The least of the problems facing each public university in the country is naming. With all the universities groaning under poor funding, ill-equipment and poor staffing, the federal government has become obsessed with changing the names of some of these universities after our politicians and past leaders. One of such needless change of identity is the recent shocking renaming of the University of Maiduguri (UNIMAID) after the late Nigerian leader, ex-President Muhammadu Buhari, by President Bola Tinubu has again raised to a ridiculous level the growing culture of renaming public institutions, especially the universities, after our politicians, despite rising opposition to such despicable and avoidable practice. When the dust raised by renaming the University of Abuja after former military leader, Gen. Yakubu Gowon, has not settled, the federal government went ahead to rename UNIMAID after Buhari, a leader whose legacy is greatly mired in controversy. This political symbolism of renaming public institutions after politicians must be done away with.
When the government of former President Goodluck Jonathan renamed the University of Lagos (UNILAG) in honour of Chief MKO Abiola, the winner of June 12, 1993 presidential election, which was annulled by self-styled military president, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, the seeming innocuous move was stoutly resisted by the students, teachers, alumni and politicians from the South-West region. They read political motives in the unwanted renaming of UNILAG. In the same way, the sudden renaming of UNIMAID has caused some disquiet within and outside the university community and concerned alumni, teachers, students and even people from the North-East region have strongly voiced their opposition to the unwarranted and needless change of name of the university, which has made giant strides in research and scholarship since its inception 50 years ago.
No doubt, UNIMAID is a great brand that does not require this sudden change of name by the president during a special session of Federal Executive Council (NEC) in honour of the deceased military leader, who later became a democratic leader. Buhari has been honoured enough with special state burial and effusive eulogies, both real and imagined, there is no point renaming UNIMAID after him. Buhari had reportedly been named after many public institutions in Borno State. Why renaming him again after UNIMAID? Doing so is, indeed, a political overkill and should be rescinded.
Therefore, President Tinubu should quickly rescind the unpopular decision as Goodluck Jonathan did in the case of UNILAG. Even that of the University of Abuja should also be reversed immediately. Gowon has been honoured enough. Like Buhari, his legacy has a big k-leg considering his genocidal prosecution of the Nigeria/ Biafra war from 1967-1970 in which over 2 million Biafrans were starved to death by Gowon’s wicked policy of weaponizing hunger. This culture of pampering our political leaders with undeserved honours must stop. Nigeria does not belong to them alone. It belongs to all of us.
This is the time to also review our national honours list which is deliberately skewed in favour of politicians as if they are the only Nigerians who have contributed to our nation-building effort. The national honours list is inundated with mainly selfish and unpatriotic politicians spiced with a few good ones. True and honest Nigerians who have done so much to make Nigeria great and put its name on global map are always forgotten.
Apart from a few prominent, patriotic and selfless Nigerian leaders honoured by renaming some universities after them, Ahmadu Bello, Obafemi Awolowo, Nnamdi Azikiwe and others, every late or living Nigerian leader must not be honoured with a renaming of a university. Even the renaming of the University of Ife after Awolowo was highly resisted and even legally challenged. Although the change was not overturned, it should not be normalized.
This ubiquitous, primitive and wicked culture of renaming universities after past leaders must be jettisoned forthwith. It is not good to the image of the brand and it is also promoting the norm that only politicians can be honoured with universities, whether they ruled the country well or not. Buhari can be honoured with anything, such as street, barrack, road or military academy or agricultural agency but not a brand like UNIMAID. Obviously, this is a very bad birthday gift to UNIMAID from Tinubu and must be vehemently rejected by all of us who attended the university, staff, students and other stakeholders.
Expectedly, the UNIMAID chapter of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), has vehemently opposed the renaming of the university after Buhari. Its chairman, Dr. Abubakar Mshelia Saidu, described the decision as “politically motivated” and a brazen “affront” to the university legacy, history, and academic integrity. According to UNIMAID ASUU: “This action is not merely shocking; it desecrates the sanctity of our alma mater,” especially as “the university prepares to mark its 50th anniversary under the respected ‘UNIMAID’ identity.”
The UNIMAID ASUU is reportedly mobilizing its Congress, veterans and extended executive council to resist the needless move of renaming the university. Other stakeholders protesting against the renaming of the university have urged the president to halt the move. There are, indeed, other ways of honouring the memory of past leaders which I have earlier broached briefly in this article, which our leaders may consider. Another good way of honouring Buhari is by doing those things he promised Nigerians during his 8 years in power which he could not fulfill.
I say this because government is a continuum and President Tinubu succeeded Buhari, his political buddy and godfather. One of Buhari’s promises is ending the insurgency in the North-East. Ending the insurgency in the region will be a better birthday gift to my alma mater than giving it a new name. Adequate funding of UNIMAID to improve the quality of teaching, research and learning in the institution is better than renaming it after a politician. Buhari promised to fix the economy, the power sector, create more jobs and tackle corruption.
Since he could not deliver eloquently his promises, his successor could honour him by fulfilling them. Another way leaders can immortalize themselves in the memory of the people is by being people-centric and making the people the centre of their policies. Let them ensure the welfare and safety of the people. Naming multiple edifices is not the best way to immortalize them. It is worth recalling that our nationalists such as Ahmadu Bello, Nnamdi Azikiwe, Obafemi Awolowo, Aminu Kano, and MI Okpara did not require being immortalized by renaming institutions after them because they are already immortalized in the hearts of the people.
Similarly pioneers of modern African literature, Chinua Achebe, Wole Soyinka, JP Clark, Chris Okigbo and others are already immortalized by their works. They live in the hearts of their readers, fans and millions of Nigerians and people all over the world. Therefore, if any leader wants to be remembered by the people, he should address the needs of the people. People will not reckon with a leader simply because an airport or a university was named or renamed after him. The earlier the federal government stops this frivolity, the better for all of us. UNIMAID was established in 1975, along with a few others, by the then military government as a way of expanding admission spaces in the nation’s dynamic university system. Let UNIMAID be. The government should fully fund these citadels of learning, equip and staff them instead of the new fad of rushing to rename them after our politicians and thereby distorting their identities.
Credit:The Sun