Rename Aso Rock after Queen Elizabeth II, Ohanaeze tells FG

The Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide has asked the federal government to rename the presidential villa in Abuja after Queen Elizabeth II.

The monarch is died on Thursday at 96 years old and many people around the world have paid tributes to her.

A former presidential aspirant, Adamu Garba, had in a tweet, suggested that the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Enugu, should be renamed after the British monarch.

“In order to immortalised Queen Elizabeth, we should rename the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, to Queen Elizabeth University of Nigeria since it is the first University in Nigeria,” Garba tweeted.

In a statement signed by Okechukwu Isiguzoro, the secretary-general, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, the group said the south-east zone already has a symbol of respect for the late monarch as seen in the Queen Elizabeth Medical Center, Umuahia, Abia state.

Isiguzoro said it is “appropriate” for the northern region to have a “fair share” of the legacies of the monarch.

“Ohanaeze Ndigbo worldwide has cautioned the Federal Government against renaming the foremost and most prestigious university, the University of Nigeria Nsukka after the late British Monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, as it has already bequeathed a legacy in southeastern Nigeria.

“For novices like APC Presidential aspirant Adamu Garba to know that the Federal Medical Center Umuahia was renamed after the late British Monarch and is known as Queen Elizabeth Medical Center Umuahia.

“But Nigerians are yet to see the late Queen Elizabeth’s legacies in northern Nigeria, and it is appropriate for the north to have a fair share of the Queen’s legacy.

“If the Nigerian government and the presidency wish to immortalise late Britain’s Monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, they should look at the role of the Queen in granting Nigeria political freedom and Independence on 1st October 1960, so the most appropriate place to show gratitude to Great Britain Monarch should be the citadel of power.

“The federal government should rename the Aso Rock presidential state house and residence after Queen Elizabeth II. This is the best place to honour Queen Elizabeth II, not the University of Nigeria Nsukka, because it’s incendiary to destroy the symbol of Nigeria’s citadel of learning,” the statement reads.