Obi decries repeate cancellation of university engagements

Former presidential candidate of Labour Party, Mr. Peter Obi, has raised the alarm over what he described as a disturbing pattern of cancelled university engagements across Nigeria, warning that intellectual freedom in the country’s institutions of higher learning is increasingly under threat.

Obi, in a statement released on Saturday via X.com said he was scheduled to deliver a keynote lecture at Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, at 9am, before proceeding to Ibadan for an opposition parties’ political summit billed to commence at noon, when he received word that the event had been called off.

The former Anambra State governor said the development was far from an isolated occurrence, disclosing that similar cancellations had taken place on more than 10 separate occasions.

“While such occurrences may be dismissed in isolation, it is important to state clearly that this has now happened more than 10 times. This is no longer incidental; it points to a troubling pattern that should concern all well-meaning Nigerians,” he said.

Obi revealed that his alma mater, the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, was equally affected, noting that an inaugural annual lecture organised by the family of late Professor Frank Ndili, a former Vice Chancellor of the institution, was abruptly cancelled by the university authority on the day it was to hold.

Drawing a contrast with his experiences abroad, he said that within the past 24 months, he had freely delivered lectures at some of the world’s most prestigious institutions, including Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard, Yale, Princeton, the University of Chicago, the University of Pennsylvania, and Imperial College London, among others.

“Those environments continue to demonstrate openness to dialogue, critical thinking, and shared learning — values that should equally define our own institutions,” he stated.

Obi questioned what the repeated restriction of intellectual platforms indicated about Nigeria’s direction as a nation, arguing that a country’s growth was inseparable from its capacity to sustain open debate and the free exchange of ideas.

“We must ask ourselves: what kind of nation are we building if spaces meant for intellectual engagement are gradually shrinking? A country’s progress is anchored on its ability to encourage knowledge, debate, and the contest of ideas, not restrict them,” he said.

He called on Nigeria to chart a course toward becoming a society where knowledge is shared without fear and where its institutions remained faithful to the principles upon which they were founded.