Special to USAfrica magazine (Houston) and USAfricaonline.com, the first Africa-owned, US-based newspaper published on the Internet.
The UNN’s gradual descent from the great heights of ‘Lion’s Den’ down to the derelict relic of an ‘abandoned poultry’ is a painfully stark metaphor, a no-holds-barred stinging truth that zings through the marrow and pride of the ‘only University of Nigeria’s critical stakeholders. It is not just a lament; it is a verdict, one that calls for sober reflection and urgent institutional soul-searching. The dislodgment from the roaring grandeur of lions to the helpless squawking of poultry chickens captures more than the university’s infrastructural decay or administrative lapses. It symbolizes a collapse of ideals. A university, once ablaze with intellectual vigour, national prestige, and staff morale, now totters under the weight of inertia, internal wrangling, weakened governance, and crumbling motivation. The Lion no longer roars; it barely whispers! It is a space where lions have forgotten their roar, or worse, been taught to cluck like hens. This is not surprising. When a lion is starved long enough, it forgets how to hunt.
Agbedo, a contributing analyst to USAfrica multimedia networks, is a Professor of Linguistics.
As the search for a new Vice Chancellor begins at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), the eyes of millions across Nigeria and the international community turn once again to the great citadel of learning envisioned by the Great Zik of Africa, Owelle of Onitsha and first civilian, ceremonial President, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe. When he founded the University in October 1960, barely days after Nigeria’s political independence, his ambition was not merely to replicate the Western model of a university but to establish a beacon of African renaissance—one that would challenge colonial legacies and produce leaders rooted in the values, aspirations, and dignity of the African people.
Today in 2025, 64 years later, the University of Nigeria stands at yet another historic junction as this grand vision now calls for renewal as the Engr. Kayode Olubunmi Ojo-led Governing Council commences the process of appointing a new substantive Vice Chancellor. It is a pivotal moment, and the expectations from all critical stakeholders – students, staff, alumni, host communities, and indeed the Nigerian public – are understandably high. They are watching with keen interest, praying that the Council will uphold the very ideals upon which the institution was founded, that is, justice, equity, merit, and a deep commitment to national progress.
From the very beginning, UNN as the first indigenous university in Nigeria, was designed as more than a university. It was a manifesto of postcolonial hope, a place where knowledge would not only be acquired but also decolonized; it was born of a philosophy rooted in African pride and global relevance. Guided by the motto “To Restore the Dignity of Man,” the university was envisioned as a moral and intellectual compass—where learning would serve as a tool for emancipation and social transformation. Its founding philosophy called for a university system that was relevant to Nigeria’s peculiar developmental needs, one that would train thinkers, innovators, and public servants who would lead with conscience and competence.
At a post-convocation Thanksgiving Mass, St, Peter’s Chaplaincy, UNN, the Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of the Council, had in his speech, declared inter alia, that UNN remains the ‘only University of Nigeria’. In the Igbo proverbial lore, it runs against the grain of reason for a waist accustomed to adorning expensive cloths to go naked in full public glare. To this effect, UNN – the aristocratic waist – is reasonably expected to once again lead by example. The process of appointing the next Vice Chancellor should reflect not just legal compliance, but ethical clarity and institutional integrity; one that is seen to be transparent, inclusive, competitive, and above all, fair. Only through such a process can the most suitable candidate – credible, competent, capable, visionary, and accountable – emerge to steer the university into a new dawn.
Fortunately, signs of a new dawn are already stirring across the University community. Thanks to the partnership and support of Governor Peter Ndubuisi Mbah of Enugu State, significant infrastructural upgrades are underway. In a commendable intervention, Governor Mbah recently donated eight brand new Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) buses to the University under the Enugu Smart Transport Programme. These buses are not only a thoughtful gesture toward easing student and staff mobility; they also align with a broader clean energy transition policy that underscores environmental responsibility and modernization.
Moreover, under the stewardship of the Acting Vice Chancellor, Prof Oguejiofor Ujam, a number of key roads within the campus have received long-overdue attention. The iconic dual-carriageway Zik’s Drive, from the University’s main gate, has been re-asphalted, offering both aesthetic and functional uplift. Other rehabilitated routes include Mbonu Ojike Street and Margaret Cartwright Street. These infrastructural efforts are not just cosmetic; they reflect a renewed sense of purpose and dignity, rekindling the spirit of the University’s motto.
