRUSTEES

vii.   ARTICLE 7: SMPSOSA EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE [“EXCO”]

viii. ARTICLE 8: CHAPTERS, BRANCHES AND CLASS SETS

ix.    ARTICLE 9: SMPSOSA EXECUTIVE SECRETARIAT

x.     ARTICLE 10: MEETINGS OF THE ASSOCIATION

 

FINANCIAL PROVISIONS

i. ARTICLE 11: FINANCES

 

ELECTION PROVISIONS

ii. ARTICLE 12: ELECTIONS

 

MISCELLANEOUS AND STATUTORY PROVISIONS

iii. ARTICLE 13: COMMON SEAL
iv. ARTICLE 14: MISCELLANEOUS CLAUSE
v. ARTICLE 15: AMENDMENT OF THE CONSTITUTION
vi. ARTICLE 16: INTERPRETATION CLAUSE
vii. ARTICLE 17: DISPUTE RESOLUTION
viii. ARTICLE 18: SPECIAL CLAUSE
ix. ARTICLE 19: INDEMNITY
x. ARTICLE 20: EMPLOYEES OF THE ASSOCIATION
xi. ARTICLE 21: WINDING UP
xii. ARTICLE 22: COMMENCEMENT

 

APPENDIX

Schedule 1 – The SMPSOSA Emblem
Schedule 2 – The School Emblem
Schedule 3(a) – The School Song
Schedule 3(b) – The School Motto
Schedule 3(c) – The School Slogan
Schedule 4 – Oath of Office for SMPSOSA EXCO members

 

 

 

INTRODUCTION

We the members of St. Mary's Primary School Ajegunle - Apapa Old Students Association Of Nigeria having firmly and solemnly resolved to associate and work in unity and harmony as one indivisible body for the purpose of encouraging, socializing and coordinating ourselves for our own wellbeing hereby make/enact and give to ourselves the following regulations/Laws.

 

SECTION 1: THE CONSTITUTION

(1) SUPREMACY

 

(a)  This constitution shall be supreme and its provisions shall be binding on all members

(b) All activities, engagement, resolutions, decisions or undertakings carried on or taken in the name of the Association shall be in accordance with the provisions of this constitution.

(c)  Any other law, regulations, resolutions and or rules that may be made by this Association that shall be inconsistent with any of the provisions of this constitution, shall be null and void to the extent of the inconsistency.

 

 

(2) CITATION, TITLE AND COMMENCEMENT: This constitution shall be cited as the constitution of ST. MARY’S PRY SCH 90 SET Old Students Association Of Nigeria 2025 and comes into effect on 15^th July, 2025.

 

(3) AMENDMENT: Any of the provision of the constitution shall be amended upon a motion for such amendment proposed by at least three financially up to date members and approved by 2/3^rd majority vote of members in a general meeting, provided that at least one month notice of the proposal is given to members before the voting is called.

SECTION 2: THE ASSOCIATION:

1)   NAME: The Association established by this constitution shall be known, called and addressed as “ST. Mary’s Primary School 90 Set Old Students Association Of Nigeria” hereinafter referred to as the “Association”

2)  The Association shall be a non-religious, non-tribal, non-political and non-governmental organization open to former students of ST MARY'S (RCM) PRIMARY SCHOOL Ajegunle who graduated in the year 1990 irrespective of year of enrollment

3)  The registered office shall be ST MARY'S (RCM) PRIMARY SCHOOL Abukuru Street, Ajegunle-Apapa, Lagos Nigeria.

4)  The Association shall have its motto as “One Love”.

5)  Greeting of the Association is

                              ST. MARY’S PRY SCH,

                                    “One Love”,

 

 

SECTION 3: MEETINGS OF THE ASSOCIATION

1.  There shall be the following meetings in the Association:

a.     The General Meeting

b.     Executive Meeting

c.     Emergency Meeting

d.     Committee Meeting

 

2.   General Meeting shall be convened by the executives as the need arises

3.   There shall be at least 7 days’ notice to members for a general meeting to be properly convened.

4.    Emergency meeting can be convened from time to time to treat only emergency matters.

5.     There shall be in attendance at least 1/5 of members at a meeting to form Quorum

6.     The meetings can be held physically or virtually depending on what the general assembly decides

 

 

SECTION 4: SOURCES OF ASSOCIATION’S FUNDS

(1) The funds of the Association shall be raised from:

a.  Annual dues.

b. Launching, Fundraising and Donations.

c. Interest from bank deposits or dividends from investment.

d. Proceed from any plays, dance, games, seminars or any form of entertainment organized by the Association.

