How student unions in Nigeria have slowly decayed over the years

by Adedayo Ademuwagun

Aluta

Since the National Union of Nigerian Students was formed in the 1940s, student unions in Nigeria have been a major pressure group.

In the past, student unions were renowned for challenging government policies on education and other national issues, and they were generally considered credible.

In 1960, for instance, there was a student union protest against the federal government’s intended defence agreement with Great Britain, and the government eventually bowed to the pressure and cancelled the deal. When the military government anulled the presidential election in 1993, students also resisted the move and struggled to compel the government to restore
democracy.

Power changed hands in the federal government many times between the 1960s and the 1990s, but the unions remained a strong institution for a long time. However, at some point, politicians began to infiltrate the unions and subvert the leaders. Then the system cracked and began to lose credibility.

Presently, the rot in system has been widely observed. According to insiders, campaigns are financed dubiously, and election rigging is usual. Embezzlement and corruption are rampant, too, and administration lacks meaningful impact at all levels.

Most universities, polytechnics and colleges of education have their own student union. These unions are all affiliated to the National Association of Nigerian Students.

In each school, the student union (also called SUG) is usually composed of the Executive, the Legislative, and a Congress, which is the entire body of students.

At the start of a new session, elections are held and students vote for a new set of SUG leaders. Aspirants normally spend a huge sum to organise election campaigns. In some schools, an aspiring SUG president could spend one million nairas or more on their election campaign.

Aspirants get some money from friends, family and other personal sources to finance their campaign. However, many aspirants get financial backing from external politicians who usually intend to gain the favour of the students on that campus.

Student union leaders are not statutorily paid for their work. However, the unions make a lot of money from student levies, corporate sponsorships, alumni donations and grants from the school management. The union leaders are in charge of these funds, and this is one attraction for aspiring leaders.

Union leaders are very influential on campus, and policy makers in government and school management understand this. So union leaders might be offered bribes and other things of attraction to get them to support, oppose or stay neutral about specific policies.

“I once heard one state government gave the state university’s SUG N1 million to hush the students during a campus uprising concerning a school fee hike,” says James Olayiwola, who was recently a student leader.

Such claims are not strange to students, and they are glaring in many cases.

Yusuf Bala, an active student politician says, “This year, campus politics is  more serious because of the mainstream elections coming up next year. There are a lot of crumbs to get from politicians who will be contesting in the 2015 elections.”

Furthermore, while in office, SUG leaders get to interact with top officials within the school administration, the corporate sector and the political system. This gives the students the opopportunity to make important connections and ingratiate themselves with powerful contacts. It is like laying a foundation for future political or career ambitions.

On paper, there are actually mechanisms to ensure appropriate conduct throughout the political process and punish misconduct. However, the mechanisms are often lax and scarcely employed, and corrupt student leaders have no trouble exploiting the loopholes.

For example, the constitution of the student union in many Nigerian schools stipulates that the accounts of the particular union should be audited regularly by the bursar or the auditor whom the school management appoints. The union also has to make public its budget and expenditure for the session. However, in reality, nobody enforces these rules and union leaders have a lot of room to beat them.

Also, in case of misconduct, the Congress is the supreme organ of the union. Any decision made by it is final. Students can dismiss and call for the punishment of a corrupt union leader through a simple majority. However, this hardly happens. Many ordinary students are apathetic about political affairs, because they believe the system is compromised already and that it would be fruitless to take part in such political meetings.

Chika Onyeonora, a university student says, “I don’t notice any difference between the time these union people get elected and the time they leave office. All they do is promise and never fulfil. So I don’t get involved in Congress meetings any longer because I haven’t seen any changes from previously held meetings.”

Toba Bankole is a youth activist and was part of the University of Ibadan Student Union Transition Committee set up when the union was reinstated in the university recently. He says about the role of school authorities, “School authorities are careful not to meddle in student matters such matters are officially brought before them.

“When such matters are brought to them, they could set up an investigative panel. The panel submits its reports and recommendations.

“Where allegations are founded, then the matter could be brought to the disciplinary committee. But in all of these processes, there are manipulations. Corrupt people always manipulate their ways around the system.”

All these provide the ideal opportunity for unscrupulous student leaders. Many are indicted for embezzling the union money or for taking bribes. But most of them get away with the offenses without any hassle.

“Campus politics is a reflection of what we see in Nigeria today,” James adds. “The implication is that Nigeria may never have a better political era, since the current system of politics on our campuses is breeding the same kind of politicians that we see in the society today.”

James makes an interesting point. Many student union leaders go on to follow a political career, and some past or present politicians started with campus politics. One well known example is Labaran Maku, the current Minister for Information.

Yusuf says, “The older generation did these same things that today’s youths are doing, and they didn’t have a problem. So why would we have a problem?”

“We’ve seen and been through too much to want to make things better when we can just take our own and go. That’s how the average Nigerian youth thinks,”

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