The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Tayo Akpata

  • UNIBEN produces heads of 8 tertiary institutions in a year

    The Management of the University of Benin (UNIBEN), on Sunday described the recent appointments of eight of its academic staff as heads of various institutions across the nation as unprecedented.

    This is contained in a statement signed by UNIBEN’s Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Farady Orumwense and made available to the News Agency of Nigeria(NAN) on Sunday in Benin.

    Orumwense, while congratulating the appointees on behalf of management urged them to be guided by wise counsels.
    He described the feat, “as a demonstration of the pedigree of UNIBEN, which has re-enforced its positive presence in the public domain globally.
    “If nothing else, these appointments have gone a long way to demonstrate the testimonial of the university and re-enforced the deployment of quality service delivery epitomised by the appointments.
    “This is a clear testimony of robust and undisputed quality service to the Nigerian nation in particular and the world at large,” the statement said

    Those appointed include: Prof. Akii Ibhadode, V-C, Federal University of Petroleum Resources and Engineering (FUPRE); Prof. Emmanuel Aluyor, V-C of newly established Edo State University, Iyamho; Prof. Sunny Onoheabhi, Rector, Institute of Building Technology, Uromi.
    Others are: Prof. Frank Otunta, V-C, Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike; Prof. Austin Asagba, V-C, Western Delta University, Ogharra; Prof. Friday Okonofua, V-C Medical University, Ondo State; Prof. Samuel Aduwa-Ogiegbaen,V-C, Tayo Akpata University of Education, among others.

  • Edo renames varsity after Tayo Akpata

    EDO State Government has immortalized onetime Executive Secretary of the defunct Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF) and Commissioner for Education in the defunct Bendel State, Chief Tayo Akpata, by naming the state-owned university of education after him.

    At a funeral service in honour of the late Chief Akpata, Governor Adams Oshiomhole, who made the announcement, said the College of Education, Ekiadolor which was recently upgraded to a university status, will now be known as Tayo Akpata University of Education, Ekiadolor. Oshiomhole said, “We feel the pain of the loss of our elder statesman, a man whose life symbolised the fighting spirit, the resourcefulness, the intellectual capacity of the Edo people.

    One who has shown that the average Edo person is not contented at looking after himself alone, but often is willing to carry the burden of others. “Oftentimes, Nigerians talk of immortalizing people who are rich in naira. But the greatest wealth in my view is what contribution one has made to the development of his community.

    And there is no question that Chief Tayo Akpata was a shining example of what we all can do individually to make a difference in our community. “We have reflected and we arrived at a conclusion that the University of Education, Ekiadolor will now be renamed as Tayo Akpata University of Education, Ekiadolor. That way, our young ones will recognize that people are immortalized not because they feature in the list of Nigeria’s richest men or women but on account of their rich contributions and the role they play in the lives of very ordinary people”.

  • I remember Tayo Akpata

    The recent and sad passing away of Chief Tayo Akpata, brought back to me, memories of a positive encounter I had with the respected statesman in the turbulent sixties.  The political history of the First Republic, 1960 to 1966, is replete with the abuse of the federal parliamentary majority made up of the NPC, NCNC and NNDP for illegitimate ends, intimidation and violence against political opponents during elections, manipulation of the electoral process to produce candidates returned unopposed, and the publication of false, illegal and pre-determined election results.

    Thus the deliberate, intense and sustained assault by the parties in the federal coalition government on the opposition party, the Action Group and its control of one region, was almost scripted in its systematic and unrelenting nature.  As one set of assaults lost its potency, another set would unfold to take its place.  At times two or three such attacks would take place simultaneously.

    The confusion which occurred in the Western House of Assembly on May 25, 1962 was obviously stage-managed in order to provide an excuse for a declaration of a state of emergency in the West and thus enable the federal government to assume control of the region.  All this was in spite of the fact that the Action Group had a clear majority in the House, whose members had assembled there to pass a vote of confidence on Alhaji Dauda S. Adegbenro, the newly appointed Premier.