Equally worthy of commendation is UNN’s visible participation at the launch of the Centre for African Social and Economic Transformation (CASET) at the University of the West England, Bristol, which according to Prof Ujam, “offered unique opportunity to contribute to discussions on critical issues affecting African development and to reposition our University as a key player in addressing these challenges through research and innovation.” This and other flashes of enduring development strides suffice to secure a soft spot for Prof Ujam’s 6-month tenure on the rough edges of history.
Regrettably, however, the ‘massive and visible decay of critical infrastructure, abandoned projects, and environmental/aesthetic challenges,’ which the Chairman of the Council, Engr. Ojo pointed out in his speech at the 54th Convocation in July 2025 that these commendable strides have tended to be reduced to a drop in an ocean. Of course, the Pro-Chancellor did not fail to take due cognizance of ‘diminished job satisfaction by the academic and non-teaching staff arising from long-term poor administrative performance,’ which, as he observed painfully, ‘has reduced the lion’s den to abandoned poultry’.
In Plato’s metaphor of the Ship of State, he warns of the dangers of entrusting leadership to those unfit to navigate the storm. Like a communally-owned goat that dies of hunger, UNN has not just been a storm; it is adrift steered for too long by actors more loyal to vested interests elsewhere than to institutional ideals, the result is what we see: ‘an abandoned poultry’. From a psychological standpoint, Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs reminds us that motivation and productivity cannot be achieved when basic human needs – security, recognition, purpose – are unmet. The Pro-Chancellor’s lament on ‘diminished job satisfaction’ speaks directly to this. When the psychological contact between employer and employee is broken or fractured, when recognition and reward are arbitrary, when transparency is buried beneath politics, cronyism, and patronage, demoralization sets in. The result is a community starved of motivation and inspiration – barely surviving, not thriving.
Emile Durkheim warned that societies unravel when the collective conscience is replaced by dissatisfaction and alienation. UNN today suffers from that very erosion of the communitas – the collective spirit that had once bond staff, administrators, and students in a shared identity. The university has become a fragmented house, where silos, power blocs, and patronage-client networks erode any semblance of unity. And rather being a theatre of cerebral ideas, the institution has tended towards taking on the colours of a theatre of intrigues.
Yet, it must be said that decline is not destiny. Great institutions, like great nations, can rise again, if they confront their hurting truth, reject self-deception, and return to their founding principles. This is why the current process of selecting and appointing a new Vice Chancellor must go beyond routine. It is, at its core, a referendum on whether UNN wants to roar again or rot in silence. It is an opportunity to signal a break from the culture of indifference that sapped the institution’s strength. The new leadership must recognize that the first act of restoration is psychological – to restore dignity to staff, purpose to students, and pride to the institution.
The Pro-Chancellor’s verdict must not be dismissed as a rhetorical flourish. It must be read as a moral alarm – a call to conscience. The Governing Council is expected to use this moment to awaken the Lion through a commitment to excellence, meritocracy, fairness, and vision. If UNN is indeed the only University of Nigeria, then it must begin to look like it – think like it; act like it; and lead like it. The descent from a ‘Lion’s Den’ to an ‘abandoned poultry’ is neither accidental nor irreversible. It is the result of choices made, and it can be reversed by choices yet to be made.
In the shadow of Zik’s golden statue and the echoes of his Pan-African speeches, we are reminded that UNN was never intended to be ordinary. It was designed to be exceptional. The opportunity to reclaim that 
exceptionalism is now. Let merit prevail. Let a new dawn rise over the hills of Nsukka. For indeed, the only University of Nigeria must once again show the rest of Nigeria – and Africa – how to light the path forward.
As the anticipation for the emergence of a new substantive Vice Chancellor thickens by the minutes, all eyes are the Selection Board – not just to see who emerges, but to judge whether the process honours the lofty ideals of the university’s founders.
May God grant the ‘five wise men and women’ the grace to be guided not by fear or favour, but by history and posterity, so that in the end, it would be clearly obvious that they had indeed chosen wisely. Then, the Lions and Lionesses will rise and roar again, like never before!
