The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Afrika

  • Fela Kuti: Nigerians urge FG to brand legend for tourism influx

    Some Nigerians on Twitter have called on the Federal Government to properly brand Fela Anikulapo-Kuti’s story and legacy in order to increase tourism influx in the country.

    News Agency of Nigeria reports that the call came following the visit of French President Emmanuel Macron to the New Afrika Shrine, which is a popular Fela ‘museum’.

    Fela was a legendary multi-instrumentalist, musician, composer and pioneer of the Afrobeat music genre.
    He was also a human rights activist, and political maverick.

    The proponents of the branding explained that the late Afrobeats Legend remains an international brand even after death as he piques the interest of music lovers and Human Rights activists alike.

    They held the opinion that the Federal Government could generate huge revenues from tourists who would want a structured guide on the life and times of Fela, especially in Lagos.

    @Yemitwist tweeted, “No doubt, Fela is enough tourism.”

    Read Also: Macron: Old fans rock Fela’s Shrine again

    @Joidbg wrote, “Believe it or not #Fela can generate the ministry of tourism enough income if branded properly… #CelebrateAfricanCulture #MacronAtNewAfrikaShrine”.

    @BanksandPhil tweeted, “Nigeria needs to tap into the influence and legacy of the great legend Fela Anikulapo Kuti. Abami Eda is an icon all over the world. This is a tourist attraction Nigeria can benefit from.”

    @Iam_realjayson said, “If President Emmanuel Macron could visit the Afrika Shrine in Lagos to #CelebrateAfricanCulture, then truly, we are yet to really understand and appreciate the value of Fela! Pele is considered a National Asset in Brazil. What have we done with Fela? Fela is enough tourism!”

  • 18 years after, Afrika lives on

    The memories of July 10, 1999 will continue to be a defining moment in the annals of the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) in Ile-Ife, Osun State. The event of that day will forever remain fresh as it is passed on from generation of students to another. It marked the watershed in the history of students’ unionism at the Great Ife.

    It was the day George Akinyemi Iwilade (aka Afrika) was hacked to death by members of the Black Axe Confraternity in alliance with other cult groups. Afrika, who was then the General Secretary of the Students’ Union Government (SUG), wasn’t the only victim of that vicious attack visited on the collective will of students. Four of his roommates, Eviano Ekelemu (a graduating student), Yemi Ajiteru (a 100-Level Philosophy student), Babatunde Oke, and Godfrey Ekpede were murdered in their sleep, as the group came for the then SUG President, Lanre Adeleke (aka Legacy).

    Prof Roger Makanjuola’s account of the gory incident is even more descriptive, when he said: “Babatunde Oke was still alive but died on the operating table. Four others, George Iwilade, Yemi Ajiteru, Efe Ekpede and Eviano Ekelemu, were brought in dead. Eviano Ekelemu bled to death from gunshot wounds to the groin and thigh. The other three died from gunshot wounds to the head.”

    Legacy was reported to have fled the campus before the assailants arrived at his hostel in the wee hours of July 10; though he was said to have been shot at. It was reported that he escaped by jumping from a balcony when the gun-wielding attackers came for him after killing Afrika in cold blood.

    The product of that horrific past is the vibrant unionism at Great Ife. However, 18 years after this gory incident, stability has continued to elude the Great Ife campus, not just in administrative policies but in students’ unionism. It would seem the efforts of those who sacrificed their lives to fight for independence of our SUG from the hands of cultists and university administrators were in vain, given the parlous state of the union. Just as the country is faced with myriads of problems, OAU has its challenges. Democracy can only be sustained in a pro-democratic ambience, but that vibrancy once associated with our union has eroded 18 years down the line. The school has had its recent share of sad events, with the current union president accused of by-passing the congress to pursue self-serving projects.The union president has also been seen engaging in projects that do not have direct impact on students.

    The union recently acquired a bus that has been declared unfit for transportation. The transaction has raised all manner of accusations and counter-accusation. This makes me ask a question on whether OAU is truly honouring Afrika’s legacy?

    Only recently, former Acting Vice Chancellor, Prof Anthony Elujoba, was arrested for alleged fraud. Prof Elujoba, who has been described as a “man of the people”, because of his prompt payments of salaries and arrears to staff and a stable academic calendar, is now battling to save his name in court of law.

