The University of Maiduguri (UNIMAID) chapter of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has opposed the Federal Government’s decision to rename the institution after former President Muhammadu Buhari.
The union, through its UNIMAID chairman, Dr. Abubakar Mshelia Saidu, told reporters yesterday in Maiduguri after a congress meeting that the government’s action was “provocative, unacceptable, and deeply offensive” to the values of academic freedom, institutional integrity, and democratic governance.
According to Dr. Saidu, the move is a blatant disregard for university autonomy and academic freedom.
He argued that the name University of Maiduguri is not just a label, but an identity rooted in decades of scholarship, sacrifice, and service to the Northeast and Nigeria at large.
The union leader noted that the decision to rename the university without consultation with its governing council, the workers, the students, the alumni, or the host community was a recipe for disaster.
“To erase that legacy without engagement is to insult the very soul of this institution,” he said.
