President Bola Tinubu has paid tribute to the late Professor Wale Omole, former Vice-Chancellor of Obafemi Awolowo University. The statement was issued by Special Adviser Bayo Onanuga. Tinubu commended Omole’s decades of leadership and contributions to higher education in Nigeria. The tribute is conventional. It is also a reminder of how Nigeria treats its academics: with praise after death, and budget cuts while they live.
The historical echo is the long decline of Nigerian public universities. Omole led OAU in the 1990s, a period when academic unions clashed repeatedly with military governments. The university system has deteriorated since then. ASUU strikes have become a recurring feature. Research funding remains low. Professors retire without replacements. A tribute to a former vice-chancellor is fitting. It is also an opportunity to ask what has changed since his tenure.
The mechanics of the tribute matter. The presidency can honour Omole’s memory. It can also fund the sector he served. The winners are Omole’s family, OAU alumni and the presidency, which shows cultural respect. The losers are current academics, who face the same conditions Omole once confronted, and students, who bear the cost of underfunded institutions.
Winners: Omole’s family; OAU alumni; the presidency.
Losers: Current academics; students in underfunded universities.
Bottom Line: Praising a former vice-chancellor is easy. Funding the universities he served is the harder and more meaningful tribute.