A few days ago, a keen follower of this column, who can now be referred to as a busybody according to the new age presidential lexicon, phoned to harangue me about how rapidly new national landmarks are being named, and others renamed, after President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. I guessed that he was angered by the renaming of the International Conference Centre (ICC) after President Ahmed Bola Tinubu by the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike. He went on to reel out six others that were named after the president in two years and wondered how many it would be by the time he completes his term of four or eight years.
I gently put it to him that, according to the new official definitions, he is now a bystander, a busybody whose observations and commentaries would be irrelevant to the issue at stake. That irritated him even more, and he nearly had a fit defending his inalienable right to comment as he saw fit. He only sobered when I promised to look up the matter.
Indeed, when I looked up the issue, I found that besides the International Conference Centre, six other landmarks now bear the name of Bola Ahmad Tinubu. These include a road linking the Christian Centre in Abuja to Ring Road One, named by Wike after the president last year and the Minna airport named after the president by Niger State Governor, who was pictured recently greeting the president in the most obsequious manner you can imagine. Others include the National Assembly library, the Nigerian Immigration Service Command and Control Centre, a polytechnic in Gwarimpa, and a barracks in Asokoro, all named after the president in recent times.
There is even an eighth one that is hardly mentioned. This is an Islamic centre built in Kaduna and named the Bola Ahmed Tinubu Darul’ilm Centre for Islamic Studies. The centre, situated in the Danmushiya community in Kaduna, was donated by Oluwatosin Adeola Ajayi, the DG, Department of State Services, with the support of his friends and associates.
There are still others. I understand that in Lagos, the busy Lekki-Epe Expressway, from around Abraham Adesanya, now includes a Bola Ahmed Tinubu Way. There are also indications that market facilities at Mile 12 and Sabo Yaba are reported to bear the president’s name.
As expected, the uproar that greeted the renaming of the ICC, Abuja, was deafening. Most critics point to the fact that the ICC was conceived and built long ago, over 30 years ago and has been used for many national events, thereafter. To now renovate it and rename it after the incumbent president amounts to immorality and taking credit for others’ sweat. One hard critic called it ‘a symbolic robbery of legacy’. Even friends of the government, such as Senator Shehu Sani, had opposed the renaming of the ICC after President Bola Tinubu.
The former lawmaker said that such monuments should not be renamed without regard to historical context. Shehu Sani emphasised that the ICC was built under the leadership of former military president Ibrahim Babangida and has served as a symbol of Nigeria’s unity and diplomatic engagement. Changing the name now would amount to erasing a significant part of Nigeria’s national history. He urged President Tinubu to reject the honour of renaming the place with his name.
As my reader and others were taking umbrage over renaming the ICC Abuja, Minister Nyesom Wike was elsewhere, belligerent and defiant, saying that he had no regrets doing so. He was quoted to have said, “I have done it, and I have no regret at all”. Wike even wondered why the criticism over the renaming, as according to him, Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport was not built by Azikiwe and Moshood Abiola National Stadium was not built by Abiola.
Wike could have a point there. Naming and renaming national landmarks have always had their controversies. Those of us of a certain age would remember how fawning military governors fell over themselves naming and renaming every landmark after General Yakubu Gowon, head of state from 1966 to 1975. The governors, I admit, had valid reasons for doing so. Gowon was a popular leader. He had brought the country together after winning a bitter civil war. The country was also awash with petro dollars from our newly found oil wealth. Life was booming in the country – construction works were going on all over the country – workers minimum wage was a living wage, etc.
I recall that in Maiduguri where I grew up, one of the busiest streets, Fezzan Road, was named after Yakubu Gowon and the most popular landmark, the park and zoo, where we hanged out as students, was also named after him. Unfortunately, Yakubu Gowon faltered when he reneged on his promise to hand over to civilians, giving room to his ambitious brigadiers and colonels to overthrow him. When he left the scene, his name was deleted from every landmark. I guess not many people in Maiduguri now would remember that Sanda Kyarimi Park and Zoo used to be Yakubu Gowon Zoo.
That’s why FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike and all those that are bent on naming and renaming our national landmarks after the president to tarry awhile and imbibe from history. There is always a lesson or two to pick from.
