The renaming of University of Lagos after the winner of June 12, 1993 presidential election, Chief Moshood Abiola, is still generating turmoil among the students and the institution's alumni.As a matter of fact, this is not the first time government would change names of institutions to immortalise exceptional Nigerians but the protests and knocks over UNILAG's turn bespeaks of the value attached to the name by the university community.Inside Lagos found out that most students kicked against the acronym, 'MAULAG' because to them it sounds comical and would not fit into their university of first choice.Though the academics in the university view the change of name as a political miscalculation, they would not like to be addressed as staff of MAULAG. The tone of their arguments reveals their pride in UNILAG as a brand, not just a name and should be left to remain like the Cambridge and Oxford Universities that would not change for many years.It is true, the name UNILAG sounds beautiful but its splendour matters little to a government that is bent to immortalise the martyrdom of Abiola. To Miss Deborah Onu, a 200 level student of History, the University of Lagos has been existing for 50 years and has become a household name to many people. 'It is a beautiful name that has attracted global recognition. This new name sounds local. My God, listen to what they have changed UNILAG to, MAULAG!' she lamented.The visibly angry Onu told Inside Lagos that he would not only like to be a graduate of UNILAG but her ultimate joy is for her certificate to read University of Lagos instead of Moshood Abiola University.'I'm not at all against immortalising MKO but please it must not be in UNILAG. We are not proud but we have a pride, please,' Onu stated.To Yinka Soboye of Faculty of Engineering, it is demeaning that a university such as UNILAG can be renamed without any prior discussion with the Senate or the governing council. 'We are not happy with this at all, one day, they will change the name of an institution to 'Malu', that is cow.'She argued that the renaming would definitely affect the fame of the university. 'Look, I personally hate this decision. God', help us,' she said.In his comment, the Chairman of Academic Staff Union of the university, Dr. Karo Ogbinaka, said that President Jonathan had re-named the university to gain cheap popularity, calling on him to re-name University of Abuja after MKO if he wanted to score a mark.He said, 'We are here to tell him that the UNILAG community hates what he has done and will ensure that this decision is reverted. How can somebody just wake up and re-name a university without any consultation with the university community. He should go and re-name University of Port Harcourt but not the University of Lagos.'On immortalising the late politician, Ogbinaka said that the academics were not against naming any government property after MKO but added that the University of Lagos was too small compared to the status and the price the late business mogul paid for democracy.In his comment, the Head of Department of Mass Communication, Professor Ralph Akinfeleye, described the government's decision as a political miscalculation. He noted that late Chief MKO Abiola was more pronounced in the area of sports, suggesting that the National Stadium, Lagos could have been named after him instead of the University of Lagos.He said, 'University of Lagos tells a name and history and should not just be changed for political gains. We are sad in this university with what the government has done to us. At this period that we are mourning our late VC, I don't think we deserve this.'Akinfeleye explained that re-naming University of Lagos after MKO was like debasing the status of the man who died for democracy in the country, saying, 'Abiola was a national figure but not a regional personality. In fact he was the pillar of sports for Africa. Why not consider the National Stadium to immortalise him instead of UNILAG
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