WHERE IS THE LOVE FOR THE UNIVERSITY OF ABUJA?

I write this not just as a student who will soon turn alumnus, but as a wounded soul, a student who watches helplessly as the University of Abuja — our supposed “University of National Unity” — is treated like a roadside fling: used, dumped, and forgotten.

The recent events on our campus paint a disturbing picture of neglect, opportunism, and deafening silence. Our lecturers, alumni, and even some members of management have become lukewarm to issues that should shake the very foundations of our institution. Is it because the University of Abuja sits in the Federal Capital Territory, where everyone comes to “use and go,” that they treat this great university like a sex worker — useful only when there’s desire, discarded once satisfied?

When President Bola Ahmed Tinubu unconstitutionally changed our name from University of Abuja to Yakubu Gowon University, where were our alumni? Where were our staff unions? Where were the voices of outrage?

This same Tinubu, as a political leader, fiercely opposed the renaming of the University of Lagos to MKO Abiola University under President Goodluck Jonathan. Why is our university, our pride, treated like an orphan that nobody defends?

It is only the Acting Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Patricia Manko Lar, and the Pro-Chancellor who have dared to call out the FCT Minister for forcefully grabbing our university land. Meanwhile, our alumni — people with long legs, powerful surnames, and national influence — are busy fighting over peanuts from Gwagwalada alumni dues. The internal squabbles over who becomes VC or who heads the alumni association have blinded them to the existential threats facing their alma mater.

Is ASUU (Academic Staff Union of Universities) at the University of Abuja only active when it concerns internal politics or strikes?

Our counterparts in other institutions are not this complacent. Look at the University of Maiduguri — their staff and alumni rise like lions to defend their land, their students, and their name. Look at Polytechnic Ibadan — even their students have a fierce sense of ownership and pride.

How can we explain the fact that ordinary Gwagwalada Local Government Area has turned our school field into a beer parlor, with no resistance from the university’s management or alumni?

Have we sunk so low that even our recreational spaces are for public abuse while those who claim to love this school remain silent?

Alumni are supposed to give back — to mentor, donate, and lift their university to greater heights. Here, our alumni association seems more concerned with collecting rather than giving. Instead of building enduring legacies, they fight for relevance and crumbs, forgetting that a university is only as strong as the love and loyalty of its alumni.

Our silence is deafening. Our negligence is heartbreaking. We cannot keep treating the University of Abuja as a means to an end — a place to pick a certificate and vanish.

If we truly want Nigeria to thrive, we must start by nurturing and defending the institutions that shape our minds and values. How we treat our alma mater is a reflection of how we treat our nation.

History will remember our roles — or our silence.