A group of 25 Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) is urging President Bola Tinubu to step in and help resolve the ongoing issues surrounding the appointment of a new Vice-Chancellor (VC) at the University of Abuja (UniAbuja).
The CSOs, under the name Civil Society Coalition for Educational Development, made the call after presenting their report at the university’s main gate in Abuja on Friday, December 29, 2024. They expressed concern about recent protests from some professors at the university, which they described as “unnecessary and counterproductive.”
Dr. Wisdom Chinedu, a representative of the coalition, spoke on behalf of the group, stating that the protests were part of a larger effort to discredit Professor Aisha Maikudi, the Acting Vice-Chancellor of UniAbuja. The coalition accused the protestors of trying to undermine her leadership based on ethnic, political, and gender biases.
According to the coalition, Professor Maikudi, who has served as the Deputy Vice-Chancellor with a solid track record, is being unfairly targeted because she is a woman, a youth, and a northerner. The group argued that these attacks are harmful to the progress of education in Nigeria, especially when the world is focusing on empowering women and young people in leadership roles.
The CSOs are calling on President Tinubu and the Minister of Education to protect Professor Maikudi and ensure that her efforts to promote youth and women’s leadership in education are not undermined. They hope that government intervention will help resolve the issue and prevent further damage to the university’s reputation.
This plea comes amid rising tensions at UniAbuja, where the search for a new VC has sparked division among staff and faculty.
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