THE Lagos State
Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr Ade Ipaye, on Thursday, said
contrary to various comments trailing the recent change of name of the
University of Lagos (UNILAG) to Moshood Abiola University, the Federal
Government has the power to do so.
He, however, added
that the Federal Government could only effect the change if the law that was
enacted in creating the previous name was changed.
Ipaye made the
statement at a one-day capacity building workshop for judiciary correspondents,
organised by the National Association of Judiciary Correspondents (NAJUC), in
Lagos.
According to him,
the students, rather than taking to the streets, should approach the matter in
a mature way, by following the provisions of the law.
He also urged
judicial correspondents to educate Nigerian public on essence of laws and order
in the country, adding that there were so many laws unkown to the public, a
reason many acted in ignorance.
The commissioner
advised journalists to be in the know about the justice sector and be familiar
with languages of the criminal and civil laws.
Meanwhile S/West
PDP lauds FG for immortalising Abiola.
THE Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP) in the South-West has lauded the Federal Government for
naming the University of Lagos (UNILAG) after the acclaimed winner of the June
12, 1993 presidential election, the late Chief M. K. O. Abiola.
While calling on
government to initiate all statutory legal steps to perfect the change, the
party appealed to students and other stakeholders not to be used to tarnish the
memory of the late Chief MKO Abiola and the cherished reputation of the
erstwhile University of Lagos.
The PDP, which
accused the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) of hypocrisy and underhand support
for the protest on the rename of UNILAG, said “it is very sad to note that
these same people, who dined and wined with the late MKO Abiola and had used
his name for political gains, have suddenly become anonymous and cannot show
appreciation to the Federal Government for immortali-sing him.”
The PDP zonal
publicity secretary, Kayode Babade, in a statement issued on Thursday, said all
lovers of democracy, especially those who benefited from MKO Abiola’s matyrdom,
should be supportive of whatever honour done him by the Nigeria government.