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The House of Representatives, on Tuesday, passed a bill seeking to rename the Federal University Oye-Ekiti as Adeyinka Adebayo Federal University, Oye-Ekiti (FUOYE) for second reading.
The bill was cosponsored by Reps Kehinde Agboola (PDP-Ekiti) and Ayodele Oladimeji (PDP-Ekiti).
Moving the motion at plenary presided over by Speaker Yakubu Dogara in Abuja, Agboola, who represents Ikole/Oye Federal Constituency, said the effort could not have come at a better time.
The lawmaker stated that the move became necessary in order to ensure that the late Adebayo’s name is immortalised.
The late Gen. Adeyinka Adebayo, who was a former Military Governor of defunct Western State and first Chief of Army Staff, died on March 8, 2017, NAN reports.
According to Agboola, during the funeral service at All Saints Anglican Church on May 20, 2017, the then Acting President Yemi Osinbajo, on behalf of President Muhammadu Buhari, announced government’s decision to rename FUOYE after Adebayo.
He said the bill titled “an Act to Amend the Federal University Oye-Ekiti” is being sponsored to ensure that the name of the national leader did not go into oblivion.
“We are agitating that our national leader’s name, who happened to also come from Ekiti state, the late Gen. Adeyinka Adebayo, who is from Iyin-Ekiti, Irepodun/Ifelodun Local Government Area (LGA) of the state, is immortalised.
“We don’t want a repeat of what happened in University of Lagos (UNILAG) where the executive made a pronouncement and it was not implemented.
“So it behoves on us who are representing the people of the state, who know the contributions of the late general, to make case about it,” he told NAN in an interview shortly after plenary.
Earlier, the cosponsor, Oladimeji, corroborated that the bill is critical looking at the contribution of the late general to national development.
The Speaker, then put the motion on a voice vote and the lawmakers unanimously adopted it.
Dogara, however, referred the bill to the Committee on Tertiary Education Services for further legislative action.
