THE NATION THURSDAY, JANUARY 3, 2013
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CARTOON & LETTERS
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EDITOR’S MAIL BAG
IR: Last Sunday in the Palladium column of Idowu Akinlotan we read another illuminating piece with the above title. The piece was on three eminent politicians of the twentieth centuryNelson Mandela of South Africa, George H Bush of USA and Margaret Thatcher of Great Britain. These three political titans had recently been hospitalised for old age health challenges. The columnist used this opportunity to make few observations on these iconic leaders whose idiosyncratic rule according to the columnist “exemplified the leadership panache and resilience of the last century”. It was an incisive analysis of the positive contributions of these great leaders to their respective countries and the world at large. Akinlotan also robustly reasoned that the successors of these great leaders unfortunately failed to live up to the standard set up by these leaders. Much as I rate the article very ex-
cellent, I cannot resist the temptation to take up Akinlotan on some issues in the column. Akinlotan surprisingly concentrated on the positive achievements of these leaders ignoring their negative political policies which are many especially with Margaret Thatcher who is the most controversial of the three. Presumably Akinlotan ignored this aspect because he wanted to be nice to them now that they are at the ‘ departure lounge’. There is no doubt that Margaret Hilda Thatcher is a great leader of Great Britain. In fact many people
IR: Reading through the piece “Re: Let’s Remake Ekiti State University” by Olubunmi Ajibade, the Public Relations Officer of Ekiti State University, AdoEkiti, in The Nation of December 6, 2012 in reply to my article “Let’s Remake Ekiti State University” also in the newspaper of December 3, 2012, my first reaction was to dismiss it as one of those lies the school management had been telling to convince itself that it was working. But seeing the comments on Ajibade’s piece on the newspaper’s website, I decided to change my mind. Contrary to Ajibade’s claim that I had not been in the institution for a long time, I am as regular there as anyone, including Ajibade or any of the school’s principal officers. He also mentioned that EKSU (UNAD) graduates are doing fine. Well, the self-determined and self-educated ones are, but what about a larger percentage who suffers daily em-
barrassment for their single crime of graduating from EKSU? What would you say about a product of the institution who graduated with a degree in Economics and when she was asked to define demand and supply, all she could say was that “Won ko wa” (We were not taught). I don’t know the statistics Ajibade uses, but that obviously differs from what is on ground. I have nothing against EKSU, but this is not a time to save face, rather it is a time for everyone to join hands in remaking EKSU. When I wrote the article in contention, I sent it to the Ekiti State Education Commissioner, Dr. Eniola Ajayi, via her facebook inbox and she assured that she was on the neck of the school’s management to make EKSU a place of pride. Unlike the school management and Ajibade (PRO), she did not lie about the situation. She recognised the problems and she believed in proffering solutions to them. The school management can ei-
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Palladium’s three long birthdays including her political enemies put her second only to the legendary Winston Churchill in the league of leaders of Great Britain. She gave Britain confidence and restructured positively the comatose British economy when she took over. To me one of her greatest achievements as British Prime Minister was her successful pruning to size the unruly British Trade Unions, However, despite these lofty achievements , she brought acute economic polarization to her country. She divided her Conservative party and because of her imperious
and obtuse home policies people like William Whitelaw, Reg Maudling, Geoffrey Howe, Micheal Heseltine and Nigel Lawson who brought her to power parted ways with her. Her scorched earth policy against the IRA in the Northern Ireland is still remembered with disdain in that part of United KIngdom. One cannot forget her bellicose policy which opposed economic sanctions against South Rhodesia and Apartheid South Africa , this obnoxious policy protected the racist and apartheid regimes in the Southern part of Africa for a long time.
Ekiti varsity image maker’s feeble defence
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ther come to terms with the truth to enable it chart a new path for the institution, or it can keep doling out feeble defences through its PRO. I must commend the State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, for appointing Professor Oladapo Aina as EKSU Vice Chancellor. Before the appointment of the present VC, units like Pre-Degree and Part-Time were being run like criminal outfits. Tuition fees paid by students in these units are domiciled in accounts opened in the name of the units. These are accounts that were separate from the school’s account. The directors of these units had approving power and could withdraw money at will and even award projects. Many of such directors enriched themselves there from to the detriment of EKSU. Funds that could have been used to better the lot of the school ended up in private pockets. The facts are there! These are some of the loopholes, including the sale of quality-starved textbooks
that the new VC has started blocking and this is why the renegades and the rebels in the institution have started teaming up against the new VC just like they did to Professor Akin Oyebode. That is why they are kicking against the Personal Income Tax that they should ordinarily pay without complaining. That is why they are hiding under the funding of the institution. Their grouse is against the Governor, Dr. Fayemi, for bringing an effective Vice Chancellor and the Vice Chancellor for initiating reforms. Selfish lot! We, the good products of Ekiti State University (UNAD), will not allow self-thinking, greedy and reform-hating elements ruin our alma mater. We will keep talking! We will keep fighting! EKSU is our Ivy League. We will hoe it! We will rake it until it becomes a place of pride, a place we all desire. • ‘Dimeji Daniels Ado in Ekiti.
I think these policies of Mrs Thatcher imparted negatively on many people around the globe and they should not be glossed over in any objective assessment. It is imperative for Mr. Akinlotan to give both the good and the bad aspects of these leaders so that future generations could learn from their achievements and failures. Also in the piece Mr Akinlotan in an inimitable manner tried to compare the performance of some Nigerian past leaders with the performance of these three world leaders. In one of these comparisons he likened the bold policies of the late Murtala Mohammed during his short tenure as Nigerian Head of state with those of Margaret Thatcher. This may be true but I disagreed with Akinlotan when he wrote that after Mohammed’s death the rest of the transition programme was handed ‘to the far less ethically resolute Obasanjo’ I do not consider myself as Obasanjo’s fan because I feel that he failed to lift up Nigeria to a higher economic and political pedestal despite his unique opportunity he had during his second coming as Head of State. However, we should give him his due. It is on record that he carried out the transition programme meticulously leading to the installation of the civilian regime of 1979. It is also on record that the foreign policy during that time under General Obasanjo’ assumed positive momentum and it was the toast of all Africans. It was at that time that Shell BP was nationalized to force Britain under Margaret Thatcher to change her obnoxious policy on Southern Rhodesia. Murtala Mohammed could not have done better if he was in charge. Despite the above points which I think need clarifications, I congratulate Mr Idowu Akinlotan on this masterpiece. • Professor Olabode Lucas Ekiti State University Ado Ekiti.