NANS gives UNIOSUN ultimatum over expulsion of 18 students

National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), Southwest Zone D, has given the management of Osun State University (UNIOSUN) a seven-day ultimatum to review the expulsion of 18 300-level Theatre Arts students over an alleged examination question leakage.

NANS threatened to commence peaceful and lawful mass action if the university fails to take meaningful steps towards reviewing the disciplinary action within the seven-day window.

In a statement signed by the Zonal Coordinator, Comrade Adeyemo Josiah Kayode, the student body said it was concerned that students allegedly involved in the examination question leakage at different levels had been subjected to the same punishment of expulsion.

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The association said its leadership had conducted a fact-finding exercise over the past weeks, including interviews with the affected students, a virtual engagement, and individual written submissions detailing how each student came in contact with the examination questions.

According to NANS, the exercise revealed the need to distinguish between students who allegedly accessed a lecturer’s computer, those who distributed the material, and those who merely received the questions through WhatsApp circulation without participating in the original compromise.

The association questioned the basis for the disciplinary action, asking whether each of the 18 students knew that the questions were authentic and had been leaked, whether they solicited the material, participated in obtaining it, or knowingly redistributed it.

NANS also raised concerns over the circumstances surrounding the alleged leakage, particularly reports that the examination questions were obtained from a lecturer’s computer.

It called for an independent review of the security of examination materials and the role of relevant staff, arguing that each student’s case should be adjudicated independently based on available evidence.

The association further expressed concern over what it described as the absence of meaningful student representation in proceedings that resulted in consequences as serious as the termination of the academic careers of 18 students.

It said appeals had been submitted, but academic activities were continuing while the affected students remained excluded.

NANS called on the Osun State Governor and Visitor to UNIOSUN, the university’s Governing Council, the Osun State Ministry of Education and the National Universities Commission (NUC) to intervene in the matter.

The student body warned that failure by the university management to take meaningful steps within seven days would compel it to commence consultations towards peaceful and lawful mass action.

“Let it be clearly stated that NANS does not condone examination malpractice, leakage of examination materials or any act capable of undermining academic integrity.

“However, protecting academic standards does not remove the obligation to ensure fairness, individual culpability, proportionality and transparency in disciplinary proceedings.

“The mere fact that material appeared on a student’s WhatsApp account cannot, without examining the surrounding circumstances, automatically establish that every recipient played the same role in the original compromise.

“We are not asking the University to abandon discipline. We are asking the University to distinguish between the principal perpetrator, active distributors, knowing participants and students whose involvement may have been substantially different.

“Let every student answer only for what credible evidence proves against him or her. Academic integrity must be protected, but justice, proportionality and fair hearing must equally remain fundamental values,” the statement concluded.