Lanre Arogundade, the king of boys, at 60, by Tunde Akanni
Lanre Arogundade, the king of boys, at 60, by Tunde Akanni
Lanre Arogundade
What do the boys do, other than legal challenges?…Lanre not only courted, but dragged us, friends and colleagues, into what turned out to be a never-ending struggle. Since 1984, Buhari, then head of a military government, had kindled in us a fiery instinct…Today Lanre and several friends remain eternally responsible for much of the sustenance and support of people like my dear King of Boys.
Gals - and our young Lanruze had a large army of them - can also insist that he is theirs. Perhaps it belonged to them more… Lanre, who now wears a clean skull, used to display rather curly hair on his head. And he could be really meticulous about taming it. I wondered, in our National Concord days, how the former NANS badass could possibly have enough time to deal with the lead.
But frankly, Lanruze, the one who shares the same birthday with Wole "Kongi" Soyinka, is masculine in every way, reiterating the strength of the spirit of the day he shares with the Nobel laureate. Three times – yes – three distinct times, Lanre has led me on perilous but fulfilling paths. What are the boys doing, other than legal challenges? The general greetings of the gentlemen of the press for the men and women of journalism seemed to have anticipated the entry of personalities like Lanre. Lanre not only courted, but dragged us, friends and colleagues, into what turned out to be a never-ending struggle. Since 1984, Buhari, then head of a military government, had kindled in us a fiery instinct…Today Lanre and several friends remain eternally responsible for much of the sustenance and support of people like my dear King of Boys.
In 1984, the brutal, parochial military government of Buhari/Idiagbon could not think outside the box, but succumbed to a policy that would victimize perhaps the poorest of society's weaklings, the students. This government, at the end of a fairly stable academic year at the national level, ordered the permanent cessation of subsidies to cafeterias in universities in Nigeria. This ushered in a most difficult era for students who until then had little on-campus accommodation to contend with. The NANS management therefore had to activate its consultation machinery afterwards, before determining what measures could be taken to free the sinking ship of students.
The authorities at my university in Ilorin wouldn't want it. Sola (Mike) Olorunyomi, now a teacher, who was dominating as union president, was all for the big NANS meeting. Newspapers and other media continued to portray NANS's insistence as a response, as advocated by the leadership of Lanre Arogundade. The intolerant government quickly had Lanre arrested and detained for months. Sola Mike, for defying the authorities to host the NANS meeting, was expelled. General Secretary Mathew Keyi, ASG Femi "Straightaway" Ibrahim and PRO Joseph Abereoran have been suspended by other Unilorin student leaders. All universities have been closed indefinitely, leaving the country somewhat desperate. No be today dem start o!Universities were then reopened without calling back union leaders and even with very strict conditions for the rest of us.
What do the boys do, other than legal challenges?…Lanre not only courted, but dragged us, friends and colleagues, into what turned out to be a never-ending struggle. Since 1984, Buhari, then head of a military government, had kindled in us a fiery instinct…Today Lanre and several friends remain eternally responsible for much of the sustenance and support of people like my dear King of Boys.
Gals - and our young Lanruze had a large army of them - can also insist that he is theirs. Perhaps it belonged to them more… Lanre, who now wears a clean skull, used to display rather curly hair on his head. And he could be really meticulous about taming it. I wondered, in our National Concord days, how the former NANS badass could possibly have enough time to deal with the lead.
But frankly, Lanruze, the one who shares the same birthday with Wole "Kongi" Soyinka, is masculine in every way, reiterating the strength of the spirit of the day he shares with the Nobel laureate. Three times – yes – three distinct times, Lanre has led me on perilous but fulfilling paths. What are the boys doing, other than legal challenges? The general greetings of the gentlemen of the press for the men and women of journalism seemed to have anticipated the entry of personalities like Lanre. Lanre not only courted, but dragged us, friends and colleagues, into what turned out to be a never-ending struggle. Since 1984, Buhari, then head of a military government, had kindled in us a fiery instinct…Today Lanre and several friends remain eternally responsible for much of the sustenance and support of people like my dear King of Boys.
In 1984, the brutal, parochial military government of Buhari/Idiagbon could not think outside the box, but succumbed to a policy that would victimize perhaps the poorest of society's weaklings, the students. This government, at the end of a fairly stable academic year at the national level, ordered the permanent cessation of subsidies to cafeterias in universities in Nigeria. This ushered in a most difficult era for students who until then had little on-campus accommodation to contend with. The NANS management therefore had to activate its consultation machinery afterwards, before determining what measures could be taken to free the sinking ship of students.
The authorities at my university in Ilorin wouldn't want it. Sola (Mike) Olorunyomi, now a teacher, who was dominating as union president, was all for the big NANS meeting. Newspapers and other media continued to portray NANS's insistence as a response, as advocated by the leadership of Lanre Arogundade. The intolerant government quickly had Lanre arrested and detained for months. Sola Mike, for defying the authorities to host the NANS meeting, was expelled. General Secretary Mathew Keyi, ASG Femi "Straightaway" Ibrahim and PRO Joseph Abereoran have been suspended by other Unilorin student leaders. All universities have been closed indefinitely, leaving the country somewhat desperate. No be today dem start o!Universities were then reopened without calling back union leaders and even with very strict conditions for the rest of us.
Lanre Arogundade
