By Ejuchegahi Angwaomaodoko
The true purpose of education lies not merely in imparting knowledge but in awakening minds. The philosophical roots of what is apparently known today as ‘academic freedom’ can be traced back to the Enlightenment era when European thinkers – Immanuel Kant (a professor of logic), John Locke (Oxford don) and others – challenged the monopoly of monarchy rule over the production and nature of circulation of knowledge at the time. During the 17th and 18th centuries, several universities including Leiden University, the University of Göttingen, the University of Edinburgh, gradually shifted from being institutions that primarily served elite political interests to spaces where inquiry, skepticism and scientific reasoning gained legitimacy and became prominent.
From the foregoing, there is no doubt that institutions of learning that would genuinely serve the public interest ought to be independent of political or religious coercion, as well as other vested interests. Some of humanity’s greatest intellectual and social transformations – the development of modern science, the growth of modern social sciences, the French Revolution, the struggle against colonialism, and the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa – can be traced back to university spaces. It can rightly be said that universities, polytechnics, colleges of education, and other centres of learning are, by their very nature, incubators of knowledge. They are civic spaces where ideas are groomed, learned, tested, challenged and renewed, even when they stand against the prevailing consensus.
How, then, has this ideal played out within Nigeria’s university (or tertiary education) system? University students have, in years past, stood at the forefront of social change, spoken truth to power and challenged oppressive systems. The anti-colonial movements that swept across Africa pre-1960 emerged largely from a generation of young Africans, whose exposure to university education helped stir political consciousness. The anti-military struggles later led by Nigerian students such as Lanre Arogundade, Omoyele Sowore, Emmanuel Ezeazu, Olusegun Mayegun and Bunmi Olusona during the protracted military era similarly revealed the revolutionary character of the student movement and demonstrated that the education of students’ minds and their activism extended beyond campus welfare to the broader struggle for justice, democracy and the collective interests of Nigerians.
As it is said in Nigerian parlance, things have changed dramatically. In today’s Nigerian education sector, the relationship between student activism, staff unionism and university authorities or government tells a story of friction. A check of the government and school management responses to dissenting students, staff and on-campus unions shows a culture of active containment, coercive measures and suppression rather than dialogue. Today, in many cases, the exercise of fundamental rights, such as the liberty to question authority, dissent and hold views that may differ from the norm, is grossly misrepresented and suppressed. The decline in academic freedom is evident even within classrooms, where it is apparently easier for an elephant to pass through the eye of a needle than to encounter students who express dissenting views or critically interrogate the ideas taught by their lecturers.
Like its counterparts on the continent, Nigerian universities had, by the 1970s and 1980s, evolved into some of the most politically vibrant intellectual spaces. Student unions, academic and non-academic staff associations grew to become influential forces confronting authoritarian rule and systemic economic injustice. The establishment and consolidation of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) in 1978 particularly deepened this tradition. It positioned academics not merely as employees of the state but as custodians of intellectual integrity and democratic accountability. Even under successive military regimes, university campuses remained among the few enduring spaces where critical engagement with state power persisted, despite the wider climate of repression that stifled dissent across the country during the period.
The tradition, however, also turned universities into objects of political suspicion. From the death of 21-year-old Adekunle Adepeju during student protests at the University of Ibadan in 1971 to the nationwide ‘Ali Must Go’ protests of 1978 and the ‘Ango Must Go’ demonstrations at Ahmadu Bello University in 1986, student agitation repeatedly brought campuses into confrontation with the state. Military governments frequently interpreted student activism and academic dissent as direct threats to national stability, rather than as expressions of civic engagement. As a result, crackdowns, expulsions, union proscription, censorship and surveillance became recurring features of campus life under authoritarian rule. Many academics were subjected to intimidation, detention, dismissal and deportation for expressing views considered hostile to the state.
For instance, in 1987, activist Festus Iyayi was dismissed from the University of Benin following his participation in a seminar on alternatives to the Structural Adjustment Programme, while sociologist Patrick Wilmot was deported from Nigeria after criticising government policies. In 1990, academics Obaro Ikime, Omotoye Olorode and Idowu Awopetu were detained for three months and subsequently forced into retirement. The proscription of ASUU in 1988 and again in 1996 demonstrated the military government’s intolerance of organised resistance within the university system.