 

 

 

SECTION 5:

1. MEMBERSHIP, QUALIFICATION AND ADMISSION

a.      Membership shall be open to all former students of ST. MARY’S PRY SCH who graduated in the year 1990 and of reputable character.

b.     Any intending member shall be capable of meeting the obligations of the Association.

c.   Admission of new members shall be conducted by the executives subject to ratification by the general house.

2:      CESSATION OF MEMBERSHIP

i.  A member loses his membership in the following ways:

a. By Death

b. By resignation

c. On expulsion

ii. A deceased member, upon being accorded his final right by the Association, ceases to be a member.

iii. A member who voluntarily notifies the Association in writing of his/her intention to resign his/her membership shall upon being cleared of his/her financial obligation to the Association cease to be a member.

iv. The Association shall have powers to suspend or expel a member whose character or behavior is inimical to the affairs of the Association, provided that in the case of expulsion, the member must have been found guilty of misconduct by the appropriate disciplinary committee and the verdict ratified by two-third majority vote of members present in a general meeting.

v. A person convicted of any criminal offence by a court of competent jurisdiction.

 

3.       RENEWAL OF MEMBERSHIP

A member who loses his membership by any of the means contained in this constitution may be re-admitted on fulfilling the following:

a.   A letter, email or message to the Association requesting to be re-admitted into the Association.

b.  Clearing of all his/her debt that shall be computed by the financial secretary up to date.

c.  Payment of any fine as contained in this constitution.

d.    Approval of re-admission by simple majority vote of members present at the meeting.

 

 

 

 

SECTION 6: BENEFITS

(1)     IN THE EVENT OF DEATH OF A MEMBER, THE ASSOCIATION SHALL DO THE FOLLOWING:

 

i. All members shall attend a wake keep in his/her honor and the Association shall carter for the members present at the wake keep.

ii. Public obituary announcement on the whatsapp group and/or social media handles of the Association.

iii. The Association shall sponsor at least two representatives to be present at the grave yard before the late member’s body is committed to mother earth.

iv.  The Association shall present a purse of at least N50,000 (Fifty Thousand Naira) to the deceased next of kin excluding personal contributions by the members.

 

 

(2)       SICK MEMBER

The Association shall appoint a special committee of three (3) members to visit and access the level of illness and report to the Association and upon their report, the general house shall decide the financial assistance to be given to him/her.

 

 

(3)       DEATH OF A MEMBER’S SPOUSE

In the event of the death of a member’s spouse, the Association shall do the following:

i. All members shall attend a wake keep in his/her honor and the Association shall carter for the members present at the wake keep.

ii.  Public obituary announcement on our WhatsApp group and/or social media handles of the Association.

iii.    The Association shall present a purse of at least N100,000 (One Hundred Thousand Naira) to any financially up to date member that loses a spouse excluding personal contributions by the members.

 

 (4)   DEATH OF A MEMBER’S CHILD

The Association shall send a delegate of not less than 3 members to represent the Association with a purse of N20,000.

 

 

(5)  DEATH OF A MEMBER’S BIOLOGICAL PARENT

 

i. Members shall be encouraged to attend the burial in the home town of the bereaved member and same shall be entertained by the bereaved member.

ii. The Association shall present a purse of N20,000 (Twenty Thousand Naira only) to the bereaved member excluding personal contribution by the members.

 

(6)  WEDDING BY A MEMBER

The Association shall send a delegate of not less than 3 members to represent the Association with a purse of N20,000.

 

(8)  ELIGIBILITY FOR ASSOCIATION’S BENEFITS

a. The invitation/notification shall be at least one month before the occasion via an email or message to the executive.

b. He/She must have been a member for at least six months before the Association can attend his/her occasion.

c. Before any member shall benefit from the above mentioned right/privileges, he/she must be an up to date financial member.

 

 

SECTION 7:

1.   ASSOCIATION EVENTS/OFFICIAL FUNCTION.

a. The Association shall have its event two times in a year, namely, family get-together and End of Year Party.

   b.  Each Association event shall be organized by an ad-hoc committee to be from time to time created by the Association for that purpose.

 

 c. Members would be encouraged to wear any uniform or emblem to create visibility for the Association at such functions. 

