08 June 2012
By Abdul-Warees Solanke
I am an Akokite; my wife, Monsurah Modupe (Nee Balogun)
is; my first daughter, Aishah also is; my other three
children, Aasiah, Abdurrahman and Hameedah all
daydream of being Great Akokites as well. Akoka
is where I have my roots as a fine artist who paints
in words with pen as my brush. Akoka is both my past
and every day, where I met the best of my friends and
soul mates, where I learnt to fly as a bird without
perching for days and nights as a journalist. In Akoka,
I found true fellowship of faith and brotherhood of
Islam as its radiant masjid was my first hostel while
waiting to be housed in one of its halls.
There is something infectious about Akoka. Akoka as
we fondly call the University of Lagos is not just a
citadel of learning, of excellence. It is a home, a
city of refuge, of fulfillment. Akoka is where you
dream, and just before you leave its gates, your dream
is a reality. Akoka puts the world on your palms,
opens the skies for you. Akoka is where great names
are made, where raw gold gets glittering at the first
touch of a smith. When you enter Akoka, you never want
to leave. When you leave Akoka, you always want to
return. When you return to Akoka, you return with
pride and relish. You rejoice at its trade marks,
trademarks that new features never efface but makes
even more beautiful. You revel at the grace it gave
you.
Many of its solid unpainted structures are not
defeated by age; they bring back the memories of the
past, vividly. For every Akokite, nothing really
changes even though there are many changes. Baluba
Kingdom remains Baluba, a hall of first class
students, Elka, built of wooden prefabs, retains its
humble origin. The ageless Jaja, never loses its
attraction as the gentlemen's hall; Moremi still glows
and glitters with bevies of damsels, fresh as the
morning dew, as pomegranates waiting to be plucked.
Amina always draw inmates as queens and princesses. No
one ever wishes the pride of Akoka to be offended. No
Akokite ever contemplates the change of its simple and
stylish nomenclature, LAG, to a new one. We hold the
belief that LAG is forever living.
But you are proud of Unilag only if you succeed in
your career or whatever you lay your hands on. Most
Akokites are successes. You are passionate of Akoka if
you shine all over the world. An average Akokite is a
star any day in any clime. Akoka is to us what
Cambridge, Oxford, MIT and Harvard together are too
many who fancy studying abroad. Akoka builds
character, strengthens faith in God and teaches love
and concern for fellow man. Akoka unites the poor and
the rich. GREATEST AKOKITES, we salute ourselves. For
many, it is still a shock that LAG may never be called
LAG again.
Personally however, I am at the crossroad of the
crisis caused that the change of University of Lagos
to Moshood Abiola University. While I am a proud
product of Akoka, I am equally a protégé of Bashorun
MKO Abiola, the man in whose honor my alma mater is
being renamed. In working for National Concord, MKO
Abiola's influential newspaper, powerful as Rupert
Murdoch's media empire, I received my first meal
ticket, fresh from NYSC in 1990, having graduated from
Akoka with a Bachelor of Science in Mass Communication
in 1988, until the newspaper empire crumbled in the
beginning of 2001, for me to begin a new search for a
new employer. While working for Abiola as National
Concord correspondent in Yola in the early 90s, I was
addressed as Wakilin Abiola within the Adamawa State
Muslim Council headed by the Lamido himself. For, I
was MKOs representative by the virtue of the yearly
zakat his zakat committee sent through me for
distribution to the poor and the needy in Yola.
The search for a new meal ticket eventually landed me
in Voice of Nigeria where I am now wielding my pen as
a writer and public opinion canvasser, and my feet
established as a media trainer in heading VON Training
Centre, in fulfillment of my vision of sharing
knowledge of media practice with others. President
Goodluck Jonathan as the Commander in Chief of the
Federal Republic of Nigeria is the ultimate authority
on VON where I now receive my meal ticket.
When the Federal Government decided to honor Bashorun
MKO Abiola as our hero of democracy, it found in the
University of Lagos a most befitting memoriam.
Ideally, this is a deserving honor for a man who was
passionate about the University of Lagos in the 80s as
many of its older stake holders can testify. But many
are questioning the context and timing of the change.
This is understandable because our public sphere is
too fluid to pin any policy initiative or change on a
particular intention. Policy changes in Nigeria are
usually victims of political complexities. So, while
there might be a genuine intention for a policy, its
public perception and acceptance is usually a
different ball game. A rational policy is hardly
understood in the first instance while a political
policy is always controversial.
Where do we locate the change of Great Akoka to ABIOLA
UNIVERSITY of LAGOS in the Nigerian public policy
discourse? To me as a third generation Akokite
(counting eras in decades), a second generation
journalist of MKO Abiola's Concord and a new
generation public service broadcasting practitioner in
Voice of Nigeria, the change is neither here nor
there. However, the question which all who are
concerned about Akoka should ask is: Unilag as a
federal university, would the federal government
sustain its investment in the university? Would it
continue to provide the required funding for the
University of Lagos to retain its prime position?
Would the government continue to ensure an enabling
environment for the managers of the university to
continue nurturing Akoka as a centre of academic
excellence?
These are not questions to be answered in a jiffy or
to be rationalized pros or cons at emergency
stakeholders meetings or in street protests. They are
enduring questions for all stakeholders in any public
sphere including academic institutions like Unilag and
others in its ilk, especially in a complex society
such as ours where change and reform projects are
usually misunderstood and are thus prone to
controversies, even if they will be beneficial.
As all UNILAG stakeholders, including the Federal
Government, enter the arena of deliberation on the
future of the institution, the agenda should go beyond
the politics of nomenclature. It should be an agenda
to propel up Unilag (or whatever name we agree to call
it now or in the future) in the World University
ranking. No Nigeria or African university is in top 10
yet. Unilag or (Abiola University of Lagos, AUL) can
enter the Ivy League if the Federal Government's
honor and memorial of MKO is converted to an
opportunity to raise the excellence bar at this
university of first choice for most young Nigerian
students scrambling for university education in
Nigeria. So, let there be peace and understanding over
the Great Akoka as we call UNILAG.Grrrreaaatest
Akokites. GRRREAAAAAAAAT! Abdul-Warees is the Head of Training, Voice of
Nigeria, Ikoyi, Lagos,
(korewarith@yahoo.com
korewarith@voiceofnigeria.org ,
abdulwarees01@gmail.com ) 08090585723 Comments 💬 التعليقات |