Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Student Organization of Nairobi University (2nd nomination)


 * The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review).  No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was Withdrawn. Being bold and withdrawing this myself - I nominated it. If we had sources like that white paper presented below I would have been less likely to nominate it again. Also, please avoid WP:THREATEN (re ANI) and remember WP:OTHERSTUFFEXISTS. If there are "western" organization - or any other organizations geographically - that fail WP:GNG or WP:NORG please nominate them for deletion. Thank you and please assume good faith. Missvain (talk) 21:33, 21 July 2022 (UTC) Missvain (talk) 21:33, 21 July 2022 (UTC)

Student Organization of Nairobi University
AfDs for this article:


 * – ( View AfD View log | edits since nomination)

The creator of this new version of this article - which was deleted yesterday, July 20 for not being notable - claims that the AfD was "unfounded" and decided to start another version of the article.

Here we go again. All of the sources presented are PASSING MENTIONS of the "Student Organization of Nairobi University" except one.

Most of the reliable secondary sources talk about the leadership or people who have been involved with the organization, not specifically about SONU.

This is supposedly NOT the same organization as the "University of Nairobi Students Association."

The only article that contributes to this subject's notability is The Standard article.

I am still struggling to see how this organization meets WP:NORG.

Perhaps the new student union is notable and meets reliable secondary sources, but, I do not believe this specific organization, the now defunct SONU, is not.

