Unilag renamed M.K.O Abiola University, Students Protest

President Goodluck Jonathan announced the renaming of the University of Lagos after the late Politician, Chief M.K.O Abiola.

Mr President announced the decison in his Democracy day broadcast on tuesday morning.

Students protest:
Students of the University of Lagos oin Tuesday morning organised a protest against the renaming of the institution after the late acclaimed winner of the June 12, 1993 presidential election, chief MKO Abiola.
The students began gathering immediately after President Jonathan announced the decision in his Democracy Day 2012 speech to the nation.Students trooped out of their hostels chanting protests songs and denouncing the change of the institution’s name.

Students of Moshood Abiola University protesting

The National President, UNILAG Alumni Association, Prof. Olayide Abass; a former Vice-Chancellor of the institution, Prof. Oye Ibidapo-Obe; all the workers’ unions, including the Academic Staff Union of Universities, faulted the decision which they described as “illegal, provocative, absolutely incongruous and antithetical to democratic norms.”

The alumni association threatened to drag Jonathan and the Federal Government to court over the name change.

Abass said the President did not have the power to change the name of the university, which he said was created by an Act of Parliament.

“It’s either the President does not have a sense of history or that those who are his advisers are not in tune with the nation’s law. UNILAG is the first federal university in the country that was created by an Act of Parliament, so if he wants to change the name, he should go back to the National Assembly and press for the amendment of the university law. He is not a lawmaker and so does not have such power,” he said.

He advised the President to stop acting like a military leader in a democratic dispensation, adding if Abiola must be immortalised, UNILAG, which he said, had become a brand name globally, should not be demeaned.

Abass also faulted the decision, saying it came at a time the university was mourning its late VC, Prof. Tokunbo Sofoluwe, and was planning its golden jubilee.

Also, Ibidapo-Obe wondered why the President did not consult stakeholders before he made the ‘’totally unacceptable” decision.

“It is absolutely incongruous, totally unacceptable and antithetically opposed to democracy that he (President) preaches. Decisions in democracy are made through consultations that is why politicians arrive at all -inclusive decisions but in this case, the President did not consult anybody in UNILAG before he foists this on us.

“It is a deceitful decision made to satisfy people who are not happy with him in the South-West. We are not happy with the decision and that is why the students spontaneously went on the streets to protest it,” he said.

New name at age 50?

He added that it was wrong for the President to change the name of the institution when it was mourning its late VC and planning to celebrate its 50th anniversary.

“Have you ever seen a man who changes his name while celebrating his 50th birthday? This is totally wrong,” Ibidapo-Obe queried.

When reminded that the Federal Government had done a similar thing when it changed the name of the then University of Ife, to Obafemi Awolowo University, Ibidapo-Obe said the two institutions should not be compared.

“That argument cannot stand because Ife was a regional university started by the late Obafemi Awolowo and don’t forget that it was the military that did it without recourse to the law. But UNILAG is a creation of the law and its name can only be changed through the law, not by any presidential fiat,” he said.

He added that good universities all over the world, including UNILAG, were brands whose names should not be changed at will.

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