NANS accuses outgoing UI VC of ‘Anti-Student’ rule, petitions ICPC for probe

By Salami AbdulHakeem 

The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has launched an open attack on the outgoing Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ibadan, Professor Kayode Oyebode Adebowale, accusing him of running an oppressive administration and calling on the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to investigate his tenure.

In a press release issued on 23 July 2026, NANS President, Comr. Akinteye Babatunde Afeez described Adebowale’s time in office as marked by policies that placed undue hardship on students and by a heavy-handed response to campus activism.

According to the statement, student leaders who pushed for improved welfare were met with intimidation, suspension, and expulsion, while the University of Ibadan Students’ Union was reduced to an institution that could “bark but not bite.” Comr. Babatee Said.

Comr. Babatee noted that he had tracked Adebowale’s conduct closely since his own earlier days as NANS Vice President for External Affairs, through his tenure as Senate President and now as NANS President, but chose to withhold public comment until the Vice-Chancellor’s exit was imminent.

He framed the timing as deliberate, arguing that a leader’s true character is revealed by how they wield power, and that Adebowale’s tenure had proven him unfit to be trusted with authority.

Beyond the allegations of repression, the NANS statement pointed to unspecified controversies and corruption allegations that trailed Adebowale’s administration, forming the basis of the association’s formal call for an ICPC investigation.

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NANS further warned that Adebowale had forfeited the goodwill of Nigerian students, who the association says make up more than 19 percent of the country’s population, and cautioned that students would mobilize against any future appointment involving him.

NANS also used medium to extend congratulations to Adebowale’s successor, Professor Peter Olamakinde Olapegba, urging the incoming Vice-Chancellor to break from what it characterized as his predecessor’s pattern and to prioritize student welfare, transparency, and a healthier academic environment at the University of Ibadan.

Neither Professor Adebowale nor the University of Ibadan management has publicly responded to the allegations as of the time of this report.

NANS, as the umbrella body for Nigerian students both at home and in the diaspora, has positioned the statement as part of a broader commitment to holding university administrators accountable and defending student leaders facing what it describes as institutional injustice.