June 27, 2021
The university is a place where the mind is allowed to wander in ceaseless adventure; a place of research, intense and extensive study; a concourse of humanity of diverse leanings and learning, philosophy and beliefs; a place where the indigent co-exists with the affluent; a place where intellectual radicalism clashes with cerebral conservatism; a place where you are entitled to hold an opinion, stand by it and defend it intelligently and unhindered too
Akwa Ibom State University, AKSU, has expelled Iniobong Ekpo, a final year student of the Department of Agricultural Engineering. Iniobong was first suspended indefinitely before his expulsion vide a letter dated 9th April, 2021 and signed by John E. Udo, Registrar and Secretary to Senate.
His offence was “gross misconduct.” In administration and jurisprudence, many things fit into gross misconduct. But let’s dismantle the case of Iniobong to bits. He was alleged to have published in 2019 a “derogatory and defamatory article” on Facebook against the Akwa Ibom State Governor, Mr. Udom Emmanuel. The Governor by virtue of his position as governor of Akwa Ibom State (Owners of the university) is a Visitor to the university. That makes him a stakeholder in the institution.
A little more breakdown of this ’offence’. Using a pseudonym, Afrosix Jaara, Iniobong allegedly authored an article in which he accused the Governor of reneging on a promise he made in 2017 to give financial reward to the then graduating students of the university.
Iniobong wrote: “It’s two years and 166 days since he promised, yet none of the graduands received a naira, even the First Class graduands were unattended to when they went to his office.” Then he alluded that the Governor may have “scammed” the students.
This is the premise upon which a university in democratic Nigeria would indict a student, suspending and expelling such student for a “breach of the matriculation oath and violation of the university rules and regulations enshrined in the Student Information Handbook.” Oops!
If this action was taken by a university in North Korea, Syria, Iran, Afghanistan, even Turkey, I will understand. In these countries, the state is the law: the prosecutor, judge and executioner. But this is Nigeria, Africa’s largest democracy. This is Nigeria that has a constitution which promotes and propagates fundamental human rights, including freedom of speech, association and freedom to hold opinion.
Did the governor ever make a pledge of financial reward to graduating students as alleged by Iniobong? If he did, has he fulfilled his promise? Even if he did not make such pledge, would the right thing not have been for the university to issue an ‘Explainer’ to the public exonerating the governor and stating exactly what transpired on the fateful day? Why expel a student for holding an opinion or speaking out on a matter of utmost concern to the body of students in the university? Section 39 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) has not yet been expunged from the nation’s Grundnorm. It vitiates and invalidates any ‘matriculation oath and Student Information Handbook’ and whatever is contained therein.
I wager that authorities of the university may have acted to please the governor. It’s also hard to believe that the governor, a democrat and one who should exercise the temperament of tolerance for dissenting views, did not in any way nudge, coerce and influence the university authorities to act in the manner they did. If not so, and I’m persuaded to believe it’s not, Governor Emmanuel as Visitor to the university, should quickly prevail on the overzealous Senate of the university to withdraw the expulsion letter. A Governor, a big stakeholder in a university, must not be perceived, seen or thought to be encouraging the muzzling of free speech in that university.
Iniobong did not carry arms. He’s not a cultist, was not violent in any way. He was not caught cheating in exam, neither was he involved in any act unbecoming of a student of a higher institution.
For goodness’ sake, AKSU is not one comprehensive secondary school or a vocational centre for special skills acquisition. It’s a university, a place where the total man (woman) is formed, made and baked. It’s a place where free speech should be encouraged; where norms are challenged; where established authorities, rules, conventions, theorems and theories, standards and definitions are interrogated. The university is a place where the mind is allowed to wander in ceaseless adventure; a place of research, intense and extensive study; a concourse of humanity of diverse leanings and learning, philosophy and beliefs; a place where the indigent co-exists with the affluent; a place where intellectual radicalism clashes with cerebral conservatism; a place where you are entitled to hold an opinion, stand by it and defend it intelligently and unhindered too.
Whether from its Latin or French origin, the word ‘university’ stands for ‘whole’, not part. It’s the universe of learning and study where the whole essence of learning is explored. It’s not a place to institute canons on what to say, how to think, how to talk. The university, any university worthy of its name, must encourage free-thinking, must abhor muzzling of voices; must encourage plurality of opinion for as long as these beliefs and opinions do not constitute criminality or tendentiously encourage same.
Iniobong’s case is simple. A student, a vested interest in a university, asked a question or sought clarification on a matter that bothered him, and by extrapolation, other students. The least he should get is a clarification, not expulsion. By expelling a student for expressing his anger, anxiety or confusion on social media, AKSU is telling the world, ‘don’t come here.’ The authorities are merely telling the world that ‘we don’t encourage free-thinking and expression of opinion.’ They are ipso facto limiting the mental capacities of their students. This is unacceptable and de-markets the university as a place for universal learning.
The harmless thought of Iniobong ought not to worry authorities of AKSU. What should worry them is how to make the university one of the top universities in Nigeria and Africa. In its 10 years of existence, AKSU, owned by an oil-rich state, has remained a clear outsider in the ranking of universities in Nigeria, Africa and the world. In the Times Higher Education World University Rankings (2020), AKSU is not among the top 1,000 universities in the world. In fact, it’s not ranked. The World University Ranking considers four criteria – teaching, research, knowledge transfer and international outlook – to arrive at its conclusion.
In the National Universities Commission ranking (2020), it’s ranked 75th far below many private and state universities. Ditto for the UniRank (2020) where it placed a distant 66th position lower than sundry state universities namely: Lagos State University, LASU (21st); Ebonyi State University (45) and Delta State University, DELSU (49). In this chart, private universities like Covenant and Babcock placed 3rd and 19th respectively. State universities like DELSU and LASU have at various times topped the grade in law nationwide. They are known for exceptional competence in some aspects of learning. The same cannot be said of AKSU. This should worry the authorities: how to improve the academic and research capacities of the university, not the innocuous expression of opinion or inquiry for explanation from the likes of Iniobong. You don’t build a university by taming the students and culturing them to see nothing, hear nothing and say nothing. No, not now, not even in the future. Give your students the amplitude to think, seek and ask. That’s why it’s a university, not a prison.
Author: Ken Ugbechie
Culled from Sunday Sun
