THE University of Lagos (UNILAG) community has
vehemently opposed the renaming of the institution after the acclaimed winner
of the June 12 1993 presidential election, the late Chief Moshood Kasimawo
Abiola, by the Federal Government.
The community, which includes the
students, the academic staff union of the institution and the non-academic
staff union, expressed its displeasure over the national address of President
Goodluck Jonathan on Tuesday that UNILAG would now be called Moshood Abiola
University, Lagos.
President Jonathan, in the
broadcast, on Tuesday, rationalised the decision by stressing the need to
strengthen the nation’s collective memory, draw from strength from its history
and build bridges of unity to take the country to greater heights.
According to him, “it is also in
this regard that the Federal Government has decided that the late Chief M.K.O.
Abiola be honoured, for making the ultimate sacrifice in the pursuit of justice
and truth. Destiny and circumstances conspired to place upon his shoulders a
historic burden, and he rose to the occasion with character and courage.
“He deserves recognition for his
martyrdom, and public-spiritedness and for being the man of history that he
was. We need in our land more men and women who will stand up to defend their
beliefs and whose example will further enrich our democracy.
“After very careful consideration,
and in honour of Chief M.K.O. Abiola’s accomplishments and heroism, on this
Democracy Day, the University of Lagos, is renamed by the Federal Government of
Nigeria, Moshood Abiola University, Lagos by the Federal Government of
Nigeria.”
But the protesting students, who
stormed the Lagos-Ikorodu Expressway early in the morning, caused heavy
vehicular traffic on the major routes in Lagos as they barricaded the roads to
protest the decision of the government.
Despite the recent dissolution of
the university’s students union, the students mobilised themselves and walked
from the campus at Akoka to Jibowu area of Lagos, where they gathered to
demonstrate their discontent.
According to their spokesman, the
former Public Relations Officer for the National Association of Nigerian
Students (NANS), Mr Usman Oloyede, the re-naming of UNILAG at this time that
the institution was mourning the death of its vice chancellor, Professor
Adetokunbo Sofoluwe, was inhuman.
He explained that the University of
Lagos was a brand name that had attracted many candidates and academics, adding
that government could not have changed the name without prior consultation with
the students and other university community before taking the decision.
Oloyede, who is also the
Mobilisation Officer for Education Rights Campaign, South-West, said that the
protest would continue until the government rescinds its decision.
He said: “We are not saying that
the late Chief MKO Abiola should not be immortalised, but UNILAG is not the
appropriate representation of the late business mogul, who was more popular in
the area of sports than education.”
Speaking in the same vein, the
chairman of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), University of
Lagos chapter, Dr Karo Ogbinaka, said that President Jonathan had re-named the
university to gain cheap popularity, calling on him to rename University of
Abuja after Abiola if he wanted to score a mark.
He said: “We are here to tell him
that UNILAG community hates what he has done and will ensure that this decision
is reverted. How can somebody just wake up and rename a university without any
consultation with the university community. He should go and rename University
of Port Harcourt, but not the University of Lagos.”
On immortalising the late
politician, Ogbinaka said that the academics were not against naming any
government property after MKO but added that the University of Lagos was too
small compared to the status and the price the late business mogul paid for
democracy.
“The Minister of Education,
Professor Ruquayat Rufa’i, was here. She did not discuss anything with us. She
colluded with government and took decision. It’s quite bad.”
In his comment, the Head of
Department of Mass Communication, Professor Ralph Akinfeleye described the
government’s decision as a political miscalculation that had surfaced at the
time the university was still mourning the death of his vice chancellor.
He noted that late Abiola was more
prominent in the area of sports, suggesting that the National Stadium, Lagos
could have been named after him instead of the University of Lagos.
He said: “University of Lagos tells
a name and history and should not just be changed for political gains. We are
sad in this university with what the government has done to us. At this period
that we are mourning our late VC, I don’t think we deserve this. We are
supposed to have service of songs for the late VC today but the government
compounds our problems.”
Akinfeleye explained that renaming
University of Lagos after Abiola was like debasing the status of the man who
died for democracy in the country, saying, “Abiola was a national figure but
not a regional personality. In fact, he was the pillar of sports in Africa. Why
not consider the National Stadium to immortalise him instead of UNILAG?”
However, some members of the
university community disclosed that they would not attend the service of songs
in honour of the deceased vice chancellor, following the blockade laid by the
students at the university gate.
