Outrage at UniAbuja as SUG Health Director Turns Drug Test Policy Into Private Monopoly

Shock and anger have trailed a controversial memo issued by the current Students’ Union Government (SUG) Director of Health, Comr. Hasif Olanrewaju, who has unilaterally directed that all 100-level students of the University of Abuja must undergo their mandatory drug test only at the University Clinic — a move many have described as autocratic, exploitative, and financially motivated.

This sudden directive, contained in an official memo signed by Olanrewaju and circulated widely across campus, has sparked outrage among students and observers who accuse the SUG Health Director of turning a student welfare initiative into a personal profit scheme.

The drug test policy was first introduced under the Prof. Abdul-Rasheed Na’Allah administration as a reform-driven, voluntary initiative to discourage drug abuse among students.

In his wisdom, the former Vice-Chancellor explicitly stated that students could carry out the test at any government-approved laboratory to avoid inconvenience or financial exploitation.

However, under the present SUG Health Directorate, that democratic and student-friendly approach has been replaced with what many have called a dictatorial order — forcing all new students to take the test in a single “approved” centre, with no official consent from the University management or the current Acting Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Matthew Adamu.

In the now-viral memo dated 3rd of November, he directed:

“Students are hereby directed to proceed to the University Clinic for their drug test and are strongly advised not to carry out the test at any other facility outside the laboratories at the University Clinic.

Please note that only results obtained from the University Clinic will be recognized and accepted for the ongoing medical screening exercise.”

The memo, signed under his name, effectively nullifies every other testing option previously approved under the University’s original health policy.

Multiple student sources and SUG insiders allege that Olanrewaju’s sudden insistence on a single testing centre may not be unconnected to private financial interests, as the said centre has been linked to a private contractor rumoured to have “settled” the health director in exchange for monopoly control.

“This is not leadership — this is extortion dressed in authority,” fumed a student from the Faculty of Social Sciences. “The former VC gave us options to test anywhere. Why is a student leader forcing us to one centre? Who benefits?”

Another student, from Biological Sciences, called the move “the birth of dictatorship in student governance,” comparing the memo to a decree from Adolf Hitler rather than a democratic union.

“We voted for comrades, not commanders,” she added. “He can’t sit in an office and decide where 10,000 students should take a medical test.”

Checks by Campus Watch reveal that the University Management neither issued nor approved the directive.

Sources within the Dean of Students’ Affairs office confirmed that no such restriction was authorized by either Dr. Idoko Sunday Idoko (Dean of Students) or Prof. Matthew Adamu (Acting VC).

“The University’s position remains the same,” one senior staff member told our correspondent.

“Students can do their drug tests in any government-approved health centre. That was the policy under Prof. Na’Allah, and it hasn’t changed.”

Civil groups and student coalitions, including the Make Abuja Great Again (MAGA) movement, have now called for an immediate probe into the matter.

In a statement released on Wednesday, MAGA’s Director-General described the SUG Health Director’s action as a “betrayal of student trust and a breach of administrative ethics.”

“We cannot have student leaders acting like warlords,” the statement read. “The SUG Health Director must withdraw this illegal memo immediately, and the University must investigate the alleged financial compromise behind this move.”

If left unchecked, analysts warn, this episode could set a dangerous precedent where student leaders abuse official platforms for personal profit, rather than service.

“No university in Nigeria — not UI, not UNILAG, not ABU — has ever allowed a student officer to dictate where students take medical tests,” said a senior lecturer in Political Science. “This is unheard of, and it must be reversed before it damages UniAbuja’s image.”

For now, the University of Abuja community waits for an official reaction from the Acting Vice-Chancellor’s office. But one thing is clear: this scandal has ripped open deep questions about accountability, greed, and governance — not just among politicians in Abuja, but among those who claim to represent the students within it.

As one final-year Law student bluntly put it:

“If this is what student leadership has become, then we don’t have comrades anymore — we have contractors.”