A Tale of Second Chances and Silent Consequences
Across Nigerian campuses, a quiet debate is growing louder — one that tests the boundary between mercy and merit. In recent months, two of the country’s leading institutions, the University of Abuja (now Yakubu Gowon University) and Nnamdi Azikiwe University (UNIZIK), Awka, have found themselves at the heart of this debate, after granting amnesty to certain categories of students.
For some, these gestures represent compassion and inclusion. For others, they mark a dangerous slide toward academic compromise.
UNIZIK’s Olive Branch to Overstayed Students
At the 238th Senate meeting of Nnamdi Azikiwe University, held on Friday, October 3, 2025, at the Faculty of Social Sciences auditorium, Acting Vice-Chancellor Prof. Carol Arinze-Umobi announced a landmark decision: the university would grant amnesty to students who had overstayed their time on campus.
According to her, “the retinue of appeal letters from overstayed students necessitated the move, which she deemed fit to present on the floor of the Senate for approval.”
The amnesty, she explained, would run across two academic sessions — 2025/2026 and 2026/2027 — and would allow affected students to regularise their status and complete their programmes. She further urged them to “fully utilise the opportunity to address their academic challenges.”
Prof. Arinze-Umobi also highlighted UNIZIK’s recent progress: the university was chosen as one of three institutions per geopolitical zone for TETFund postgraduate sponsorship, while fourteen panels comprising forty-two members had conducted resource verification visits to prepare for twenty-three new academic programmes.
She lauded the university community for maintaining “peace and stability on campus.”
While the decision has been largely welcomed as a humane step, it has also rekindled a national question. Namely, “how much forgiveness can academia afford before it starts to lose its moral spine?”
The UniAbuja Controversy: When Amnesty Becomes a Battlefield
Earlier in 2025, the University of Abuja found itself engulfed in controversy after announcing a sweeping amnesty for students previously expelled or suspended for examination malpractice and related offences between 2020/2021 and the first semester of 2024/2025.
The decision, approved at the Senate’s 189th regular meeting, was intended to “give affected students a second chance.” But it triggered a storm.
The Concerned Alumni of the University of Abuja vehemently rejected the move, describing it as a “mockery of academic integrity.” They demanded the resignation of the Vice-Chancellor, the dissolution of the Senate, and the reversal of the policy.
In their words, “Where on earth do you hear of amnesty being granted to students who cheated in examinations? Are they militants that they should be granted amnesty as part of a peace-building process?”
The alumni argued that the decision not only rewarded dishonesty but also diminished the value of degrees earned through hard work. Some academics warned that the timing; just before the end of the acting Vice-Chancellor’s tenure — raised questions of motive and transparency.
In contrast to UNIZIK’s administrative amnesty for overstayed students, UniAbuja’s decision was seen as an ethical breach — one that risked turning the university’s culture of discipline into a casualty of expediency.
Mercy and the Missteps: The Risks Behind Academic Amnesty
Amnesty policies, no matter how well-intentioned, come with complex consequences. Education experts and alumni associations have pointed to several dangers:
1. Erosion of Academic Integrity: Amnesty for serious offences like examination malpractice can weaken institutional discipline, sending a message that dishonesty can be forgiven with time.
2. Reputation and Credibility Damage: Universities thrive on trust. A single lenient policy can cast doubt on the value of all degrees conferred, affecting graduates’ employability and global recognition.
3. Demoralisation of Staff and Honest Students: Lecturers who uphold ethics may feel betrayed. Students who stayed the course honestly could see their sacrifices devalued.
4. Opacity and Perceived Nepotism: Where selection criteria and beneficiary lists are not made public, suspicion of favoritism or political interference quickly follows.
5. Institutional Cultural Decay: Repeated pardons may erode the culture of accountability, creating generations of graduates who see rules as negotiable.
Between Mercy and Merit: Finding the Balance
In truth, not all amnesties are equal. UNIZIK’s decision focused on academic overstayers. It reflects empathy toward students who may have faced personal or systemic challenges. UniAbuja’s policy, however, touched the sacred ground of academic honesty, provoking a backlash that exposed the fragility of public trust in Nigerian higher education.
The lesson is clear: while mercy has its place in education, it must never replace merit. Forgiveness should correct — not condone.
If universities must grant amnesty, they must do so transparently, selectively, and with clear boundaries. Otherwise, noble intentions may erode the very standards that make universities centers of enlightenment and truth.
As one education analyst aptly put it, “Amnesty may reopen classrooms, but if it closes the conscience of the university, it has already failed.”