    As we all know, what followed the contrived chaos in the Western House of Assembly was a pre-planned sequence of events, to finally destroy the political opposition.  In the first place, the West was taken over by the federal government.  This was followed immediately on that very day by the issuance of restriction orders on the leading members of the Action Group party, to various uninhabitable parts of the old West.  The Coker Commission was then set up on June 16, 1962 to achieve the final destruction of the reputations of top members of the Action Group, particularly, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Chief S.O. Shonibare and Alhaji S.O. Gbadamosi, Mr. Alfred Rewane, Chief J.A.O. Odebiyi and Chief S.O. Lanlehin

    As the Coker Commission was rambling on with deliberate and vindictive speed, charging, accusing and insinuating, whilst depriving its victims, particularly Chief Awolowo, access to their own files and documents to enable them refute the charges, a new front in the single-minded war of attrition was opened,  Chief Awolowo and 30 of his most trusted and dependable party members were arrested and on November 2, 1962, charged with the commission of the offence of treasonable felony and related offences, and taken into prison custody.

    The obvious intention of the NPC and NCNC politicians in decapitating the Action Group, so to speak, was to eliminate it and gain control of the West.  With the creation of the Mid-west, and the ascendancy of the NCNC into power there, one aim of the conspiracy had been achieved.  The Mid-west was created out of spite for the Action Group, not as part of a programme of general state creation.  The Yoruba West was therefore available for grabbing by the NPC through their ally, Akintola’s NNDP.  The NCNC was effectively eliminated from the West when Chief Akintola’s UPP (United Peoples Party) absorbed the Western NCNC and metamorphosed into NNDP.  The NCNC thereafter joined the Action Group and other progressive parties to form the United Progressive Grand Alliance (UPGA).  The NPC, NNDP and their allies then formed a conservative grouping which was called the Nigerian National Alliance.  Thus, battle was joined.  There was one thing the parties in power did not bargain for, namely, the steadfastness of the people of the West, indeed the greatly increased fervor for the Action Group and the resilience of that party, in spite of the fact that its leaders were in prison.

    At this stage, we students of the University of Ife, then based in Ibadan, decided to establish a students’ wing of the Action Group to support and encourage the Mother Party, which was under terrible and remorseless assault by the ruling Northern Peoples Congress and its southern allies including Akintola’s Nigerian National Democratic Party.  We also formed a campus version of the United Progressive Grand Alliance (UPGA).  I was elected chairman of the Campus Action Group Party and automatically became Leader of the Campus UPGA.

    One of the major activities we planned was the invitation of Dr. M.I. Okpara, Leader of the NCNC and Premier of Eastern Nigeria, to come to Ibadan for an UPGA rally.  Our invitation was gladly accepted.

    We assumed that the rally would take place in a large field inside the Ibadan campus of our university.  We applied to the university authorities.  A meeting of the university governing council was hastily summoned and our request was turned down peremptorily.

    We then located another large field outside the campus at a village called Gbokodo. We were informed that we required the permit of the Ibadan Local Government Police to use it.  We applied to the Local Government Police and were turned down outright.

    We became desperate.  Premier Mike Okpara was due in a few days, and we had no ground for our rally.  Someone suggested the University of Ibadan campus.  The universities of Ibadan and Ife had a common boundary.  It was just a 30 minute march from Ife campus to the centre of U.I. campus.  But we were confident of a negative response if we applied to the U.I. authorities for the use of their grounds. Luckily, someone recalled that the U.I. Students’ Union had large grounds and an impressive union building.  This was independently administered by the Students’ Union without interference from the university authorities.  We were elated since we expected immediate approval from our fellow students in U.I.

    And so we confidently contacted the President of the University of Ibadan, Students Union, Pip Edhore.  To our terrible shock, Pip flatly turned down our request.

    Desperation set in until a colleague from U.I. itself said, “Why don’t you go to see Mr. Tayo Akpata, the Senior Assistant Registrar, Students’ Affairs?  He can overrule the Students’ Union President”. With great reluctance, doubt and skepticism, we approached Tayo Akpata.  After hearing us out, Akpata, declared that the Student’s Union President’s attitude was baffling.  He considered it a breach of our constitutional rights of freedom of expression and freedom of association.  He therefore overruled him and gave instructions that we were to be given the full use of the Students’ Union premises.  Our surprise and joy knew no bounds, that a member of the university administration could be more “radical”, more liberal, than a student leader.

