Students of The Polytechnic Ibadan, Oyo State, on Tuesday protest against the renaming of the institution after the late Dr Omololu Olunloyo.

The protest, which began at about 6.00 a.m., led to the closing of the institution’s gates, thus paralysing academic and other activities. The students later converged on the Governor’s Office.

Recall that Governor Seyi Makinde announced the institution’s renaming on Thursday during the burial rites of the late Olunloyo, a former state governor and the institution’s first rector.

The development has since generated outcry from alumni and some indigenes of Ibadan.

The institution’s Students Union President, Olamide Oladipupo, described the protest as peaceful, yet driven to secure the government’s change of mind.

Mr Oladipupo said, “Now, sincerely, as bona fide students of The Polytechnic Ibadan, we are not here to fight, we are not here to revolt, we are not even here to protest. This is not a protest, sincerely. This is a way of channelling our grievances. Since that particular day that we heard about the renaming of our institution after Dr Victor Omololu Olunloyo in the news, we have been dropping press releases and letters to express our displeasure. Personally, I came here to submit letters at the Office of the Governor.

“What we want is for our school to remain our school. This is a heritage of over 50 years to different alumni all over the world. We don’t just want the heritage to get swept away. Sincerely, it is not about how easy it is to pronounce TPI. It is not the name; it is the heritage which is associated with the name of our school. This is the first polytechnic with the article ‘The,’ but as it stands now, it would cease to be the only ‘The Polytechnic’ with the article ‘The’ if the name is changed.”

He appealed to the government to reverse its decision.

“We are here to plead with the governor and not to fight. None of the placards that you see here speaks against the governor,” he said.

Mr Oladipupo noted that renaming the institution would also come with the cost of rebranding it.

“Am I right? It will cost a lot of money to rebrand the renamed school. Instead of spending all this money to rebrand the school, just let our school remain our school. And sincerely, we are open to discussions. Other buildings, other auditoriums, classes, and hostels can be named after anybody, the way the governor deems fit. But the particular name of the school, TPI, we do not want the name to change,” the SU president said.

Meanwhile, the Deputy Governor of Oyo State, Adebayo Lawal, appreciated the students for bringing the matter to the right place.

“You have conducted yourselves in a very peaceful manner. We have heard what you are demanding, but the governor is not around. However, your agitations will be placed before him,” Mr Lawal said.

He asked them to return to their campus while waiting for a response from the governor.

(NAN)