It is very rare to see a father/mother rename his/her child when he/she becomes seventeen years old. But this could be easy when what is been renamed is an institution of learning. There is a joy that comes with christening and even rechristening. When you get a name,it is like life in the sense that that name goes with you everywhere like a fly following a coffin. This is exactly what happens on the days we have ‘naming ceremonies.’
There is joy and laughter in the air that a child has just gotten a name and would hardly get another at seventeen.
This is not the case with Kogi State University, that our governor,His Excellency, Gov.Yahaya Bello intends to rename at seventeen. According to him it would be called Prince Abubarkar Audu University (P.A.A.U); the first name of the university ,given by the former governor. The incubent governor stated that the school will be renamed again in honour of the much-loved former governor, Prince Abubarkar Audu.
I am sure majority of students has no problem with the personality and character of Prince Abubarkar Audu, whether from the story they heard or what they have witnessed. I mean, the thousands of students in the institution will not be there if the former governor had not established the university out of quest to deliver the dividends of democracy to the people of Kogi State. I don’t know much about Prince Abubarkar Audu but I have heard a lot of positive things about his administration. I am one of those privileged students to be in Kogi State University because of its establishment by the governor in 1999. But much burden comes with a name especially when it is done in the manner in which politicians in the state are doing it.
An administration changed the name from P.A.A.U to K.S.U and another administration intends to change it back to P.A.A.U. A burden comes with such rechristening. If the state owns the university let the state give it a permanent name so as to take the burden of naming off the shoulders of both lecturers and students of the institution; enough of playing politics with names.
Meanwhile, I want to plead with our governor to drop the intention of renaming for the mean time and focus on how he can rejuvenate the university system and make learning a happiness instead of a burden. Today makes it two months that we have been at home because of A.S.S.U strike; they have only demanded they be paid so as to return to work. I hope our governor does something this week like he promised.
Apart from this, a lot of things are burden in the university, heavier than the burden of getting another name: We need to see water run in our hostels 24 hours everyday; we need to see uninterrupted electricity in the school and our hostels; we need our lecturers to be given better packages to motivate them into teaching; we need the building of more classrooms and lecture theatres; we need shuttles on campus as transportation itself is a burden on campus; we need you-your Excellency to woo more investors into the university system; one of such is the banking industry, as banking is a burden on campus; my fellow students can testify to this. All these and more that I am yet to mention is what we need your Excellency (Gov.Yahaya Bello) to work on.
It is when life is made easy for students and lecturers on campus; and when the standard of the university is being improved that we can enjoy the burden of another name, and such a great one as P.A.A.U.
Meanwhile, Prince Abubarkar Audu lives on in our hearts as he has left a mark that is so indelible in Kogi State and we regret that he passed on just by the time we needed him most.
Long live K.S.U!
Long live Kogi State!
Long live Federal Republic of Nigeria!
Taiye Kolawole ‘Litera-tee’ is a poet and undergraduate at Kogi State University.
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