    The unrest Great Ife has witnessed in the tenure of successive SUG leadership has always been caused by welfare. It is a shame that we have a students’ union in place, but students are daily driven out of their hostel rooms to sleep in the corridors, because their rooms are infested with bed bugs and all sorts of termites. Students also battle rats and dangerous reptiles in their halls of residence.

    The campus has become a place where students are exploited, cheated by drivers of the campus shuttles and made to pay exorbitant prices for services. When we gather every July 10 to remember the sacrifice of our heroes, we must bear in mind that we owe the coming generation of students a duty to bequeath a vibrant union. Students’ union is a pressure group. If SUG leaders cannot account for a N2.9 million bus which is described, in many quarters, as an inferior vehicle, what then is the essence of the union? A subvention of N9 million was released to the union, but the money could not be used to better lives of the students.

    At 21, young and still very active, Afrika was murdered. He was murdered for advocating for a cultism-free campus, which we all enjoy till today. Today, we have the freedom to move freely on the campus at any hour of the day, because of one man who sacrificed his life for others to have peace.

    What legacies shall we then leave behind for prospective students, 18 years after Afrika and five others were brutally murdered? These are questions we must answer very fast. As we say in the union, the death of consciousness is the rise of tyranny. As we remember them, the people who gathered for the commemoration and the current SUG leadership must provide answer to this question.

    • Joseph is a student of Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife

  • 18 years after, Afrika lives on

    The memories of July 10, 1999 will continue to be a defining moment in the annals of the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) in Ile-Ife, Osun State. The event of that day will forever remain fresh as it is passed on from generation of students to another. It marked the watershed in the history of students’ unionism at the Great Ife.

    It was the day George Akinyemi Iwilade (aka Afrika) was hacked to death by members of the Black Axe Confraternity in alliance with other cult groups. Afrika, who was then the General Secretary of the Students’ Union Government (SUG), wasn’t the only victim of that vicious attack visited on the collective will of students. Four of his roommates, Eviano Ekelemu (a graduating student), Yemi Ajiteru (a 100-Level Philosophy student), Babatunde Oke, and Godfrey Ekpede were murdered in their sleep, as the group came for the then SUG President, Lanre Adeleke (aka Legacy).

    Prof Roger Makanjuola’s account of the gory incident is even more descriptive, when he said: “Babatunde Oke was still alive but died on the operating table. Four others, George Iwilade, Yemi Ajiteru, Efe Ekpede and Eviano Ekelemu, were brought in dead. Eviano Ekelemu bled to death from gunshot wounds to the groin and thigh. The other three died from gunshot wounds to the head.”

    Legacy was reported to have fled the campus before the assailants arrived at his hostel in the wee hours of July 10; though he was said to have been shot at. It was reported that he escaped by jumping from a balcony when the gun-wielding attackers came for him after killing Afrika in cold blood.

    The product of that horrific past is the vibrant unionism at Great Ife. However, 18 years after this gory incident, stability has continued to elude the Great Ife campus, not just in administrative policies but in students’ unionism. It would seem the efforts of those who sacrificed their lives to fight for independence of our SUG from the hands of cultists and university administrators were in vain, given the parlous state of the union.

    Just as the country is faced with myriads of problems, OAU has its challenges. Democracy can only be sustained in a pro-democratic ambience, but that vibrancy once associated with our union has eroded 18 years down the line. The school has had its recent share of sad events, with the current union president accused of by-passing the congress to pursue self-serving projects.The union president has also been seen engaging in projects that do not have direct impact on students.

    The union recently acquired a bus that has been declared unfit for transportation. The transaction has raised all manner of accusations and counter-accusation. This makes me ask a question on whether OAU is truly honouring Afrika’s legacy?

    Only recently, former Acting Vice Chancellor, Prof Anthony Elujoba, was arrested for alleged fraud. Prof Elujoba, who has been described as a “man of the people”, because of his prompt payments of salaries and arrears to staff and a stable academic calendar, is now battling to save his name in court of law.

    The unrest Great Ife has witnessed in the tenure of successive SUG leadership has always been caused by welfare. It is a shame that we have a students’ union in place, but students are daily driven out of their hostel rooms to sleep in the corridors, because their rooms are infested with bed bugs and all sorts of termites. Students also battle rats and dangerous reptiles in their halls of residence.