I'd also recommend this for WP:SALT. I am happy to salt it if reviewers recommend it. Missvain (talk) 14:42, 21 July 2022 (UTC)
 * Note: This discussion has been included in the list of Organizations-related deletion discussions. Missvain (talk) 14:42, 21 July 2022 (UTC)
 * Comment: to me the Star article also appears to be significant coverage of the organization. It's a small newspaper but I don't see why it shouldn't be regarded as reliable. This version of the article is certainly improved from what I recall (can't see the old version as it was deleted) and I'm starting to lean towards keep. —Ganesha811 (talk) 15:49, 21 July 2022 (UTC)
 * Weak keep: definitely more sources than on the previous version, although only one or two are not passing mentions. I also found this paper, which I think contains more than passing mentions and is probably reliable. The current corpus of sources still only gives a partial view of this organisation's history, but the article can most likely be improved with more reliable sources. BilletsMauves (talk) 16:21, 21 July 2022 (UTC)
 * Keep - I'm a bit tied up with off-wiki stuff at the moment, but I'm considering bringing this to ANI or other forum. None of the arguments presented in the 1st AfD were valid, each of the 3 participants in the 1st AfD (nominator + 2 delete voters) presented blatantly false arguments ( "I did my due diligence and could not find reliable secondary sources that cover the subject significantly to establish WP:GNG nor WP:NCORP", "nothing more than trivial coverage found on the Internet...",  "unable to find significant coverage even in Kenyan sources.") - https://www.the-star.co.ke/news/big-read/2021-09-17-uon-student-leadership-today-a-shadow-of-sonu/, https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/ureport/article/2001323668/torturous-journey-that-birthed-student-union , https://nation.africa/kenya/news/games-university-administrations-play-in-student-politics-158134 is all clearly in-depth coverage, easily found in a 5 min google search in English. Note for example the wording "Sonu’s politics for decades had been fiery and had a direct linkage with national affairs, such that whenever there was a sneeze in the national political landscape, Sonu would catch a cold.", which is pretty much as clear indicator of notability as ever possible. Whilst trying to maintain AGF, I can't but feel that the treatment of the article subject is conditioned by its geographic location in Africa whereby non-Western experiences are presumed to be less notable. --Soman (talk) 19:35, 21 July 2022 (UTC)
 * Comment - from Jstor (login required) - Crisis and Student Protest in Universities in Kenya: Examining the Role of Students in National Leadership and the Democratization, Crisis and Student Protest in Universities in Kenya: Examining the Role of Students in National Leadership and the Democratization Process, Maurice N. Amutabi, African Studies Review, Vol. 45, No. 2, Special Issue: African Universities in Crisis and the Promotion of a Democratic Culture (Sep., 2002), pp. 157-177, which has 14 mentions of SONU, there are a few additional factoids. Unlike other ref, this article separates between Nairobi University Students Organization in 1970s (banned) and SONU founded in 1982. Some of the mention, affirming notability of SONU in national politics,
 * "The checkered life of the Student Organization of the Nairobi University (SONU), a channel of grievance articulation which the government has always sought to silence, is one example of this pursuit. SONU has organized political rallies and meetings with or without the government's permission, and even when security forces have dispersed such meetings, students have always regrouped immediately."
 * "The president [of the country] has voiced his opposition to the [students] Movement on several occasions, alluding to the dangerous nature of the schemes that the leaders, together with university students, are putting together to topple his government. In the past, "Jeshi la Mzee" (a group of youths allegedly hired by KANU's Nairobi branch to harass and intimidate perceived opponents and critics of Moi) has been dominant in violence in Nairobi. But recently university students led by self-styled Godwin "Karl Marx" Ochilo and SONU 92 have curbed its threat and dominance. In 2000 it was very clear that the university students are increasing their capacity to neutralize the dreaded Jeshi la Mzee"
 * "Thus in July 1982 SONU organized a boycott of the new forms. On July 28, 1982, SONU issued an ultimatum to the minister of higher education requiring that he consult with students about this. Although these plans were overtaken by events when four days later  was an attempted coup, these forms were shelved permanentely."
 * "In 1992, SONU 92 was reinstated after concerted pressure from students taking advantage of the euphoria of multiparty politics. It has been active in creating a democratic space in Kenya. It is difficult to envisage how multiparty politics would have appeared in Kenya without the university students..."
 * "The SONU 92 officials, including Godffrey Kabando (Kabando wa Kabando), Kamau wa Mbugua, Michael Oliewa, Otieno Aluoka, Judy Muthoni, Moses Kuria, Jane Muigai, Allan Nguri, Cannon Ponge Awuor, and Moses Awili put up a spirited and sustained pressure for the removal of an inefficient and allegedly unqualified director of the Students Welfare Authority (SWA), the office charged with students' accommodation and catering needs at the University of Nairobi. Although the officer was eventually removed, the university was closed and SONU was banned once again."
 * Likewise from University Crisis, Student Activism, and the Contemporary Struggle for Democracy in Kenya, Jacqueline M. Klopp and Janai R. Orina, African Studies Review, Vol. 45, No. 1 (Apr., 2002), pp. 43-76, (12 mentions of SONU)


 * "In February 1982, the government capitulated and allowed the registration of the Student Organization of Nairobi University (SONU). However, in August of the same year, after a whirlwind of detentions without trial and a subsequent unsuccessful coup attempt, the university was shut down for fourteen months, the longest closure ever, and student activists were put under closer surveillance. To punish university students who celebrated the coup attempt, Tito Adungosi Aloo, chairman of the newly formed SONU, along with sixty-seven other students, were thrown into jail and tortured"
 * " In the same year, the [national] government also manipulated student election to make sure that the new SONU chairman would be favorable to the government"
 * " By this point the government's patience was wearing thin; the last straw was a fiery student meeting on November 13 at which SONU leaders demanded autonomy for the university, security for students on campus, and the right to speak out on national problems, particularly corruption (Awiti & Ong'wen 1990:18; Weekly Review, Nov. 20, 1987). At 3:00 A.M. the next morning, the secret police stormed the university and arrested SONU student leaders.10 Riot police circled the campus in anticipation of student protest, and at the end of a daylong battle, one student had been shot dead and many others injured. Once again, the university was closed and SONU was banned. The popular SONU chairman, Wafula Buke, was jailed for five years, and President Moi threatened students with the introduction of university fees as punishment for their "riotous attitude"" --Soman (talk) 20:08, 21 July 2022 (UTC)


 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.