Judul : UI insists on four-semester rustication of students, groups kick
link : UI insists on four-semester rustication of students, groups kick
UI insists on four-semester rustication of students, groups kick
Amid public criticism, the University of Ibadan has insisted that the four-semester rustication of two students over “gross misconduct, particularly unruly behaviour,” remains in force.
The university’s Central Student Disciplinary Committee had, at its meeting on Monday, July 14, 2025, found Aduwo Ayodele, a 400-level student in the Department of History, and Mide Gbadegesin, a 700-level postgraduate student, guilty of disrupting the swearing-in ceremony of the 2023/2024 Students’ Union executives.
The duo, alongside Nice Linus, a 400-level Law student, and one Adeyeye Oluwafemi, identified as a non-student, had displayed placards reading “Fees Must Fall” to protest the hike in school fees announced by the university in 2024.
Spokesperson of the university, Mr Dayo Olajide, in a chat with The PUNCH on Monday, said the disciplinary committee followed due process in arriving at its decision.
Olajide added that the university would only respond to formal communications from affected individuals or their representatives, not reactions made in the public or on social media.
“The Student Disciplinary Committee has taken its stance, which is already in the public domain. Whatever you have heard from them (the affected students) is in the public domain. I don’t think it was addressed to the university.
“If addressed to the university, the university will respond. The university will not respond to public concerns except it is directly sent to the university, either through the Registrar or the Vice Chancellor, then you can get an official response.
“The university has not come up with anything contrary to the four-semester rustication, so if that is the last you heard from the university, that is it,” Olajide stated.
In its July 14 decision conveyed in a letter signed by Senior Deputy Registrar Akinbola I. A., the university declared Aduwo and Gbadegesin’s actions as violations of student conduct regulations.
The sanction letter read in part, “Based on available evidence, the committee found you liable and therefore, recommended, on compassionate grounds, to the Vice Chancellor, who accepted and directed that you should be rusticated from the University for four semesters with effect from the second semester of the 2024/2025 academic session.
“You are hereby so rusticated. You are mandated to write an undertaking to be of good behaviour and not meddle with Student Union matters. You are also mandated to undergo professional counselling at the University’s Career Development and Counselling Centre.
“Your rustication shall expire at the end of the first semester of the 2026/2027 academic session, while you may resume your academic programme with effect from the second semester of the 2026/2027 academic session.
“Please note that if you are found on campus during the period of your rustication, without the express permission of the university, you shall be handed over to the police, apart from running the risk of outright expulsion.”
When contacted on Monday on whether he planned to appeal the decision, one of the rusticated students, Ayodele Aduwo, said the option was under consideration.
He said, “I am still reviewing the option to appeal the university’s verdict, though I have my doubts about a fair judgment considering that the university management took a decision to compassionately send me home for four semesters for holding a cardboard bearing ‘School Fees Must Fall.’
“I am still reviewing that portion of the university letter, but I am confident that I am going to challenge this injustice on all reasonable and legitimate points. I want to work with my colleagues to decide on the next line of action. I am going to go to all reasonable and legitimate extent to pursue justice in this case.”
The university’s action has drawn criticism from advocacy groups and alumni on various media platforms.
In a statement, the Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa condemned what it called the “shameful victimisation and suspension of Ayodele Aduwo, Mide Gbadegesin, and Nice Linus by the University of Ibadan for simply holding placards that read ‘No To Fee Hike’ during a students’ gathering last year.”
The group, through its Media and Communications Officer, Robert Egbe, accused the university of deploying authoritarian tactics to stifle legitimate dissent, saying the action violated the students’ constitutional rights to freedom of expression under Sections 38 and 39 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).
The statement added, “Universities are meant to be sanctuaries of free inquiry and rigorous debate. They are spaces where new ideas should bloom and where students are trained to question, to challenge, and to imagine a better society.
“Ayodele Aduwo, Mide Gbadegesin, and Nice Linus are not troublemakers. They are principled scholars whose only ‘crime’ is demanding a fair and humane education system. Their leadership and bravery should be celebrated, not criminalised. Their actions embodied the highest ideals of democratic citizenship. By punishing them, the university is sending a chilling message that ‘zombieism’ is the price of staying safe.”
CAPPA and another group, the Education Rights Campaign, demanded the immediate and unconditional reinstatement of the rusticated students.
In a separate statement signed by ERC Deputy National Coordinator, Ogunjimi Isaac, and National Mobilisation Officer, Adaramoye Lenin, the group described the action as a “blatant disregard for students’ rights and basic democratic principles.”
“For us, this is not an attack on these students; it is an attack on all students who wish to have access to quality education and live in a better society.
“This is why we are calling on students, workers and civil society organisations to show solidarity with these students and call for a halt to the attacks on democratic rights in the University of Ibadan.
“The ERC reiterates the demand for the immediate and unconditional reinstatement of Aduwo Ayodele and Gbadegesin. We also warn the school against any attempt to victimise Linus Nice, a 400-level law student. We call for the immediate reversal of the exorbitantly hiked fees. We call on all Nigerian students to rise in defence of Aduwo Ayodele and Gbadegesin, and also join us in the campaign for a better, adequately funded and democratically managed public education sector,” the statement added.
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