By: Patrick Ezihe

The University of Ibadan has long been celebrated as the cradle of intellectualism and leadership in Nigeria. It is often referred to as a place where values, vision, and integrity are meant to be nurtured alongside knowledge. To simply put, it is a place where learning and character are said to be sacrosanct. Yet, in recent years, a creeping rot has spread through its student governance. From halls, faculties, to the Students’ Union level, this rot bears several forms, one of which is the  culture of financial mismanagement over the prioritization of student welfare.

From budget padding to outright diversion of funds, the pattern is not opaque but clear. What was once an avenue for championing student interests seems to have now become a platform for personal gain. Several cases of alleged fund diversion have rocked the student community in recent times, revealing just how deep-rooted financial indiscipline has become within student leadership.

In 2023, the then Students’ Union Public Relations Officer, Olalekan Ajibola, was reported to have mismanaged the Union funds allocated to his official activities. The alleged financial misconduct cast a long shadow on the credibility of the management of the Union’s finances that year. The allegations sparked outrage among the critical students who demanded transparency and called for the publication of all expenditure records.

Yet, just as the dust seemed to settle, another scandal broke. In 2024, NUESA Press Editor-in-Chief, Oladigbolu Taofik, was found guilty of financial misconducts ranging from misappropriation of funds to budget padding. As a defender of the truth and justice, UCJ UI swiftly terminated his membership.

Every year, or rather, every few months, there is one financial scandal or the other. It is as though student now run for positions not to serve, but to exploit the finances of whatever association they are in.

The trend did not end there. Multiple allegations of financial misconduct and event falsification later trailed Assistant General Secretary, Emmanuel Olawoye, further intensifying the perception that corruption has found a home in the corridors of student power.

Perhaps the most alarming of recent allegations came when the University of Ibadan Students’ Union Treasurer faced a disciplinary probe over ₦5.1 million in unexplained transfers. The revelation sparked heated debates on campus, with the few students who have learned to hold their representatives demanding appropriate While the investigation remains ongoing, the case depicts how financial malpractice has become normalized. Student leaders who should be worthy emulation are now entangled in the same acts of mismanagement they often condemn in national politics.

As is common in the Nigerian society, this same category of students would condemn Nigerian leaders for financial misconduct, a crime which they themselves have mastered. It goes to show how loud actions speak, compared to words.

At the heart of many of these scandals lies a simple but effective scheme, budget paddling. Year after year, reports of inflated event budgets and questionable financial estimates make their way around departments and faculties.

Student leaders frequently submit budgets that appear exaggerated for the scale of the events they organize . A faculty dinner that should cost ₦200,000 could appear in budget as ₦600,000. Publicity materials that could be produced for ₦20,000 listed at ₦100,000. The result is simple. The excess probably finds its way into personal accounts.

These incidents expose a culture where student budgets are padded to accommodate personal luxuries rather than communal needs. Transparency has become the exception, not the rule.

Financial misconduct is not limited to the Students’ Union or faculty levels. It extends into the halls of residence, where misuse of funds and abuse of privilege thrive.

Across several halls, executives receive preferential treatment, including choice rooms and box rooms, bypassing the official due process that regular students must endure every session. While many students sleep as squatters or share congested rooms, their leaders enjoy privacy and comfort, a benefit majorly enjoyed by the student leaders.

Equally disturbing is the issue of over-fining by some halls of residence. Instances abound where entire rooms, floors, or blocks are fined for the actions of one or two students. In some cases, these fines are neither accounted for, leaving room for suspicion about where the money truly goes.

Last session, at Queen Idia and Queen Elizabeth II Halls of Residence, students participating in the IT/PYTP program were asked to pay ₦1,000 and ₦2,700 respectively for accommodation after the previous session had already ended. Many students protested the imposed levies, describing them as exploitative and unjustified.

What is perhaps most troubling is not just that these incidents occur, but that they are often followed by weak accountability measures. Investigations, if conducted at all, rarely lead to meaningful sanctions.

The impact of the apparent loss of integrity has far-reaching consequences. Trust in student governance is at an all-time low. Many students no longer see their leaders as representatives but as opportunists seeking to enrich their pockets.

Elections draw fewer voters, and genuine students who wish to serve often shy away, discouraged by the system’s duplicity.

Yet, the way forward must begin with transparency. Every hall, faculty, and students’ Union office should be mandated to publish their financial reports in clear, accessible terms.

Sanctions must also be firm. Termination of office, public disclosure of findings, and refund of misused funds should become standard consequences for financial misconduct. No student leader should enjoy immunity for corruption under the guise of campus politics.

Equally important is the need to re-educate the culture of service. Leadership on campus must once again mean sacrifice, not self-enrichment. The days of inflated budgets and padded allowances must end if the institution is to reclaim its moral authority.

The story of misappropriation in the University of Ibadan is more than a chronicle of corruption, it is a mirror held up to our collective conscience. Each act of greed erodes not just trust but the very essence of what student leadership should represent, such as integrity, accountability, and service.

There is a need for a resurrection of integrity, for the absence of greed, and for financial transparency to once again define the conduct of student leaders. The future belongs to those who can lead with honesty, not those who exploit the system.University of Ibadan must rise again, not just as Nigeria’s first university, but as the first in integrity.