OPEN LETTER TO MR PRESIDENT FROM A UNIABUJA STUDENT: WE DON’T WANT UNIVERSITY OF ABUJA TO BE CALLED YAKUBU GOWON UNIVERSITY TOO

      L-R: President Tinubu and Fmr. Pres. Jonathan 

Warm greetings Mr President,

Your Excellency, President Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

The 16th President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

I believe you are already settling in on the activities of the presidency. 

I also believe you have learnt two things;

One, the reality of the presidency outweighs that of the governorship.

Two, adaptation and atimes a change in philosophy is normal and necessary.

It's a democratic constant.

But you are certainly not a man, who can’t deliver excellence to his people, regardless of tribe, religion or affiliations, if he wants to.

I believe that regardless of sentiment, you have the courage to genuinely initiate good leadership and equity.

You did that as governor of Lagos State.

To that respect I wish you and your whole cabinet all the best.

Mr President, I write to humbly reject the call for the Prestigious University of Abuja to be renamed after our great hero, General Yakubu Gowon.

I am fully aware of the achievements of the 90 year old war veteran and his effort in keeping the Nigerian state.

He is very due and very qualified.

However Mr President, Abuja is Nigeria’s capital city.

Our heritage. 

It is the center of our unity and the seat of power.

Abuja, is the pride of our nation.

It host well curated geology with a breath-taking green environment.

Abuja is home to arts, culture and entertainment.

Abuja itself, is an honour on the University that was founded in 1988 and perfectly themed, “The University for National Unity” 

First, I appreciate the procedure taken towards this renaming.

Window period is provided to follow due process as His Excellency Former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan did in 2012.

Recall in a very romantic move on May 29, 2012, President Goodluck Jonathan had attempted to rename the prestigious University of Lagos to honour the memory of Nigeria’s foremost businessman, Democrat and the winner of the 1993 general election, Alhaji Moshood Abiola.

May 29 was Nigeria’s Democracy Day before it was moved to June 12 to honour the achievements of the same Alhaji Moshood Abiola, suggesting the man deserved even to name the entire country after.

Chief Moshood Abiola, even without holding the office of the presidency impacted people positively in both the local and international scene.

He won the hearts of the majority of the Nigerian people as reflected by his landslide election victory in 1993.

He was denied his mandate, imprisoned and strangely died in detention.

He was an entrepreneur and a philanthropist of repute, and Mr President, he was even your mentor.

Yet while most people found such decision intelligent, timely and deserving, Lagos roared in an angry protest.

Students and Alumni of the University of Lagos felt it’d reduce the ego the name UNILAG adds to their reputation.

I mean think about “I’m in UNILAG” and “I’m in MAULAG”

It was literally the swag.

I was not yet admitted into any university at the time, but I was resident in Lagos.

Yes, I am a full Lagos bred.

I'd only moved to Abuja in 2019 after my first degree in Calabar.

My childhood was in Adeniyi Jones in Ikeja, the Lagos State capital.

Later on, after my secondary school, we moved to Iju Ishaga, the same neighborhood as Terry G, the legendary street hop musician.

For what UNILAG was, the name, her product, it is an indelible brand.

I remember in a prophetic move in 2012, I'd taken the soil of the institution to pray on, to be admitted into UNILAG.

I had applied for Computer and Electronics Engineering.

I was given Biology Education instead.

I turned down the offer and headed for Geology in the University of Calabar in 2013.

I laugh about this memory today, but in that time, it was absolutely not funny.

I didn’t even know the institution's ranking in the circle of universities in Nigeria or in Africa or their capacity in my chosen course. 

Only the name, UNILAG.

Our friends who attended or graduated from the institution were accorded a different shade of respect.

It was just great for all the reasons I didn't exactly know.

Many said the renaming of UNILAG as MAULAG came as a surprise just as the renaming of UNIABUJA as Yakubu Gowon University came to us as a surprise as well. 

Dr Karo Ogbunaka, UNILAG ASUU Chairman of the time, in his reaction claimed the students protest was both for students and lecturers of the institution. 

He alleged that President Jonathan was playing cheap politics attempting to use the Yoruba people. 

He boasted UNILAG was too big for that, and even added that they will resist it and fight for it with their blood.

The UNILAG ASUU Chairman brilliantly adviced Jonathan to name one of the nine new institutions newly created at the time after the hero Alhaji Moshood Abiola.

Prof. Tony Afejuku, a poet and scholar in the University of Benin called it, "a thoughtless action taken at a wrong time".

A protesting student questioned why the US government has not renamed Harvard University after any of its founding fathers. 

Jonathan, as a true democrat on 22 February, 2013 rescinded his decision and returned the University back to its original name, the University of Lagos and the people were happy.

Mr President, I write in the capacity of a student of UNIABUJA, currently studying for a Post Graduate Diploma in Agricultural Economics.

I first saw the news on our dedicated students WhatsApp group.

I didn't want to base my believe on speculations, so I went further to confirm it on a credible national newspaper, there I found it was true.

My President, whatever UNILAG is, UNIABUJA is.

For all the reasons UNILAG could not be named Moshood Abiola University, Lagos, MAULAG, UNIABUJA also should not be named Yakubu Gowon University.

UNIABUJA just like UNILAG accord us the student and our very notable alumni in all walks of life, locally and in diaspora, a sense of pride.

Mr President, Her Excellency, the beautiful First Lady of Nigeria, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, the then senator of Lagos was neutral, only advising President Jonathan to follow the will of the people.

We want to also ask that you also listen to our voices, we the student and Alumni of this institution.

We reject this name change and boldly say that this is not our will. 

Nigeria continue to rank high in global illiteracy index, and adding more institutions can be a prudent investment.

While these new universities will bear the names of our heroes from inception, they'd also reduce the illiteracy level of the nation.

For their contributions to our nation, these new institutions can provide scholarships and easy entry procedures to children of the poor and less privilege, who cannot easily afford the luxury of a University education. 

This will amount to a win-win for the nation.

Dear students, lecturers, and Alumni of the great University of Abuja, we have a heritage to protect and defend as well, just like UNILAG.

We must collectively rise up and Say No.

Not in a violent fight with our blood, but as the civil, bright and learned minds that we are.

Lagos is not greater than Abuja.

As a matter of fact, the Abuja's institution deserves her original name more than anywhere else.

Of the greatest Nigerian students!

This is another Aluta challenge. 

God bless you Mr President.

God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

God bless the University of Abuja.

A luta continua; Vitória é certa! ✊🏾