With Nigeria’s return to civilian rule in 1999, there was a widespread expectation that universities would enter a new democratic phase. Many anticipated that constitutional governance would strengthen institutional autonomy and position campuses as genuine marketplaces of ideas. While the overt coercion of military rule diminished, it was replaced by other mechanisms of control. The fear once associated with military censorship shifted toward concerns that speaking up could affect career progression, lead to disciplinary sanctions, suspension, reputational damage and cyber monitoring.
The Ibadan Zone statement of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) of September 15, 2024, which alleged that more than 200 of its members were being victimised through the unjust termination of their appointments and the deliberate withholding of outstanding salaries is a textbook example. The union at the time accused the Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO), of victimising members who opposed the award of a professorship to former Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami. That ASUU allegation illustrates how employment insecurity, financial pressure and internal power struggles can become mechanisms through which dissent within the university system is constrained.
It should be noted that the growing threats to academic freedom in Nigeria are inseparable from the broader erosion of fundamental human rights across the country. Across Nigeria, human rights are challenged, constrained, and, in many cases, violated. The apparent erosion of intellectual freedom and its expression within institutions of learning cannot be treated as an isolated issue. It is a reflection of the wider disregard for civic rights and democratic values. While such restrictions are frequently justified on the grounds of maintaining order and stability, they expose how the concentration of power in the hands of individuals or governing bodies within educational institutions, when left unchecked, can undermine the very essence of education and the interaction between old ideas and contrary views.
The apparent decline is not peculiar to Nigeria. Universities, once celebrated as sanctuaries for dissent and critical inquiry, have recently faced criticism over their responses to opposing views and expressions. For instance, in the United States, pro-Palestinian campus protests in 2024 prompted arrests, suspensions and other disciplinary measures. A report by the UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of expression documented cases of students and academics being detained, disciplined and subjected to online harassment over their involvement in the protests. Specifically, at Columbia University and Yale University, pro-Palestinian demonstrations were met with police interventions, arrests, suspensions and heightened surveillance.
In Nigeria, the same tensions are evident in disputes between student activists and university authorities. At the University of Ibadan, three students – Aduwo Ayodele, Nice Linus and Mide Gbadegesin – were rusticated for four semesters following their participation in a May 2024 protest against increased fees. According to news reports, the trio were reportedly dragged out of the protest venue and handed over to the Operation Burst Army personnel over a protest to decry looming fee increase. In April 2026, the Federal High Court set aside the university’s disciplinary decision, ruling that the process was inconsistent with the requirements of fair hearing and the right to freedom of expression. Altogether these cases raise a common concern about how institutional authorities respond to dissent. They reinforce the need to protect peaceful expression and prevent disciplinary measures from becoming tools for suppressing legitimate criticism.
Just as in the United States, Nigerian universities have long-standing, complex and often tense relationships with activism. On the positive side, institutions such as the University of Ibadan, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ahmadu Bello University, the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, the University of Jos and the University of Lagos have distinguished histories of serving as centres of intellectual engagement and student resistance. These campuses once produced generations of student activists, some of whom have been mentioned earlier, who challenged military dictatorship, protested fee hikes, opposed the 1985 Structural Adjustment Programme recommended by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank to the Nigerian government led by General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, confronted corruption and helped shape the country’s political consciousness.
In contrast, some of these institutions today bear a reputation for periodic crackdowns on student and staff unionism, as well as increasing intolerance towards dissenting voices. Documented cases of student union bans and suspensions, for instance, have occurred at institutions such as the University of Ilorin (2003-2008), Obafemi Awolowo University (2017-2021), the University of Lagos (2016-2026), the University of Benin (2024), the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (2025) and the University of Port Harcourt (2026). At the University of Ibadan, official university regulations recognise the importance of student unionism and democratic participation, but equally constrain these ideals through the suspension of student journalists or activists and exerting a tight grip on union activities. Names such as Ojo Aderemi, Kunle Adebajo, the UI3, Kayode Bello and others are few of these examples. As a result, student unionism has been allegedly transformed into a heavily supervised exercise rather than an independent democratic space. The resultant effect of today’s reality is very reflective of the Nigerian polity.