    The campus has become a place where students are exploited, cheated by drivers of the campus shuttles and made to pay exorbitant prices for services.

    When we gather every July 10 to remember the sacrifice of our heroes, we must bear in mind that we owe the coming generation of students a duty to bequeath a vibrant union. Students’ union is a pressure group. If SUG leaders cannot account for a N2.9 million bus which is described, in many quarters, as an inferior vehicle, what then is the essence of the union? A subvention of N9 million was released to the union, but the money could not be used to better lives of the students.

    At 21, young and still very active, Afrika was murdered. He was murdered for advocating for a cultism-free campus, which we all enjoy till today. Today, we have the freedom to move freely on the campus at any hour of the day, because of one man who sacrificed his life for others to have peace.

    What legacies shall we then leave behind for prospective students, 18 years after Afrika and five others were brutally murdered? These are questions we must answer very fast. As we say in the union, the death of consciousness is the rise of tyranny. As we remember them, the people who gathered for the commemoration and the current SUG leadership must provide answer to this question.

     

    • Joseph is a student of Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife
  • Remembering Afrika 18 years later

    Remembering Afrika 18 years later

    The memories of July 10, 1999 will never cease in the Obafemi Awolowo University memory. It will forever remain fresh as it is passed on from generation to generation while we commemorate tribute to the founding father of Great Ife Students Unionism for many reasons.

    George Iwilade Afrika who was hacked to pieces by members of the Black Axe Confraternity in alliance with other neighbouring cult groups wasn’t just the only victim of the bloodshed.

    Four other roommates (Eviano Ekelemu; a graduating student, Yemi Ajiteru; 100-Level Philosophy student, Babatunde Oke, and Ekpede Godfrey) were murdered in their sleep, as the group came for the then president of the Union, Lanre  Legacy.

    Prof. Roger Makanjuola account is even more descriptive: “Tunde Oke was still alive but died in the surgical theatre. Four others, George Iwilade, Yemi Ajiteru, Efe Ekede and Eviano Ekelemu, were brought in dead. Eviano Ekelemu bled to death from gunshot wounds to the groin and thigh. The other three died from gunshot wounds to the head.”

    Lanre Adeleke, (Lanre Legacy), the then Student Union President, was reported to have fled before his assailants unleashed terror in the early hours of the morning of July 10 though he was shot at. It is reported that he escaped by jumping from a balcony when the menacing cult groups came for him after murdering Iwilade in cold blood.

    The product of that horrific past is the vibrant union Great Ife currently emboders. However, 18 years after this sorry tale, stability has continued to elude Great Ife, not just in policies alone but in the Union which was borne by concerted selfless leaders who fought for consciousness of the Union from the hands of cult groups encouraged by University Administrators as forceful enforcers of University policy on the great mass of poor students unable to dare the management.

    Like Nigeria’s numerous problems, Great Ife has also had hers. Democracy can only be sustained in a pro-democratic ambience, but that vibrancy once associated with Ife has continued to waiver 18 years down the line. The school has had her recent share of events, with the current Union President accused of doctoring the Congresses of Great Ife Students, as well as engaging in white cement projects like the back and forth issue of the red student Union Bus. A bus that has been declared unfit for transportation (in one of its numerous reports) and fraudulent with all manner of accusations at the Doctor President, as well as attacks on his person and the divide and rule system; questions are bound to be asked.

     Is OAU truly honouring Afrika’s legacy?

    Still, of recent, former acting Vice Chancellor’s case, Prof. Anthony Elujoba has resurfaced for alleged fraud. Prof. Anthony Elujoba who has been christened thus ‘as the man of the people’ for granting prompt payments of owed arrears to staff and a stable academic calendar, is now hanging in a battle of morality and the humbling weights of the law.  The major product of unrest Great Ife has continually faced from the past tenure of Student Leadership Governments have always emanated from welfare. It is a shame that the once Great “Great Ife” is now riddled with bed bugs driving students from their hostel rooms to the corridors to sleep. While lecturers drive down difficult concepts down their throats in lecture theatres in the day, students battle rats, bedbugs, and dangerous reptiles in their halls at night.