A member of staff of the university
who refused to mention his name told Nigerian Tribune that he would have loved
to go for the service of songs but the new development and the students’
protest would not allow him to be there.
He said, “I’m not ready to die
young. I cannot allow students to break my head with wood and stones.”
In addition to this, he said the
government would also establish an Institute of Democratic Studies and
Governance in the university.
The president recalled that when
General Abdul-salami Abubakar handed over the baton of authority to President
Olusegun Obasanjo, in 1999, it was a turning point for Nigeria, but added that
Nigeria did not arrive at that turning point by accident.
He pointed out that many Nigerians
laid down their lives for the transition to democracy to occur, while others
were jailed and media houses were attacked and shut down, whereas the people’s resolve
remained firm and unshakeable.
“The greatest tribute that we can
pay to him and other departed heroes of Nigeria’s democracy is to ensure that
we continue to sustain and consolidate our democratic institutions and
processes, and keep hope alive,” Jonathan said.
He lauded the armed forces who, he
observed, had steadfastly subordinated themselves to civil authority in the
past 13 years.
Meanwhile, the Save Nigeria Group
(SNG), while acknowledging the eternal place of Abiola in the political history
of Nigeria and would want the highest possible honour done to him, deplored the
indecent manner in which President Jonathan re-named the University of Lagos
after him.
The group, in a statement, signed
by Mr Yinka Odumakin, said renaming a university established by law through
presidential fiat was an abuse of power, which would make even the symbol of
democracy turn several times in his grave as he died in the process of fighting
against arbitrariness and rule of the thumb, which the annulment of June 12 represented.
It added that it was high time
President Jonathan embraced a democratic mindset and stop behaving like maximum
ruler, adding that “we restate our demand that M.K.O Abiola be given a
befitting honour for the sacrifices he made for democracy in Nigeria in a
decent and worthy manner.”
Also, the leader of Afenifere, Pa
Reuben Fasoranti, on Tuesday, described the renaming of the University of Lagos
after the late Chief MKO Abiola as a decision coming late.
However, the Ondo State governor,
Dr Olusegun Mimiko, described the gesture as better late than never.
The Afenifere leader said the
decision to immortalise the late Abiola, 14 years after his death in detention,
was belated.
According to him, what would have
been most acceptable to the people of Yorubaland was the restoration of
Abiola’s mandate, freely given to him on June 12, 1993 by Nigerians.
But Mimiko, who spoke through the
Ondo State Commissioner for Information, Mr Kayode Akinmade, said the
contribution of the late Abiola to the enthronement of democracy in Nigeria
could not be underestimated, adding that any honour coming to him this time was
enough to compensate him for the injustice he suffered in the hands of the
military.
“The late Abiola remains a hero of
democracy. He is a martyr, who laid his life for Nigerians to enjoy democracy.
Political office holders in the country would only make the late martyr proud
in his death if they make sacrifices and work hard to make those who voted them
to power enjoy real dividends of democracy,” Mimiko said.
Meanwhile, Nigerians have been
urged to give total support to Jonathan, in his efforts to unite and transform
Nigeria into a developed nation.
Former national deputy chairman of
the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Shuaib Oyedokun, gave the advice on
Tuesday, in a statement in which he commended Jonathan for naming the
University of Lagos after Chief Abiola.
Oyedokun described Chief Abiola as
the symbol of democracy in the country, adding that only a courageous leader
could take such decision to right the wrongs of the past.
He noted that “with the decision
taken by President Jonathan to name UNILAG after Chief MKO Abiola, there is
also a clear sign that the president will right all the wrongs that had
happened in the past.”
Reacting to the development,
daughters of the late Chief Abiola, Mrs Lola Abiola-Edewor and Mrs Hasfat
Abiola-Costello, commended the Federal Government for remaning UNILAG after
their late father.
Abiola-Edewor lauded the
Jonathan-led government for honouring his late father, many years after his
demise, saying his contribution to the return of democracy in Nigeria had been
justified.
Abiola-Edewor, a former federal
lawmaker, speaking through her media assistant, Mr Akin Alade, in Abeokuta,
Ogun State, condemned the protest by some students of the institution shortly
after the announcement, adding that her late father had been denied his
rightful place in the annals of democracy in Nigeria.
In her reaction, Abiola-Costello, a
special assistant to Governor Ibikunle Amosun on Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs), said the honour was long overdue, adding that it was a right step in
the right direction.
Also reacting, a former member of
the National Assembly, Mrs Iyabo Anisu-lowo, described the development as “a
fulfilment to the rule of law.”