Wole Soyinka: "The man dies in all who keep silent in the face of tyranny." Desmond Tutu buttressed the above point when he said, "If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality."


At this juncture, silence is no longer golden. Any Vice Chancellor is just a phase in the historical trajectory of Uniabuja, but as students and alumni, we carry the identity of this citadel of learning to our grave. That is why people of good conscience must come together to disembark him from this insidious escapade.
Most disheartening is that people who enjoyed free education during their days are now making it unbearable and unaffordable for the children of commoners. People who fought oppressors to standstill during their youthful days are now embodiment of oppression. How time flies! How people change!!
Since he came to office as Vice Chancellor of the University of Abuja, Prof. Abdul Rasheed Na'Allah has shown overtly and covertly that he is not a friend of the poor masses; he is better described as an academic bourgeoisie who takes every opportunity to make profit at the expense of proletariate students.

Within the first 3 months of his administration as Uniabuja VC, Na’Allah increased the student acceptance fee from 4,500 to 30,000. As if that was not enough, the past 4 years have been a financial hell for University of Abuja students as Na’Allah makes unilateral decisions and forces them down the throats of helpless students. Unprecedentedly, the VC increased school fees 3 times within 4 years.



As of when I graduated in 2017, the highest fee I paid was less than 24,000, but within 4 years of Na’Allah, tuition fees had increased geometrically, and as of today, people that paid 23,000 in the pre-Na’Allah era in 2018 are now paying 94,000, while others pay as much as 225,000. At a point when Nigeria has become the poverty capital of the world and people are struggling to survive, there are more dropouts on the street than ever. Na’Allah action is nothing but capitalist brigandage and executive rascality.



I have seen and heard about hundreds of students who couldn’t further their education because of previous increments in tuition by Na’Allah, even students who are children of non-teaching staff in the university are not left out as victims.



Imagine this, a staff of the University of Abuja who earns 40,000 monthly and luckily his daughter gets admitted to study Medicine, would have to save his entire salary for six months before paying fees for his daughter. This is excluding other basic family commitments and the welfare of the Student. What do we call this? Have they forgotten that many families are living on minimum wage of 33,000?



As usual, his recent press release to justify the increment is threat laden. Na’Allah takes delight in the language of coercion and compulsion. In most cases, he outwits the innocent students with his grandiloquent skills and tyrannical idiosyncrasies. To me, bullying students into submission is considered academic terrorism, while using language of threat is official banditry. You can’t beat a child and expect him not to cry. The bigger the threat of the oppressors, the sweeter the victory over the oppression. A stone thrown from David brought Almighty Goliath to his knees.

All the previous attempts by dissenting voices to raise concerns were met with an iron fist from the Na’Allah led administration. The student union was practically killed as stooges were installed to do the bidding of the management. Threats of expulsion and intimidation have watered down docility in the minds of Uniabuja students. This is the right time to oppress the oppressors.



If we keep silent while this administrative hooliganism continues, that means we have lost our conscience. Henceforth, let people of good and working conscience join their voices together and supply genuine voices to the emancipation of Uniabuja students from Na’Allah manacle. This is a clarion call on ASUU, NANS, NAUS, the alumni body, student’s community and other stakeholders in the education sector to rise and confront this arbitrariness.



Dear University of Abuja students, you have nothing to lose by confronting Na’Allah; you only have your yoke to do away with. In the 1980s, when he was an undergraduate, Na’Allah himself was part of those who led the struggle against University of Ilorin management because of the student union.

I leave you with this quote: "One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws”. Martin Luther King, Jr.



Comr. Ogunsamson

Writing for the Concerned University of Abuja Alumni.

Nigeria where anything goes.