RE: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Professor Ade Ajayi to President J. Goodluck: Unilag's name change

With senior academics and seasoned university administrators such as Professors Adeyeye JF  Ade-Ajayi and  WS counselling against President Jonathan.s action in remaming UNILAG (no one questions the legality  it seems that the President ought to reconsider the implications of his act.  If JFA says it is indiscreet, from the historical point of view, that is enough for me, from his vantage point as former UNILAG VC and historian..
 
If President Jonathan really means to honor MKO as a beneficiary of his ultimate sacrifice on the altar of democracy, I think he could put his money where his mouth is by renaming all of 'jonathan Babes' (the newly established universities) as MKO Abiola Peoples Universities with each of them serving as regional centes of excellence in the Department of polical science all to be funded from the presidents special funding.  This would go some length to transform Jonathan to an Augustan figure who inherited the mantle of an'empror' from  perfidious elite   against his political 'uncle'.  for the fate of MKO is similar to that of julius Caesar from his political stable mates (maitama Sule, IBB  and co.  The only difference is that the instrument of murder was not physical daggers and so we can say on his (MKO) behalf 'et tu Badamasi?'


Olayinka Agbetuyi




 

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From: toyinfalola@austin.utexas.edu
To: USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com; yorubaaffairs@googlegroups.com
Subject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Professor Ade Ajayi to President J. Goodluck: Unilag's name change
Date: Tue, 5 Jun 2012 15:51:48 +0000

 

 

President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan,

President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,

State House,

Aso Rock, Abuja.

1^st June 2012.

 

Your Excellency,

 

I would like once again to take this opportunity to thank you for the honour you did me in 2010 on Nigeria's 50^th Independence Anniversary – by including me in the fifty individuals whose contributions to Nigeria, you acknowledged at the time.

 

I also take this opportunity to appreciate your recent decision to recognize the contributions of Chief MKO Abiola to the advancement of Democracy in Nigeria. This public recognition is almost universally accepted as being long overdue and I salute your courage in taking the decision to rectify this.

 

I have a high personal regard for MKO Abiola and a personal relationship with him that dates back to when he sought me out and invited me to Chair the OAU Group of Eminent Persons on Reparation – which included such distinguished people as Graca Machel and Ali Mazrui. Chief Abiola continued to commit both considerable resources and his infectious energy, to the cause of Reparation in his lifetime.

 

As a former Vice Chancellor of the University of Lagos and a historian that has all my life sought to increase the respect for a sense of history in our national life - as I see this awareness of our past – as being crucial to our national development, I would like to respectfully appeal to you to reconsider whether the decision to change the name of the University of Lagos represents the best or most appropriate vehicle to honour MKO's contribution to the cause of democracy in Nigeria.

Nigeria is passing through turbulent times – when as the Good Book puts it – every thing that can be shaken, will be shaken. At times like this, a sense of history and institutional continuity are important to restore a sense of stability to the National psyche. The University of Lagos is an important part of our institutional history and I urge you to restore back its name – and consider a more meaningful and befitting way in which to pay tribute to Chief MKO Abiola.

 

I believe your commendable decision to honour MKO, also offers you a golden opportunity to rise above the sectarian divisions that are heating up the national polity and to pay tribute to MKO by identifying his name and his contributions to the cause of democracy in Nigeria – with a Federal institution that is not necessarily located in Lagos or the South West of Nigeria. The National Stadium in Abuja, has been suggested as more appropriate.

 

Please do not listen to those who will say to you that to step back from this decision may be seen as weakness on your part. History has shown that a true statesman will stand for the right and will not be stampeded into any particular line of action.

 

My prayer is that God Almighty will give you the grace to stand by the right side of history in this matter and with respect to every decision with which you are faced during your tenure of office,

 

Yours Sincerely,

J. F Ade.Ajayi

Emeritus Professor of History

Toyin Falola
Department of History
The University of Texas at Austin
104 Inner Campus Drive
Austin, TX 78712-0220
USA
512 475 7224
512 475 7222 (fax)
http://www.toyinfalola.com
www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa
http://groups.google.com/group/yorubaaffairs
http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue

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