BY GBENGA ARIYIBI
When the Minister  of State for Education, Mr Kenneth Gbagi  and  the Executive Secretary,  National University Commission, NUC, Prof Julius Okojie, paid  a visit to Ekiti State last November, only a few people knew their mission to the state

But the team came with a ‘’good news ‘’ that gladdened the hearts of every citizen of the state, that after all a brand new university is to be established at the ‘Fountain of Knowledge’

The team which met the state governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi wasted no time moving them to the site for the proposed university at Ikole Ekiti.

Although, Fayemi who played a good host led the team to the site which is  the present location of the State’s Agricultural Development  Project.

On  hearing the good news, all  the 13 communities in the town  were overwhelmed, dancing, praising President, Goodluck Jonathan and the state governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi  for bringing the  institution to their domain

Though, the last monarch of the town , Oba Adetula Adeleye, passed on sometimes last year after about 53 years on the throne, but the chiefs summoned courage on  how they would assist the  federal government  to ensue the successful take off of the new university , they  met with the natives and came up with a large  expanse of land that will accommodate the future expansion of the new university,

In a bid to exhibit their pleasure over the gesture, they  named one of the longest street in the town after the president as Goodluck Jonathan Street

But their joy was overturned  when the Minister of state , Federal Capital Territory, Navy Captain Caleb Olubolade told newsmen at his Ipoti Ekiti country home around December 2010  that the issue of siting of the university  was not closed yet.

According to him, he  accused  the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, members of  playing politics with the issue of the siting of the institution, saying the matter would be finalized at the Federal Executing Council, FEC, people seemed not to take him serious
Also  when  the rumour mill went agog that the senator representing Ekiti North Senatorial District in the National Assembly, Senator Ayo Arise again was averse  to siting the university in the town, some people dismissed the allegation with a wave of hand.

The  rumour became apparent when  the  the Minister of State for Education, Gbagi announced the decision of FEC through the national television   that the university would now be sited at Oye Ekiti, the hometown of the senator.

The following morning, the announcement sparked up protests, six people were reported  killed , while several people were wounded.

The protest which was initially planned to be  peaceful however took a new dimension when the police opened fire to disperse the protesters who had trooped out in large numbers to register their displeasure over the irrational decision of the federal government, a development that really aggravated the action of the  protesters

The aggrieved youths who had  matched to the police station located at the centre of the town otherwise called  Idi Ose police station which they set ablaze when they saw that police had killed some of them , while two vehicles  and three other motorcycles  parked within the premises of the Station were  equally burnt by the rampaging  youths

Vanguard gathered that those that sustained serious gunshot wounds during the protest, including one Miachael Okimi, a teacher in the Community are now receiving medical attention at different locations within the town

One of the victims, Gbenga Osanipin, was shot in the head , which caused serious damage to his brain , while the another victim, who was simply identified as Gbenga was shot in the stomach

The Ifaki Ekiti –Omuo—Lokoja highway and the road between Iluomoba and Ikole Ekiti were barricaded, which disrupted free flow of traffic as commuters were trapped for several hours.

The staff of Ikole Local Government Area had to desert their offices  as the protesters engaged the policemen, who were shooting sporadically to the air

The aggrieved youths led by Mr Sunday Abe vowed that the matter would culminate in a communal clash between Ikole and Oye Ekiti if the Federal Executive Council fails to rescind their resolution on where the University should be located between the two towns

He  alleged that a member of the National Assembly from the State was allegedly using his connection in Aso Rock to thwart the efforts of the Community over the University , saying the attempt would be resisted by the people

The Caretaker Chairman of the Council, Chef Biodun Akin_Fasae, and a member of the State House of Assembly representing the Community, Hon Adebayo Morakinyo,  who displayed some of the pellets used by the Police described the Police action as barbaric and a show of shame

According to Morakinyo,such flagrant display of ‘madness’ cannot happen in a civilized society against the people that are peaceful protesting  about that matters that borders on their collective destiny

While Fasae argued that the people of Ikole did not lobbied anybody before the name of the town was announced as the probable site of the new university, urging the president, Dr Goodluck Jonathan to rescind the decision of FEC

Meanwhile ,Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, has assured the people of Ikole_Ekiti that the choice of the community as the site of the new Federal University of Agriculture remains unchanged, irrevocable and irreversible.

The governor who gave the assurance while speaking with  newsmen in Ado_Ekiti  ,  appealed to the people of Ikole to be calm and be law_abiding describing the purported relocation of the new university to Oye_Ekiti as a “mere rumour”.

He maintained that no person or authority can locate or relocate any institution within the border of the state without the consent or the approval of the governor of that state.

Fayemi said he had not received any letter or document from the Federal Government communicating the decision to relocate the university from Ikole to Oye.

His words: “Until I hear from the President, I want our people to calm down. Nobody can locate any institution, local, private, federal or state without the approval of the governor of the state.

“This is because if you want to use the land in this state, you must take consent from just one source. There is only one person in this state that the land is held in trust by, that is the governor of the state”.

Fayemi who expressed belief that the President would not do anything that could precipitate crisis or violence in the state noted that since the state is part of the Nigerian federation, it has the right to decide where the varsity should be located.