Court blocks Nigeria president’s college renaming
Jun 26, 2012, 4:20 PM
LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) – A Nigerian court has blocked the renaming of Nigeria’s largest city’s flagship university, a move that had caused days of student protests.
Nigeria’s state-run television said Tuesday that Federal High Court Judge Stephen Adah has granted a temporary order blocking the federal government from renaming the University of Lagos, popularly known as UNILAG.
President Goodluck Jonathan announced May 29 that the university would henceforth be called Moshood Abiola University.
The move was meant to honor a political prisoner who died in jail over a decade ago.
However, the announcement sparked protests that forced the university to shut down for two weeks. Students say the original name is a valued brand.
Various university groups then contested the name change in court after UNILAG’s administration said it hadn’t been told of a plan to change the name.
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