By Odita Sunday
The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has condemned the suspension of Professor Nnamdi Nwaeze by Abia State University (ABSU), describing the action as an alleged attempt to suppress his constitutionally guaranteed freedom of expression.
HURIWA, in a statement signed by its National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Nnadozie Onwubiko, on Saturday, demanded the immediate and unconditional reinstatement of the lecturer, who it said was suspended after publicly commenting on the economic challenges confronting university professors.
The group was particularly concerned by Professor Nwaeze’s reported claim that some professors earn less than N400,000 monthly, while some commercial tricycle operators, popularly known as Keke riders, could earn more cumulatively.
HURIWA questioned whether publicly discussing the economic welfare of academics had become a disciplinary offence, urging the university management to publish the correct figures if it considered the lecturer’s claims inaccurate.
“If the figures are wrong, ABSU management should publish the correct figures and challenge the lecturer’s claims with facts. The answer to criticism in a democracy is not suspension. The answer is evidence, engagement and transparency,” the group said.
It argued that universities should remain centres of learning, intellectual freedom and critical inquiry, rather than institutions where academics are required to surrender their constitutional rights.
HURIWA also cited Section 39 of the 1999 Constitution, which guarantees freedom of expression, including the right to hold opinions and impart ideas and information without interference.
The organisation urged ABSU management to withdraw what it described as a disproportionate punitive response and warned that any investigative panel set up over the matter should not be used to intimidate or punish the lecturer.
It further called on the Abia State Government to intervene in the matter and ensure that public institutions under its authority do not develop a culture where criticism is treated as insubordination and dissenting views are punished through administrative measures.
“Abia State is not a police state. The university is not a detention centre. And a lecturer does not lose his constitutional rights because he works for a public institution,” HURIWA said.
The group challenged ABSU management to identify the specific provision of law or university regulation which makes public discussion of salaries and the economic welfare of academics an offence warranting suspension.
It said it would monitor the proceedings of the investigative panel and would deploy all lawful constitutional and human-rights mechanisms available to it if Professor Nwaeze was subjected to further sanctions for expressing his views.
“The right to speak does not belong only to those who praise government or university authorities. It belongs equally to those who ask uncomfortable questions,” HURIWA added.
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