By Francis Ewherido
“To restore the dignity of man” is the motto of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN). Some people who follow this column know that I studied at the UNN. It’s a badge of honour I wear with tremendous pride for two principal reasons. One, I spent four unbelievable years there. I was taught by some of the best brains all over Nigeria and the world, I dare say. I acquired topnotch education. They made positive impact on my life. I also cultivated wonderful friendships that have endured till date.
Two, only four universities offered mass communication in 1984. The University of Lagos offered admission to only students with advanced levels certificate. Bayero University, Kano and University of Maiduguri were considered too far by my parents for someone of my age then. The only option left was UNN.
I applied to UNN when later I read the JAMB brochure again and found out that every prospective student needed to have at least a credit in one science subject or mathematics. I had none. I registered for WAEC again on the closing date for registration. That done, I looked at all the science subjects and mathematics to see which one I could study and get a credit within the limited period. I was an arts student through and through. The lot fell on biology. I started studying biology with little attention to the other courses. I had previously been denied admission to the University of Benin in 1983 because I didn’t write literature in JAMB, though I scored 279. I didn’t want to stay at home for another year. When the results were released, I scored As in the art courses I wrote and C6 in biology. It was a narrow escape, but that was how I got admitted to Nsukka.
In 1984 when I arrived in Nsukka, the civil war had ended 14 years earlier. The university was greatly affected by the war. The effects were still very visible. There were prefabricated structures everywhere unlike the other three first generation universities which had many permanent structures, but the four universities were all top notch academically and among the best worldwide. I remember my late brother, Sen. Akpor Pius Ewherido, wrote a letter to me with beautiful pictures of the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University), asserting that it was the most beautiful university in Nigeria. It was a case of res ipsa loquitur (the thing speaks for itself), as far UNN was concerned, but I responded that UNN was the best in academics. He said it was for Ife. It was a case of my father’s farm is bigger than yours, so we left it there.
I also remember how my dad told us when we were younger that the University of Lagos (Unilag), his alma mater, was the best university in Nigeria academically. He was particularly hard on UNN in terms of the standard of education because his contemporaries who went to UNN. He said their English was atrocious. He forgot that he studied English, which gave him an edged, while the others studied agriculture, geography and other disciplines. It was payback time when my brothers and I entered the university, Besides Pius and myself, Ufuoma was in the University of Benin. We ganged up against my dad. We told him that Unilag was Eko for show, nothing more. About 40 years later, I vividly recall the bemusement (obegheri in Urhobo) in his face. The great Akokite (what graduates of Unilag are called) couldn’t come up to terms with our onslaught until he died in 1988.
All the above are preambles. The current state of physical structures in UNN is my focus today. In 1984, the civil war was a very genuine reason for the poor physical infrastructure, but not in 2025. I saw a video of UNN recently. I was numb and enraged simultaneously. Things have simply gone from bad to worse. Zik’s Flats, where I stayed in my first year, has been completely abandoned, but that is not the problem of UNN because it’s owned by the late Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe. I spent my second to final years in Franco Halls, Room 3A, Eni Njoku, to be specific. It was a very beautiful hall. The only problem was the non-availability of water in the toilets. I don’t want to torment you with what it was like, but how much would it have taken to fix the problem and sink a borehole, if necessary? Today, not much has changed. If anything, Franco Hall is now rundown. You won’t believe students still live there.
A room was initially meant for two students. By the time I was there, we were four, which was better than Ife and Benin, where my brothers shared a room with seven other students. Now, I learnt eight students share a room in the most inhuman conditions. The fate of hostels up campus is no different. The only change is that only female students now live up campus. when I was there, there were male and female hostels. The only addition to the male hostels is the one donated by an alumnus and the former governor of Rivers State, Dr. Peter Odili. I hate to think of what it would be like living these hostels now. Some other Nigerian government-owned university hostels are like that.
Two things are on my mind. One, why hasn’t UNN considered allowing private investors to build and run hostels like other universities do (I learnt there is one uncompleted hostel due to litigation)? Mind you the children from less privileged background might not be able to afford them, but children from rich homes can. With the stability in the school calendar, some well-to-do people now send their children to government-owned universities. Academically, some of these government-owned universities are way ahead of some private universities in some courses. But privately-owned hostels doesn’t take away the onus on the university authorities to make their hostels habitable. All school administers should ask themselves whether they would allow their children to live in such sub-human conditions. If not, why allow other people’s children to?
The UNN library was an abandoned project when I graduated, but it has been completed. The exterior of the “new” library looks good in the video, but the exterior looks dirty and unkempt. We used to have a chief librarian. Has the position been scrapped? Virtually all the buildings in the video, including ones built after I left are looking decrepit. The sorry state of the sports complex brought me to tears. There was a department responsible for maintenance while I was there. What happened? The whole environment looked unkempt with overgrown grass and filled with untarred roads. Nsukka soil is red, making the sight very ugly. Is it in this type of rundown environment we want “to restore the dignity of man (the students)” or produce lions and lionesses (graduates of UNN) who can roar with pride?
Another matter that disturbs me and this applies to many federal government-owned universities, is the appointment of new vice chancellors. It is like a governorship election. What is the “war” about? Is it for personal aggrandizement or to move the university forward? It looks like the latter. I saw the country home of one Vice Chancellor recently. Even the country homes of these Igbo billionaires do not compare.
Some VCs send their children abroad to acquire first degrees. One vice chancellor even put the graduation photograph of his son in the newspapers. Oga VC, it’s “your money,” but putting the photo in the newspapers is thoughtless and insensitive to your students. What message are you sending?
The government funds universities. I was shocked to find out that UNN was the highest funded federal university in 2025 with N44.4b! We might argue that universities are under-funded, but how do they utilize these funds from the government and the internally generated revenues? What exactly are some of the governing councils of some these government-owned universities governing? Government universities are set up in Nigeria to make even students from lowly backgrounds have access to education. That is why tuition has been low from the beginning. Government-owned university hostels should also be livable. Do not remind students of their poor backgrounds.
Just in case you are thinking, “what about presidents, governors, ministers, and other top government officials who also send their children to universities abroad?” Today, my focus is on the servant (vice chancellors and other school administrators) who got only talent from the master (Matthew 25:14-30). I am interested in what they did with the one talent?