 

 

SECTION 8: ORGANS OF THE ASSOCIATION

(1).   The following shall constitute organs of the Association

a.   The General Assembly

b.   The Executive Council

c.   The Committees

(2) The General Assembly shall be the highest decision-making body of the Association and shall have the powers to constitute and determine the executive council in accordance with the provisions of this constitution.

(3)   The powers of the General Assembly shall at all times be exercised through the appropriate majority votes in a general meeting of the Association.

 

 

SECTION 9: OFFICERS OF THE ASSOCIATION

(1).   The following shall be officers of the Association.

a.             President

b.             Vice President

c.             General Secretary

d.             Assistant Secretary

e.             Financial Secretary

f.              Treasurer

h.             PRO

i.               Chief Welfare Officer

j.         

 

 

2: DUTIES OF THE OFFICERS

A.   PRESIDENT

i. He shall be the presiding officer of every Association meetings, events, ceremonies or social gatherings of the Association.

ii. Shall summon through the secretary all meetings of the general assembly and the executive committee meetings.

iii.  He shall moderate all discussions and debate in the meeting and have a casting vote in the event of a tie.

iv. He shall be a category A signatory to the Association’s account.

v.    He shall be in conjunction with the secretary sign all adopted minutes of the Association.

vi. He shall ensure prudent spending of the Associations money and give annual report of his stewardship at end of every year.

 

B.    VICE PRESIDENT

i.             Shall assist the president in his duties

ii.        Shall in the absence of the president act in his capacity

iii. He shall perform other functions specifically assigned to him by the Association or the president

iv.  Shall automatically assume the position of the president for the remaining period of his tenure, where the office of the president is vacant by reason of :

a.                  Impeachment.

b.                 Incapacitation.

c.                  Death.

 

C.   GENERAL SECRETARY

i.   Shall record the proceedings of meetings of both the general and executive meetings.

ii.            Shall summon all meetings of the Association in consultation with the president

iii.          Shall be in charge of the secretarial duties of the Association.

iv. He shall jointly with the president sign all adopted minutes of the Association’s meetings.

 

D.   ASSISTANT SECRETARY

i.             Shall assist the secretary in all his duties.

ii.            Shall act in full capacity during his absence.

iii.          He shall perform all other duties specifically assigned to him by the Association.

 

 

E.    FINANCIAL SECRETARY

i.    Shall be responsible for the collection of all fees, levies and other monies accruing to the Association and pay same immediately to Association's bank account within 48 hours

ii.            Shall be category B signatory to the Association’s account, sign all vouchers which shall be countersign by the president and write to financial defaulters and issue receipt to all monies collected.

iii.          Shall prepare and submit the annual financial report of the Association and shall also prepare a comprehensive statement of account of the Association covering the period of the administration and forward the same to the executive at least two months before the next general election, marking the end of the tenure of that administration for presentation to the general assembly.

iv.          Shall keep in constant touch with all committees of the Association in matters relating to finance and perform all secretarial duties relating to finance.

v.           Shall keep accurate nominal roll of all members of the Association for the purposes of financial recording.

vi.          Shall make available to the auditor all financial books for auditing and assist them when the need arises. 

          Shall be a category C signature to the Association’s account.

 

 

F.    ASSISTANT FINANCIAL SECRETARY

i.             Shall assist the financial secretary in the performance of his duties.

ii.            Shall perform the functions of the financial secretary in his absence.

iii.  Shall perform other secretarial functions relating to finance as the Association may assign to him.

 

 

H.   

I.      CHIEF WELFARE OFFICER

i.             Shall be the head of welfare committee.

ii.            Shall be responsible for the welfare of the Association.

iii.          Shall access the status of any member in welfare matters.

 

J.     ASSISTANT WELFARE OFFICER

i.             Shall assist the chief welfare officer in the performance of his duties

ii.            Shall act in full capacity in the absence of the chief welfare officer

iii.          Shall perform other duties as may be assigned to him by the president or the Association.

 

 

 

2: POWERS OF THE EXECUTIVE

a.      The executive shall have the power to recommend dues on any matter subject to the approval of the Association.

b.     The executive committee is supreme to all other committee in the Association

c.      The executive committee shall have power to make regulations or by-laws for the smooth running of the Association provided that a simple majority of members present in a meeting shall have ratified same.

d.     The executive committee may appoint one of their member or a suitable member of the Association to fill and perform duties pertaining to a vacant office pending a bye election.

e.      To express the view of the Association upon any matter of general interest

f.       Consensus shall be the aim of the executive committee but if it becomes necessary to put any question to vote, it shall be decided by a simple majority of the executive members at the meeting.

