By Aremo Tunde Oladunjoye
Yes, in 2010 towards the end of his administration, the then Governor, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, wanted to change the name of TASUED to his own name via an executive bill. But the move could not succeed due to stiff opposition, especially from the media, stakeholders and members of the State House of Assembly, known as G15, who he was on a protracted loggerheads with.
The Daily Independent newspaper in its “Analysis” titled “Renaming Tai Solarin University” published on August 15, 2010 had this to say about the unpopular and self-serving move of Otunba Gbenga Daniel to name TASUED after himself: “Out of today’s Ogun state, there is always something bizarre. The knack for making the headlines for the wrong reasons is very pronounced in dysfunctional Ogun state. It is therefore with a sense of déjà vu that we note the latest faux pas. The decision of the Ogun State Executive Council to rename the Tai Solarin University of Education (TASUED), Ijagun, Ijebu Ode in Ogun State after Governor Gbenga Daniel is a strategic error of judgment. Perhaps, to be charitable, the state executive council had an off day. For whatever reason, the decision should be immediately reversed. Ludicrously, the executive council has requested that the naming should take effect after the tenure of the governor. This does not in any way mask the damage already done. Such an act will tie the hands of a new administration whose priorities might lie elsewhere.”
If the name Tai Solarin has not, by divine intervention remained on the institution, the Federal Government, as clearly indicated in the press statement by the presidential spokesman, Bayo Onanuga, would not have have adopted the school as a federal university. The statement quoted the President as saying: “It is an opportunity for the Federal Government to honour Chief Obafemi Awolowo, who began the revolutionary free education program in Western Nigeria, and Dr. Tai Solarin, who spent most of his life educating our children and impacting patriotic and leadership lessons in them at Mayflower School in Ikenne. It is also in honour for the Awujale of Ijebuland, who played a critical role in preventing the university’s closure in 2012, just seven years after its establishment.”
Just five years after its establishment, OGD as he is fondly called, attempted to personalize and appropriate TASUED by naming TADUED after himself, but thanks to the stakeholders in Ogun State who successfully resisted the self-centered and hedonistic ambition of OGD.
To God alone be all the glory.
Aremo Tunde Oladunjoye is the First Onigegewura Akile Ijebu
