A public relations expert, Tope Ajayo. has justified the invitation extended to popular leader of road transport workers in Lagos , MC Oluomo, by Geography students of the University of Lagos.
The students had invited him as one of the speakers for a programme bordering on public transportation.
Many people have, however, berated the department as well as UNILAG for the action saying the controversial man, whom many see as a thug, was not worth the honour.
While the UNILAG management has described the uproar as mere propaganda, explaining that the invitation was strategic, Ajayi said those critising the idea did not realise the importance of the town-and-the-gown concept.
ALSO READ: UNILAG management speaks on MC Oluomo’s invitation to conference
Ajayi said in a Facebook post:
MC Oluomo in UNILAG!
Let’s just say those who are up against MC Oluomo’s attending a programme he was invited to, by a department in the University of Lagos , do not understand the idea of the ‘Town and the Gown.’
A university system is a place where ideas contend and there must be a link and relationship between the academia and the real world. t
If a department is organising a programme, as being reported, on public transportation having Oluomo to offer his own ‘illiterate’ perspective on the role a well organised and well entrenched transport union he leads will sure enrich the debate and offer opportunity for further academic study on how road transport Unions and the agbero system are run.
The wider dimension for sociological study is the role of transport unions and agberos as tools for politicians in winning elections. If we considered Agberos, Omo-onile, NURTW as social problems in a place like Lagos, academic inquiries about their sophistication and their underworld operations should be encouraged.
So, the social media storm over MC Oluomo’s invitation to Unilag is very misplaced. The Department that invited him did well. Universities need such interactions at different levels with the real world.