    The University compound has become a war zone where students are exploited, cheated by drivers of the campus shuttles, exorbitant prices of goods and services, dwindling factors of infrastructure, welfare and the moribund state of OAU healthcare delivery.

    Still on July 10th every year, Students gather in their numbers to celebrate the birth of consciousness and failure of Student leaders. The Student Union is a pressure group, a successor of Modern Governments. If the Leader cannot be accountable for a 2.9 Million Naira bus which has been adjudged in many quarters of the students body not to be more than 2.5 Million naira, what then is the essence of a 9 Million Naira subvention that cannot be used to better lives of the Student masses and the electorate that brought those leaders into power?

    “At 21, young and still very active, George Iwilade Afrika was murdered. He was murdered advocating for a cult free environment. One that all Great Ife Students enjoy today, till the end of their academic stay. Today, the freedom of combing the campus in the early hours of the day is uncontrolled, unrestricted because of one man who sacrificed his life for others to have peace.”

    What legacies shall we then live behind for Afrika and the OAU 5 as we remember them 18 years down the line?

    These are questions we must answer and unmask very fast. The death of consciousness is the rise of tyranny; for the commemorators and beneficiaries of these process must consider this questions and provide due answers.

  • ‘Afrika lives on’

    ‘Afrika lives on’

    Sixteen years after some Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) Students Union Government (SUG) leaders were killed, their killers are yet to be found. Last week, students gathered at the Awolowo Hall Cafe in their memory. AFEES LASISI (300-Level Political Science) reports.

    July 10 is full of memories for students of the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) in Ile-Ife, Osun State. Reason: it was the day they rose to fight and free their campus of cultism. For the students, it was freedom day. But, it was at a price. The freedom tree was watered by the blood of their colleagues.

    In the wee hours of July 10, 1999, residents of Awolowo and Fajuyi Halls were woken up by gunshots, when cultists believed to be members of the Black Axe Confraternity, stormed the campus. They shot sporadically. When the dust settled, five students lay dead.

    The victims were student-leaders – George Akinyemi Iwilade, Yemi Ajiteru, Eviano Ekelemu, Efe Ekpede and Babatunde Oke. They were killed between 3am and 4am.

    The late George, who was known as Afrika, was a 21-year-old 400-Level Law student and General Secretary of the Students Union Government (SUG).

    There were reports that some students got wind of the attack, but they could not inform the students before the gunmen struck.

    Students quickly mobilised and chased the assailants, who were said to be non-OAU students, to their base off-campus. Some of them were apprehended and handed over to the police.

    It was reported that the gunmen were released by the police. This led to an unrest which prompted former President Olusegun Obasanjo to set up a panel to investigate the matter.

    Sixteen years after, the assailants are yet to be brought to book. Last week, students gathered to remember their heroes. They held a symposium at the Awolowo Hall Café as part of activities to commemorate the day they have since tagged Freedom Day.

    The theme of the lecture was: 16 years since July 10: Afrika’s unfinished struggle.

    One of the speakers was Comrade Hassan Soweto, national coordinator of Education Rights Campaign (ERC). He was represented by Comrade Michael Ogundele, ERC’s national secretary.

    Soweto noted that Afrika and other victims were killed because of their activism and their interest in students’ welfare.

    He said: “Afrika and others were murdered by the powers that be, because of their struggle against hike in school fees, victimisation of students’ leaders and cultism. We lost these promising Nigerians because of their radical belief for better education system and a better country for all of us.”

    Afrika’s struggles, Soweto argued, were yet to be accomplished, noting that things have been getting worse.

    He said: “Today, none of Afrika’s dreams and aspirations has been fulfilled. Indeed, the economic and political conditions of the country and that of the African continent have gone from bad to worse, compared to what we had in 1999. Not only does Nigeria have one of the worst education systems in the world, it is also one of the worst places to live in.”

    Soweto urged students to emulate the late Afrika, advising them not allow his principles to die. He said: “The only way to mourn Afrika and other victims is to actively take up their unfinished struggles. That is the struggle for better education and better society. That can only be achieved when we rise up in struggle against fee hike and all neo-liberal attacks on education.”

    Earlier, the SUG President, Omotayo Akande, said the victims were dogged fighters whose struggles transcended the campus.