 

 

SECTION 10:

(1)     ELECTIONS

a.   There shall be an Electoral Committee consisting of five members nominated by the general house at a meeting convened 3 months to the expiration of tenure of the Executive. The committee shall have a chairman and a secretary.

b.      All contestants shall obtain a free nomination form indicating their interest to contest the respective positions.

c.      Voting shall be by open secret ballot or via an online pole which shall be visible to every member of the Associatin

d.     After the election the electoral committee shall declare the result immediately.

e.   The electoral committee shall arrange the swearing in of the newly elected executives.

f.    To be eligible to contest for election into any executive position, each candidate must have been financially up to date at least 6 months before the announcement of the elections.

g.  Any contestant for the post of president must have spent 2 years with the Association while other post shall be 1 year.

h.  In case of a tie, the electoral committee chairman shall have a casting vote.

i.    Electoral committee members have a right to vote but cannot contest in the election.

 

 

(2)    TENURE OF OFFICE

a.               Election of officers of the Association shall be held every 2 years.

b.  Any officer can be re-elected or returned unopposed but an officer who has served two (2) terms consecutively in a position shall not be re- elected in the same position in a succeeding election.

 

(3)       IMPEACHMENT

a.   An Executive officer shall be removed from office when he/she is found incompetent, or guilty of any misconduct or abuse of office and a motion for his/her removal has been sustained by 2/3 majority vote of the members in a general meeting.

b.           By-election to fill a vacant position shall be conducted within a month.

 

(4)       RESIGNATIONS

a.  An officer who wishes to resign his/her office will do so in writing and surrender all the properties of the Association in his/her possession within 24 hours.

b. All letters of resignation shall be submitted to the secretary and in case of the secretary’s resignation he/her shall submit to the president.

 

 

 

SECTION 11:

GENERAL MISCONDUCT

a.      Members should be mindful of their words to each other during any Association’s activities/ meeting. Any member who continues to disrespect other members will be removed from the group.

b.     Any member found guilty of misappropriation or embezzlement of the Association’s funds shall pay back the money or property so embezzled or misappropriated, and shall be disqualified for life from holding any office of the Association, the appropriate committee shall decide a further punishment for such a member. If the member is an officer of the Association he/she shall be removed forthwith from the office

c.      Any member who fails, refuses or neglects any duty assigned to him/her without any good reason shall be mandated to do a one minute video of reciting the school's anthem and post online for all to watch

d.     Any member who assaults any officer in the cause of the officer performing his/her official duties shall buy data for 10 members of the association or as may be decided by the appropriate committee

e.      Any member summoned by any organ or committee of the Association shall attend the summons. If the member fails to attend the summons, the matter shall be returned to the executive which shall treat the matter accordingly and if found guilty, the member shall pay a fine as shall be decided by the executive committee provided that it shall not be less than N5,000

f.       Any member who does an act that could be seen as disgraceful to the Association such as taking away drinks served for his immediate consumption; etc such member's name and picture shall be published on Facebook and Instagram

 

 

SECTION 15 SPECIAL CLAUSE

a.      The income and property of ST. MARY’S PRY SCH Old Students Association Of Nigeria shall be applied solely towards the promotion of the objective of the Association as set forth in this constitution and no portion thereof shall be paid or transferred directly or indirectly, by the way of dividend, bonus or otherwise by way of profit to the members of the Association.

b.     Provided that nothing herein shall prevent the payment in good faith of reasonable and proper remuneration to any officer, servant or member of ST. MARY’S PRY SCH Old Students Association Of Nigeria  in return for any service actually rendered to the Association, so that no member of Executive Committee shall be appointed to a salaried office of ST. MARY’S PRY SCH Old Students Association Of Nigeria  and no remuneration or other benefits in money’s worth shall be given to any officer of the Association or to any Member of the Executive Committee except repayment of out of pocket expenses or reasonable and proper rent for premises demised or let to the ST. MARY’S PRY SCH Old Students Association Of Nigeria  or reasonable fee for services rendered.

c.      If in the event of winding up or dissolution of ST. MARY’S PRY SCH Old Students Association Of Nigeria there remains after a satisfaction of its debts and liabilities, any property whatsoever, the same shall not be paid to or distributed among members but shall be given or transferred to charitable organizations.

 

Dated this Friday 25^th July, 2025

 

 

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Chairman Constitution Committee