I was a 9-year-old when I first came to Igboland - to Nsukka ( now in Enugu State) tagging along with my parents. I was an 11-year-old when my father led av train of non-Easterners out of Igboland when, on the eve if secession, Ojukwu's government announced publicly that it could not linger guarantee the safety of nion-Eastterners. A few months later, my father was to return with a peace delegation led by Chief Obafemi Awolowoi to plead with Ojukwu and his advisers not to secede, to no avail. One thing left to another - a three year fractruicidal civil war that was completely. Just six years after the war ended, I was a 21-year-old when after my first college degree I did one-year national service at Aba ( then in I'm State, now in Abua State), where. I also did community service at Ohaioara (now in Ebonyi State). More than 40 years later, I still read about MASSOB.and IPOB, with episodical intellectual support herabouts.
No, Okey. I am not obsessed about Biafra, but I was involved in my own way. No, I did not hear bombs fall around me, or list relatives or known ones in dozens or in hundreds - I lost some but that is not disqualifying to have Biafra always in my view, if you know what I mean.
Nimi:
I know how politically correct we " Nigerian intellectuals" try to be in company, but I thought it was too early in the discussion for Country-squire Okey Iheduru to be offering his community land to TFU. After five years as VC in a community that offered 200 hectares of land in the hometown of the sitting President for a federal University, that University will not hear the last of that gift for 200 years! It will be a gift that must keep on giving, and that must be constantly explain it's purpose.
As to thinking out of the box, why must TFU be even in Nigeria, since it has a pan-African spirit? Ethiopia? The Congo? Yes, Rwanda!
Why not even the USA? Imagine a pan-African University in the US, set up largely by African emigres! What a story! We might get AU backing, - or eschew it if too intrusive.
And there you have it!
Bolaji Aluko
On Monday, February 5, 2018, Okey Iheduru <okeyiheduru@gmail.com> wrote:
To say that I expected this angle to the idea of TFU would be an understatement, but I'm glad Prof. Wariboko understood my intent and has amplified and endorsed it here. Taking his intervention further, what a wonderful nation building master stroke it would have been last Friday had President Buhari renamed University of Abuja after the late Dr. Alex Ekwueme? Don't get me wrong, I'll take whatever gesture Nigerians genuinely extend to the former Vice President who we all agree was among the finer leaders we've had. Yet, it's about time we -- intellectuals -- start thinking outside the box.And to my friend, Prof. Aluko, you seem to instinctively obsess about Biafra as a subject of curiosity; for me it was--and still remains--a lived experience. While you watched from the comfort of your middle class home in Ile Ife; or read from your father's daily supply of newspapers, I was an 8-year old in the thick of an atrocious war, from Imo River through Aba to Okigwe and Mbano. You'd do well to appreciate that Biafra is not an easy subject for many people, let alone an issue to be joked with. I'd like to invite you to review my posts on this list and tell me how many times I've commented or written about that war.Imo State may be "land-starved" (hence, it's madness to demand for cattle colonies in that state), but not so much that we can't make some available for such a revolutionary pan-Nigerian/Pan-African university. It's worth remembering that Imo people pioneered the idea of private university in Nigeria in 1983, with Dr. Basil Nnanna Ukaegbu's Imo Technical University, Imerienwe, Owerri and Dr. B. U. Nzeribe's John Paul University, Aba. Abolition of these outside-the-box thinking universities was Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari's No. 2 agenda item in January 1984.Finally, there's no reason why a Toyin Falola University at Mbeke, Mbano, Imo State would still not be as Pan-African a citadel of learning in a Republic of Biafra, just as it would in the Republic of Rwanda! And, who says Prof. Aluko would not be welcome and celebrated as the VC, TFU in Biafra?Regards,Okey--On Mon, Feb 5, 2018 at 9:25 AM, Nimi Wariboko <nimiwari@msn.com> wrote:There is something radical about Dr. Iheduru's suggestion that TF University should be sited in Imo State. In Nigeria where top Pentecostal pastors collect offerings, tithes, and contributions from all over the country but always site universities in their own states or ethnic areas, his suggestion warns those talking about the TF University not to fall into that trap.
Not only Pentecostal pastors are guilty of this. This is also true of the mainline churches: universities are often sited in the state or ethnic regions of whoever was the denominational head at the time the decision was made. We often talk about politicians not transcending the interests of their enclaves, but citizens and intellectuals are also guilty of the same offense.
Dr. Iheduru by his suggestion or offer of land is challenging Prof Toyin Falola and his supporters to think outside the box. I think this is the "spirit" of his suggestion. Thanks.
Nimi WaribokoBoston University
Okey Iheduru:
Haba! You sha!
Abeg how did you acquire this land - sufficient land - in land-hungry Imo State, my adopted state? Are you now a country land-owning squire? How much acerage is this sufficient land - 100 hectares, 200 ha, 1000 ha? Is this going to be given FOC to TFU?
Biko, Answer me!
And TF is Omo Ibadan proper! Suppose Biafra secedes? Or is this part of a secret plan to cement Imo State to Oyo Stste, "so that re-eventuslity becomes nigh-impossible? You sneaky angel - what a plan, which I support.
And there you have it.
Bolaji AlukoShaking his head--
On Friday, February 2, 2018, Okey Iheduru <okeyiheduru@gmail.com> wrote:
Toyin Falola University (TFU)-- fantastic idea worth supporting and bringing to fruition.
Take-off funding would be at least N2 billion or about $5,555,555.00.
We'd need at least 300 promoters, each contributing $18,519 which could be paid in 12 installments of $1,543 during the planning period.
I have land -- sufficient land -- at Mbeke, Isiala-Mbano LGA, Imo State as the future home of the university.
The TFU would be the second private university not founded by an individual, but by a "collaborative", following in the footsteps, but exceeding the accomplishments, of Achievers University, Owo, Ondo State.
I sincerely hope folks will take up this idea seriously.
Regards,
Okey--
On Thu, Feb 1, 2018 at 8:57 AM, Emeagwali, Gloria (History) <emeagwali@ccsu.edu> wrote:
--A great conference, with great scholarly discussions eminent scholars and numerous simultaneous panels.Very well organized indeed.
I enjoyed every minute of it. Thank you.
In the next birthday celebration, the cutting of a birthday cake should be accompanied by
celebratory "washing" of the foundation stone or building of the Toyin Falola University.
Funding could be arrived at from grants and donations. The university could
be self- sustainable as a private university. The TF Library complex would be installed in the institution.
Another option for funds is the investor model, whereby 1000 investors contribute
200 dollars each or thereabouts as initial funding - with the expectation of returns on
their investment at a specified time.
Or we can have a community project involving
solar energy, waste disposal, a hospital or medical equipment but the TF University sounds
best to me.
GE
\
Professor Gloria EmeagwaliProfessor of History
History DepartmentCentral Connecticut State UniversityGloria Emeagwali's Documentaries onAfrica and the African Diaspora8608322815 Phone8608322804 Fax
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