Much Ado About The Name Change For a Nigerian University
[Dr.
Ope Banwo, The Nigerian Ombudsman]
The nigerian President, Mr. Jonathan
Goodluck never ceases to amaze me with his ineptitude and cluelessness about Politics, the Law and Governance in general. With the current misadventure to
cast himself as a generous statesman by changing the name of one of the most
prestigious Universities in Nigeria, the Nigerian President continues to
reinforce the perception that he has ‘lucked’ himself into a job that could
never be executed by luck alone. From all available evidence, it appears that
the President, without any opponent having anything to do with it, has
developed an annoying and dangerous penchant for creating needless controversy
about himself, while also exposing his apparent ineptitude in running the
country.
Most recently, the President
of the most populous nation in Nigeria opened his mouth, without anyone
prompting him, and declared that he has changed the name of University of
Lagos, one of the oldest and most credible universities in Nigeria, to Moshood
Abiola University in honor of one the heroes of the democratic Republic
of Nigeria. Incredibly, the President made this announcement without following
the due process of law, without consulting the lawmakers, or the ruling party
in power in the state where the university is located, and without even the
elementary courtesy of allowing the stakeholders of that University to have a
say in the matter.
Needless to say, this
blunder has led to another national crisis with students taking to the streets in
protest and violence erupting in clashes between the students and the police.
Movement and transportation in Lagos was badly disrupted as the students
barricaded major routes in and out of Lagos in their anger at the government’s
action. Predictably, rather than addressing the issues raised by his disturbing
announcement of a name change without following due process, the President of
Nigeria decided to close down the University and send all the students home, in
a bid to truncate their agitation and quell their protest over the annoying development.
Without a doubt, in making
the decision to change the name of the University by executive fiat the way he
did, President Jonathan blundered badly in at least 3 critical areas:
1. THE PRESIDENT DID NOT HAVE THE LEGAL POWERS
TO CHANGE THE NAME OF THE UNIVERSITY – The University of Lagos was created by
an ACT OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY of Nigeria. In the very first section of the
Act creating the University of Lagos, the law specifically mentioned that the
name of the University shall be University of Lagos. That being the case, it is
clear to even an elementary student of law that you cannot change an existing
law by Executive fiat in a democratic system of government. Obviously, you need
another law to change an existing law, or to amend it. Even the military in
their worst day of dictatorship always enacts a decree to change an existing
law. They simply do not announce a name change by public announcement when
there is no decree to back it up. Yet, we have a President in the most populous
black democracy in the world doing just that!
2.
2. THE PRESIDENT DID NOT GET THE BUY-IN OF THE
STAKEHOLDERS – Mr. President probably thought he was doing Lagosians, the old Western
Region states, the students and everybody in the country a big favor by
renaming the preeminent university after one of the heroes of the country.
However, his good intentions became a malfeasance to the same people he was
trying to impress because he did it without consulting the people he intended
to do the favor. How a President of a democratic country like Nigeria can dream
of changing the name of the first university in Lagos without consulting
Lagosians, the current and old students, the University senate, the ruling
party in Lagos, and even the people of the western states, the presumable
stakeholders with proprietary interests in this University, is beyond my
understanding.
In
any sane country with a President who knew what he was doing, the name change
for an institution like this is something that would have been floated first for
public debate to gauge public and institutional reactions to the proposal, before
implementing the name change. Yet, our President with all those over-prized
advisers around him went ahead and made this nonsensical announcement right out
of the blue without any advance preparation.
3.
3. THE PRESIDENT EXHIBITED TOTAL DISREGARD FOR
THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY – The fact that our President felt comfortable making the
announcement of a name change of a Federal University without consulting the
National assembly reveals how much contempt this President has for the people
of the great country of Nigeria. He obviously did not think our lawmakers have
any say in his decision to change an Act of the National Assembly by fiat. Or
does our President really want us to believe that he was really ignorant of the
fact that he needed legislative action and cooperation in making this name
change? If so, this would even be a far worse sin of omission, negligence and
ignorance for a man in his exalted position. Either way, the decision and
announcement by him is a grievous mistake for which he would pay dearly in
political capital.
Any way one looks at it, this
unfortunate misadventure by the President raises very serious questions about
his competence and his ability to continue to rule the country of Nigeria. It
shows very clearly that we either have a dictator in the making, or we have a
totally clueless man at the helm of affairs, in the most populous black nation
in the world. How President Jonathan could have made this major faux pas with
so many advisers around him, who are being paid to make sure this does not
happen, is totally beyond my comprehension. If indeed this was an error, and an
unfortunate ignorance of the law on his part, then several advisers around him
should be fired for allowing it to happen. After all, the man read a prepared
speech obviously prepared by somebody, and reviewed by some other people. How all
those people could have let this pass the due process of scrutiny is
unforgivable. Every one of his advisers who saw that speech before it was
delivered should be fired immediately.
On the other hand, if the President
did this on his own, knowing that he has no powers to do it and still did it
anyway, it may be time for the impeachment process to start. Nigerians cannot
afford to allow a dictator in the making to continue to occupy that office or
we would all be the worse for it down the road. The president of Nigeria swore
to uphold the constitution of Nigeria and its laws and any violation of the any
part of the laws of Nigeria is an impeachable offense. It is better to get rid
of him before he gets too powerful to stop by the checks and balances in place.
In conclusion, I believe that
the president probably can save a little face from his already smeared public visage
in this matter by reversing course immediately, apologize to all Nigerians for
his mistake, and withdraw his ill-fated decision to change the name of the university
of Lagos to Moshood Abiola university. Anything less will be an ill wind that
will blow no one any good down the road, if allowed to stand. Moshood Kashimowo
Abiola is a legitimate national hero who deserves to be honored properly, in a
proper manner after following due process. He does not deserve to have his memory, as
a man who lost his life in the fight for democracy, desecrated by a contemptible
attempt to post-humously honor him. The President should back down from this
decision immediately before it develops into something much more than a storm
in a teacup that it is right now.
That is my memo for today!
Dr.
Ope Banwo is an Attorney, Public Commentator, Business Consultant, Author, and
Motivational Speaker. He is the initiator of the Market Ombudsman and the
Founder of the syndicated Ombudsman Show on television networks. He writes from
Lagos, Nigeria. Email: opebanwo@aol.com
Tel: 07066482753
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