Students of The Polytechnic Ibadan on Tuesday staged a peaceful protest at the Oyo State Government Secretariat, rejecting the renaming of the institution after former Governor Omololu Olunloyo.
The students, led by the Students’ Union Government (SUG) President, Olamide Oladipupo, carried placards with various inscriptions, urging Governor Seyi Makinde to reverse his decision and retain the polytechnic’s original name.
Governor Makinde had announced the renaming of the institution as Omololu Olunloyo Polytechnic, Ibadan on June 26, 2025, during the funeral rites of the late scholar and former governor, citing his contributions as the school’s pioneer principal and his brief tenure as governor of Oyo State in 1983.
Describing the decision as a deviation from the institution’s legacy, students argued that the Polytechnic Ibadan is a name recognized globally and should be preserved.
Addressing the protesters, the Executive Assistant to the Governor on Security, Sunday Odukoya, appealed for calm, assuring them that their concerns would be communicated to the governor.
The renaming of educational institutions across Nigeria has sparked backlash in recent times, with similar protests greeting the federal government’s decisions to rename the University of Abuja as Yakubu Gowon University and the University of Lagos as Moshood Abiola University.
