Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Protest Over Renaming Nigeria University Grows


Students of university of Lagos protest with the poster of late Vice chancellor Adetokunbo Babatunde Sofoluwe, following the renaming of the University by Nigeria President Goodluck Jonathan in Lagos, Nigeria, Wednesday, May 30, 2012. Tuesday, President Goodluck Jonathan said the school would be renamed Moshood Abiola University in honor of a political prisoner who died in jail over a decade ago. The major university in Nigeria has shut down campus for two weeks after thousands protesting a proposed name change for the institution closed a major bridge leading into business center of the country's largest city. The University of Lagos urged its students to head home for the hastily announced holiday Wednesday as students and unemployed youths took over the city's Third Mainland Bridge that morning. The protest disrupted traffic throughout the city. Image: Sunday Alamba/AP




Students of the University of Lagos barricade a major bridge during a protest following the renaming of the University by Nigeria President Goodluck Jonathan in Lagos, Nigeria, Wednesday, May 30, 2012.
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Motor bike taxis join students of the University of Lagos protest following the renaming of the University by Nigeria President Goodluck Jonathan in Lagos, Nigeria, Wednesday, May 30, 2012.

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LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — Commandeered buses blocked off the main bridge linking Nigeria's largest city Wednesday, stranding thousands of commuters as protesters took over the 12-kilometer (7½-mile) span to demonstrate against the country's president. Their rage didn't focus on rampant government corruption, increasing terrorist attacks or massive unemployment in Africa's most populous nation. Instead, it came down to simply a name.

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