    Omotayo said: “They fought to free our campus of cultism. The freedom we enjoy today is because of their activism. They fought for our peaceful coexistence. The best way to remember them is to join hands with the union in the fight against injustice, impunity and recklessness.”

    The union leader urged the management to declare July 10 lecture-free day, saying the struggle for which the students were killed kept the school tick.

    A student, Shola Adebayo, said: “OAU is the most peaceful campus and it is as a result of the struggle against injustice and maladministration, which the late Afrika and other fallen comrades championed. The best we could do is to emulate their principles.”

    A Master’s student of University of Leeds in the United Kingdom (UK) and former OAU presidential aspirant, Oluwaloseyi Babaeko, called on the Inspector-General of Police Solomon Arase to re-open the case and prosecute the culprits.

  • Who killed Afrika, others?

    Penultimate Friday marked 16 years of the unresolved murder of five student-leaders of the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) in Ile-Ife, Osun State. The controversies that trailed the death of the students are yet to be resolved, especially the unproven allegation that the former Vice-Chancellor, Prof Wale Omole, sponsored the attack.

    On July 10, 1999, George Iwilade – popularly called Afrika, Babatunde Oke, a member of the Democratic Socialist Movement, Efe Ekpede, Eviano Ekelemu and Yemi Ajiteru, were mercilessly butchered in their hostels by student-cultists. It was gathered that the students were murdered because of their stern opposition to cultism and the tough times they gave the school management. A few years before then, Williams Obong, the then Secretary-General of the University of Benin Students’ Union Government, was murdered in broad daylight because of his opposition to cultism.

    Prior to the murder, on March 7 1999, some students of the Obafemi Awolowo University led by Afrika, apprehended some cultists with ammunition and handed them over to the school authority and then to the Nigeria Police. The Ile-Ife Magistrate Court discharged and acquitted the cultists for lack of evidence, since the said weapons could not be found while the trial lasted. Unfortunately, the same students came back to campus and this led to the July 10 murder.

    All the Federal Government could do later in September of that year was to give a directive to heads of higher institutions to eradicate cultism. That was all. I would confidently say that the failure of the government to bring the perpetrators to book gave rise to cultism all over the nation. Infact, secondary school students are now staunch cult members, bullying their mates and teachers.

    Now, allow me to digress a bit. The Nigeria judiciary and police have failed the masses. Taking a critical look at the Boko Haram bombings, we have heard several times when some members of the sect have been apprehended and one waits for what will happen to them. It’s so annoying to know that the judiciary has done nothing; a military man whose colleague died in pursuit of capturing some Boko Haram members would not be inspired if later he learns that the people he captured have been freed.

    Could independence be the problem of our judiciary? However, the Nigerian judiciary cannot give out a fair and just judgement all the time not because they don’t want to, but because they are not free from the shackles of the executive and legislative arm of government. Section 231(1) of the Nigerian 1999 Constitution vests the president with the power to appoint the Chief Justice of Nigeria. Is that not giving the president an edge to appoint his own person based on the basis of nepotism? Of course the person would always dance to the president’s tune. I would rather suggest that the appointment of the CJN should be left solely with the National Judicial Council.

    Moreover, the funding of the judiciary such as payment of salaries of the Chief Registrar, Deputy Registrars, Magistrates and other staff of the state judiciaries is at the moment the responsibility of the Executive arm of government. Provision of the court halls, staff quarters, cars etc is also the responsibilities of the executive.I would rather suggest that whatever is appropriated to the judiciary by the legislature should be paid directly to the heads of court.

    I would support the words of Hon. Justice M.E Ogundare when he said: “A judiciary which is made to go cap in hand for funds cannot be expected to be efficient and effective.” That statement is particularly insightful for any government that wants to be a bastion of justice and fairness.

    In a nutshell, the only way forward so as to attain a modicum of justice in Nigeria is for the judiciary to be independent without anybody meddling on its affairs. On the other hand, the judiciary needs to exercise a greater level of discipline.

    And for the fate of those articulate young men massacred in OAU, the question still remains: why was the case closed? Where are the murderers? Why isn’t National Association of Nigeria Students clamouring for justice, rather than seeking money and selfish gratifications at the drop of a hat? They have become an ignominious group known for their penchant for begging. All I cry for is Justice.

     

    Boluwatife, 400-Level Law, OOU