But the attacks on dissent have not been limited to students. Across several institutions, lecturers and researchers experience subtle and overt forms of victimisation linked to union participation, criticism of management or ideological disagreement. Disputes involving staff welfare, union activities and administrative decisions in institutions such as the Lagos State University (Ojo), Kogi State University (now Prince Abubakar Audu University (PAAU), Ebonyi State University, Ambrose Alli University, Federal University of Technology Owerri and Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University have repeatedly forced ASUU, even at its national level, to decry intimidation and punitive administrative measures against outspoken academics. To cite an ongoing case, a lecturer, Dr Tony Dansu and four other staff of Lagos State University (LASU) were dismissed in 2019 following accusations of unauthorised dissemination of official confidential documents. The affected academics, who are officials of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), are till date yet to be reinstated, despite being cleared of the allegations and recommended for reinstatement by an appeal committee of the institution’s Governing Council.
Attacks on academic freedom are particularly dangerous because of its cumulative effects. It is often through repeated acts of intimidation, selective punishment, bureaucratic overreach and the normalisation of silence that universities lose their democratic character and noble goals of empowering the citizens’ consciousness. Its negative effects further include that students would self-censor their own expressions, while lecturers would avoid controversial topics, critical research questions or open criticism of institutional and political authorities, for fear of disciplinary or professional consequences.
As a way forward, Nigerian universities require structural safeguards capable of protecting both institutional order and democratic freedoms simultaneously. There is a need for the Nigerian University Commission (NUC) to ensure that internal disciplinary systems across the country’s educational institutions become more transparent, better organised, independent from interference and is ultimately subject to the Nigerian constitution. Panels handling cases involving protests, activism or staff disputes must be neutral rather than serve the interest of administrative authorities. In the same manner, punishments that may affect the academic futures of students or the professional careers of lecturers must be subjected to rigorous evidentiary standards and clear appeal processes.
Additionally, universities must see students and staff unionism as a democratic asset rather than a threat or enemy. Both university authorities and government must recognise that student unions have historically served as training grounds for leadership, civic engagement and political consciousness. Authorities should also realise that unjustifiable restrictions on expression, protest, public gatherings and criticism of management or higher authorities risk producing graduates conditioned to equate authority with silence, and citizens that may choose docility as a way of life.
Also, academic freedom protections for lecturers and researchers should be explicitly codified and made enforceable in all Nigerian institutions where such safeguards are currently absent. Staff members should not face the risk of career stagnation, denial of promotion, transfer or disciplinary action for criticising institutional policies or engaging in lawful activities. There is also a need for broader cultural reform within Nigerian tertiary institutions. Many educational institutions still operate the hierarchical structures inherited from both colonial bureaucracy and military-era governance. This must change. This must give way to participatory governance in which senates, faculty bodies, unions and students have meaningful channels for engagement.
The Nigerian public must also understand that what happens inside schools rarely remains confined within them. What happens on our campuses shape future judges, journalists, politicians, academics, entrepreneurs and civil servants. When students learn that dissent attracts punishment, they are likely to carry that lesson into national life. On the other hand, when universities cultivate an organised space for robust disagreement, tolerance of opposing views and procedural fairness, they strengthen the democratic habits upon which the Nigerian society itself can depend upon.
It is worth emphasising that all Nigerian universities must be protected as bastions of democracy. Our institutions of learning must recommit themselves to fostering critical thinking, civic engagement and academic freedom. If education is to fulfil its democratic mission, it must be allowed to resist neoliberal pressures and equip young people to challenge inequities, as well as to envision and pursue a just and compassionate society. It cannot be overemphasised that the true purpose of education lies not merely in imparting knowledge but in awakening minds.
ABOUT CONTRIBUTOR
Angwaomaodoko, the founder of Ejuchegahi Angwa Foundation, and a scholar at Kean University, writes via ejuchegahi.angwaomaodoko@gmail.com
