I walked through the main gate of the University of Lagos into its expansive belly sometime in April 1982 and for those 37 plus years, I have remained glued to and consequently appreciative of its values, culture and norms with religious flavor.
What went wrong this time around? Your guess is as good as mine but what is incontestable is that there is power play, egocentricity and intense display of meanness and deft political maneuvering at the highest level of the beloved institution. Otherwise, it will find itself playing the role of a pawn in the chessboard and soiling its garment in the long run. This, in my modest opinion is where the present Council of the University of Lagos has gaffed and hence one would advise its henchmen to tow the line of finesse in the similitude of Mr. Afe Babalola, Professor Jerry Gana and the late Dr Gamaliel Onasode who presided over the same council successfully.
The slogan “ if you are not sure, you must decide in favor of the student “is a clear example of how the system works in that university. Unilag has zero tolerance for impunity- no matter what. It is almost impossible to lead people by the nose at the University of Lagos. In a country where a return ticket ranges between seven hundred and fifty thousand and two million Naira depending on the class of the seat for those traveling to the United States of America and a manageable hotel accommodation costs between one hundred and fifty pounds and five hundred pounds in London, one wonders how long it takes to expend fifty seven million Naira on a dozen members of Management of a university.