By OWEI LAKEMFA
NINETEENTH century Yorubaland was plagued by wars many of them fought under Aare Latoosa. One of the most popular was the Jalumi (drown in the river)war so called because  in this 1879 war between a coalition of Ilorin and Ekitiparapo armies against those of Ibadan,  the latter forced Ilorin troops to fall into the flooded River Otin.
Today, 131 years later, two Yoruba leaders, Governors  Christopher  Adebayo Alao-Akala of Oyo State  and Olagunsoye  Oyinlola  of Osun State are set to re-enact that war. As a prelude, the warriors are busy deploying their troops and spreading hatred amongst their people.

Oyinlola,  a retired general and Okuku prince was a disaster as military  governor of Lagos State and is facing a legitimacy problem as his 2007 gubernatorial victory is still being challenged in the courts. On the other hand, Akala’s first taste of the gubernatorial juice was because as Deputy Governor, he betrayed his boss, Rasheed ladoja.

His 2007 victory is the product of the Lamidi Adedibu  thuggery machine. A man who hugs controversy at every turn, Akala is currently immersed in fratricidal battles in the state PDP; interfering in trade unions; is engaged in a face-off with the Olubadan while both the Alafin of Oyo  and former governor  Lam Adeshina accuse him of planning to kill them.

The two Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governors  picked the Ladoke  Akintola University Of Technology (LAUTECH) as the battle ground. The university was established on April 23, 1990 before Osun was carved out of the old Oyo State, so it is jointly owned.

Both men  claim to be the Visitor to the university, and in that capacity, appointed two different Vice Chancellors for the same institution.  While Akala sacked the incumbent  VC, Professor Benjamin  Adeleke five months before the expiration of his tenure and imposed his own VC, Oyinlola sacked the Governing Board And imposed the Deputy VC, Professor J O Ojediran , in practical terms,  as sole administrator.

These gallant warriors have succeeded in putting LAUTECH in the Guinness Book Of Records as the only university in the world with two Visitors, two VCs and  two campuses that do not communicate.

Academic pursuit has taken back seat; the future of  the students, academics and staff is at risk, parents are short changed, even potential undergraduates are affected. The Akala  warriors announced  the post UMTH examinations, Oyinlola postponed it; those who believed  the former showed up for the examinations, those who believed the retired general stayed away.

The crisis is also a fall out of the unitary system in the country which has proliferated non viable states run by ordinarily unelectable persons.  Otherwise, why should the Federal Government split Oyo and Osun states  or the South West when they speak the same language, have same culture, are geographically contiguous, have the same  thirst for education and the same progenitor?

Why proliferate the bureaucracy, government Houses, state assemblies and governors for a people who have the same needs, history and aspirations. What is said of the Yorubas is also true of the Igbos, Ijaws and Hausa-Fulani. The LAUTECH students and staff  have simply become victims of the parasitic unitary system which created states as dependent entities with the primary aim  of sharing national wealth and seizing resources.

The struggle in LAUTECH is not about improving it  nor is it  based on principles; in line with the grab mentality, it is simply an unfolding  coup.

Interestingly, it is the retired soja that  is sounding more reconciliatory and rational, not Akala who should have ‘police sense’

Akala’s  reasons for the LAUTECH war as advertised by his government can be summarised in eight primarily illogical points which however are  a testimony to his studentship in the Lamidi Adedibu School Of Thuggery And Area Boy Politics.

First he justifies seizing the institution because “joint ownership  of a university has no parallel anywhere in this country”  Secondly, he argues that once Osun State had established a state university (UNIOSUN) it has forfeited  its rights to LAUTECH. Thirdly, that Oyo State “conscious of an eventual separation” is building a teaching hospital different from that in Oshogbo jointly owned by the two states.

Fourthly, that the staff ratio tilts in favour of Osun State. He accused Osun State of refusing to “accept the reality that joint ownership of the university can only be  an interim arrangement and not an enduring concept…” This argument is particularly annoying; if people from diverse backgrounds and races can jointly establish  businesses, banks and institutions why can’t two Nigerian states run a university?

Another is the argument that if the main campus had been in Osun State, Oyinlola would not have established UNIOSUN. The number of universities a state decides to establish depends on its priorities; Ogun State has Olabisi Onabanjo  University, yet it has gone on to convert the Tai Solarin College Of Education into a university.

Akala also justifies his attempt to grab LAUTECH on the sick basis that “An enduring  principle in asset sharing is that all physical assets classified as immovable properties remain in situ” Then what asset is being shared simply by deciding to grab a university as if it were an abandoned property or a war booty?

In his reference to the Supreme Court where Osun State had dragged Oyo State , the former Divisional Police Officer warned that “no authority anywhere  can force a union between two parties “  The unreasonableness of the Akala government notwithstanding,  the actions of Oyinlola also show his contempt for reconciliation and the judicial process.

Given their antecedents, I am convinced that if  the  cultured Rasheed Ladoja were Oyo State governor and  the cerebral Rauf Aregbesola  were governor in Osun State, the contrived LAUTECH crisis would not have arisen.

We should not just sit and watch Akala and Oyinlola destroy a Nigerian institution built with  our money; if the PDP does not have leaders or elders that can call their governors to order, the civil populace should, to protect the future of our children in LAUTECH and stop an avoidable bloodshed.