A socio-cultural organisation, under the aegis of the Kwara South Consultative Forum, has opposed the call by the Emir of Ilorin, Alhaji Ibrahim Sulu-Gambari, for the renaming of the University of Ilorin (UNILORIN) after Sheikh Alimi of the Alimi Dynasty in Ilorin Emirate.
It is recalled that the monarch had made the call at the 50th anniversary celebration of Unilorin recently.
The group said that the call is indifferent to the diversity and divergent history of other ethnic groups in the state.
The Forum also called on the state government to rename the Government House after the late General David Bamigboye, being the pioneer military governor of the state, instead of renaming it Ahmadu Bello House
In a statement by its Secretary General, Engineer Adebayo Simon Daramola, while alluding to a call for the renaming of UNILORIN after Sheikh Alimi, the people said that: “The entire state of Kwara is the catchment area of the University of Ilorin. We are just not homogeneous enough in Kwara state for that idea to ever be mooted.
“Neither do we want to go into needless arguments with members of other ethnic groups in other senatorial districts because of mutual respect between us and other such organisations towards the development of the State, Kwara.
“The fact that the University is located in Ilorin does not confer ownership on the city. The privilege of being the host does not confer ownership on the city, while the privilege of being the host community should not be confused to mean exclusive ownership either.
“It should be noted that the significance of the history of the head of the Alimi dynasty bears no relevance to the people of Ekiti, Ibolo and Igbomina descent of Kwara South and even of the other Senatorial District (Kwara North).
“It will, therefore, be uncalled for to contemplate imposition of a name that does not have a ‘state-wide spread’ on our collective inheritance.
“As of today in Kwara South, there are six private Universities, Viz: Landmark University, Omu-Aran; Thomas Adewumi University, Oko; Abubakar Abdulrazak Toyin University, Gamo; Summit University, Ira Road, Offa; Offa University, Offa; Lens University, Offa/Ilemona Ira Road, as well as Lens Polytechnic, Ira Road, Offa.
“So, we are advising you to take a cue from Kwara South by establishing a private university in the name of Sheikh Alimi if you are so concerned and desirous about naming a university in the name of the Alimi dynasty”.
On the naming of the State Government House, the Forum noted that “of recent, the Government House was renamed Ahmadu Bello House without consultation with other ethnic communities in Kwara State, especially, the Yoruba ethnic group in Kwara South.
“If at all the Government House would be named after anybody, after due consultations, it should have been named after the pioneer Military Governor of the State, Brigadier General David Lasisi Bamigboye (Rtd), of blessed memory, as David Lasisi Bamigboye House.
“It is still not too late to right the wrong by renaming the Kwara State Government House as David Lasisi Bamigboye House, considering the fact that Bamigboye was the pioneer Military Governor of the State who had served the state diligently and left worthy legacies, including the Government House.
“Justice, equity and fairness make this our demand salient and incontrovertible. We, therefore, appeal to our amiable Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq to passionately look into this matter by reversing this glaring injustice done to a man who gave his all to give Kwara State a solid foundation.
“We wish to emphasise and advise that equity, justice and fairness should be our watchwords in Kwara State, a state with the sobriquet, ‘State of Harmony’.
“We should not do anything by our actions or inactions, and conduct that can tamper with our resolve to perpetually live together in peace and harmony”.