    On the appointed day, with Dr. Mike Okpara already in Ibadan, we received news that the University of Ife Governing Council had met again and that all students were banned from moving out of our campus on that eventful day.  As we were all resident in hostels in the campus, this last straw broke the camel’s back.  We mobilized, grouped together and the whole campus, including initially disinterested students, linked arms together and matched out of the campus singing war songs.  No one dared to stop us.  We arrived at the University of Ibadan Students’ Union premises.  Dr. M.I. Okpara, Alhaji Dauda Adegbenro, Acting Leader of the Action Group, Professor H. Oluwasanmi (later Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ife), and a host of other major political figures were there waiting for us.  The ground was packed full, with people virtually standing on each other.  Great speeches were made, and we had a great rally, thanks to a young, radical Assistant Registrar called Tayo Akpata.

  • Tayo Akpata (1931-2014) 

    Tayo Akpata (1931-2014) 

    •A Nigerian who played his part well departs

    In the context of historical importance, perhaps Nigerians would remember Chief Tayo Akpata more for his past positions as trustee and executive secretary of the defunct Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF), which he probably attained based on a track record of credibility. It is noteworthy that the PTF, under the chairmanship of Major-General (retd) Muhammadu Buhari, was created by the administration of General Sani Abacha, and expected to handle developmental projects across the country, funded by revenue from the reviewed pricing of petroleum products.

    Although the body’s activities generated controversy, especially concerning the allocation of its resources, there is no doubt that it had its pluses. On road rehabilitation, for instance, Akpata, said:  ”It is only now that people say that PTF’s projects were one-sided. I have a file of letters people used to write commending PTF, how they were now able to travel from A to B and those letters are not from one part of the country, but from every part of the country.”

    But Akpata, who died in Lagos on October 13 at the age of 83, was larger than his PTF role. It is instructive to note that he was also a former chairman of Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and Pipeline and Products Marketing Company (PPMC), a subsidiary of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), both  of them economically significant government agencies. Before his functions at the federal level, Akpata, born in Benin, was the Commissioner for Education, Midwestern Nigeria, between 1971 and 1975; and he was credited with having played a critical part in the process that resulted in the upgrading of the Mid-West Institute of Technology to the status of a university – it became University of Benin in 1972. Also, Akpata was the first Chairman of the National Youth Service Corps (Mid-West State) in 1975, which was symbolic, given his image as a detribalised Nigerian.

    Interestingly, Akpata had a background in the academic sphere and worked at the University of Ibadan where he retired in 1975 as the acting Registrar.  His credits at the university significantly included: the first chairman/organiser, the Nigerian University Games; and the first chairman/organiser, West African Inter-University Games. He graduated in Law and Politics   from the University of Hull, UK, in 1959, following his secondary education at Edo College, Benin, where he was a government scholar.

    Against the backdrop of his national identity, Akpata’s activism in the country’s pre-independence era was remarkable, particularly his participation, during his student days in England, in the anti-colonial activities of  the Nigerian Union, West African Students Union, Afro-Asia Solidarity Committee and Committee on African Organisations. He was also solidly associated with the Nigerian Youth Congress (NYC) when he returned to the country after his studies, describing it as “a non-partisan platform to insist and advocate certain political structuring of the Nigeria polity.”

    His reflections on Nigeria when he turned 70 were thought-provoking. He said in an interview: “Any department of life, you come to examine carefully, I am not even saying critically, in Nigeria today, you can only hold your head and ask the question which some nationalists were asking after independence: is this the Nigeria we fought for? The answer is no. Because what we have are adventurists, political and financial adventurists, the plotters…” He further said: “But I think many of us are guilty. Guilty in the sense that it is not enough to complain about the political situation of this country; people must be talking of how to correct it, how to get about it.”

    It is a testimony to his standing in his immediate community and in the country that he held the traditional title, Ima of Benin, and he was decorated with the national honour, Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON).