Nnamdi Azikiwe University: That Girl Should Not Have Been Expelled -By Vitus Ozoke, PhD

There appears a consensus of opinion on the summary expulsion of the Nnamdi Azikiwe University female student who publicly attacked and assaulted a male lecturer of the same university. Everybody seems to believe that her expulsion was the right and deserved punishment. I disagree.

Is she a bad, ill-mannered person? Absolutely! She demonstrated that publicly. Is she a bad student? We don’t know that; at least, not yet. I guess that begs the question: who is a good student? A good student is not necessarily a good person. A good student is not necessarily a student who makes good grades. A good student is a person who is trainable and educable. Unless the authorities of the university know something the rest of us don’t know, one bad public display does not offer enough evidence of the lady’s untrainability.

You see, school is not where only good and smart people go. It is also where bad and dumb fools, even idiots, go. If school were where only good and smart people go, then teachers are not earning their paychecks, and should all be expelled. Teachers earn their paychecks because they have as their clients and customers bad and dumb fools, even idiots. To dismiss a student for being a bad and dumb fool contradicts the whole reason and essence of school and the responsibility placed on teachers.

When parents pay to send their children and wards to school, they don’t do that so that their children and wards learn principles and theories alone; no, they do that so that their children and wards learn precepts and theology as well. Every school worth its founding salt includes the building of character in its organizing vision and mission. The mission of education is 80 percent discipline, and 20 percent diploma. It is 80 percent character, and 20 percent certificate.

Now, let’s look at what this young lady did, which I condemn totally. She overreacted. Note my terminology – (over)reacted. Did she have any reason to react? Yes. She had a reason to react. Her person was violated. From the video evidence, it is not clear that the good lecturer had said a previous “excuse me”, one that did not involve tapping the young lady on her shoulder. What the video evidence shows is where the good lecturer said “excuse me”, simultaneously tapping the lady on her shoulder. That’s a violation of her person. You don’t touch people without their consent, express or implied.

If the good lecturer had walked up to the young lady and yelled “excuse me”, without touching her, perhaps, that unfortunate and ugly incident would have been avoided. And to underscore the seriousness of touching people and violating their person, the good lecturer, even after yelling “excuse me”, to the lady’s hearing, still would not have acquired the right to touch her, if she refused to move. He should have called campus security to have her removed and further have her disciplined by university authorities.

Having said that, I still condemn the young lady’s overreaction. And please notice that I have addressed the lecturer as “the good lecturer” every time I have referred to him. That is intentional. I believe he is a decent man – just a bit “ignorant”. I have hedged ignorant in quotes, because I’m not completely sure about that. It might not have been ignorance; it might have been a little bit of intergenerational frustration. Notice that in his post-incident video explanation, the good lecturer harped on the fact that the young lady was blocking the hallway – and his way – because she was creating a TikTok content. How he knew what media platform the young lady was creating her content for beats me. So, there was a tinge of frustration (“with these kids”) right there.

Which brings me to the vicious and unrelenting demonization of the Gen-Z generational cohort that has erupted in Nigerian social media circles since that Nnamdi Azikiwe University incident. Slow your silly rolls, people! The joke might actually be on you. Yes, let’s crucify the young Gen Z generation for knowing their right not to be touched without their permission. Let’s kill them for resisting a violation of their person and personal space. You can say whatever you want to say about the young lady, but don’t make it about an entire generational cohort. But if you insist on making it about an entire generation, be my guest, and let’s see why Gen-Zs are well within their right to be on edge in Nigeria.

Why have Nigerian kids turned to TikTok content creation, instead of focusing on their books and classes? Have you thought about the lasting existential damage that your own (older) generation has done to Gen-Z’s future? These kids watch their future systematically and progressively stolen by politicians and older generations. They see their corrupt vice chancellors and professors collude with corrupt INEC officials and dirty politicians to rig elections and impose misery on them. So, if you are wondering why a Gen-Z student is resistant to her Nigerian lecturer and professor, there you have it. These kids create these contents to make ends meet and survive. Their parents and caretakers have been financially hollowed out in the misery that Nigeria has become. There you have it.

Now, let’s go back to why Nnamdi Azikiwe University should not have expelled the young lady. Unless there are prior records or other aggravating factors, that student should not have been expelled outrightly. She’s an ill-mannered student, but ill manner shouldn’t be reason enough to expel a student on a first strike. Suspend her for a semester or even a full academic year. Have her tender a public apology to the good lecturer. Make her attend anger management classes and therapy as part of her rehabilitation and a condition for her return to school. Give her a second chance!

If “they” could offer amnesty to a terrorist group that maimed and killed tens of thousands of Nigerians; if “they” could offer jobs, money, training, and scholarship to a group that has terrorized the whole nation into permanent and perpetual paranoia, why couldn’t “you” offer that good old scriptural forgiveness to a young lady who assaulted her 6ft male lecturer, not with a gun, nor with a bomb, but with her feeble hands? Why do terrorists deserve a lucrative second chance, but a young female student, with no criminal records, does not deserve a mere charitable second chance? Verified and verifiable criminals are sitting in government houses in Abuja and state capitals across Nigeria, but you are expelling a young female student for resisting a touch from a male lecturer. Really?

And let’s not act as if Nigerian male lecturers are untouched and untouchable saints. I know there are, but how many Nigerian male lecturers have not been “touched” by one or more of their female students? Let them stand up and let’s take a count. Why haven’t those female students been expelled? If you ask me, a female student who “touches” her male lecturer for grades or other favors deserves more punishment than a female student who fends off a touch on her shoulder by even a well-meaning and decent good male lecturer. But our society is accepting of a female student who touches her male lecturer all over his body more than it is forgiving of a female student who slaps a male lecturer on the face who first touches her. What a normative twist!

Bring that Girl Back!

#BringPreciousMbakweBack

* Dr. Vitus Ozoke is a lawyer, human rights activist, and public commentator based in the United States