Key Points

• One lecturer calls on government to preserve university act for NAUB.

• The appeal stresses regional stability and development under the preserve university act.

• The preserve university act issue concerns institutional structure and oversight at NAUB.

On Friday, the academic community in Borno State was shaken when a senior lecturer at Nigerian Army University Biu (NAUB) made an official request to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the National Assembly.

Dr. Audu Ibrahim Adamu told them not to pass any laws or take any administrative actions that would weaken or get rid of the law that supports the institution’s foundation. He specifically asked the government to protect the university act that created NAUB and the way it runs its military and civilian affairs.

The 2020 Act that set up NAUB created a one-of-a-kind model: a civilian-academic university with a lot of military oversight, located in a region that is still recovering from an insurgency. Dr. Adamu said that changing NAUB into a generic “Federal University, Biu” or moving it to a different location would destroy its founding character, make security less strict, and stop it from fulfilling its mission of stabilising the North-East. He put his words in a statement called “Do Not Murder or Erase NAUB.”

Why it’s important to keep the university act in place

Dr. Adamu said that the special law gives NAUB direct support for infrastructure, research, and discipline.

He said that the model helps with quick rebuilding and keeping order in areas that are under stress. He said that the university has both military and civilian students and staff, and that changing the legal basis would have an effect on governance, funding, and institutional autonomy. He stressed that keeping the university act in place is also important for keeping the region’s fragile stability.

What would change at NAUB if it were repealed

The lecturer said that if the government changes or gets rid of the founding act, NAUB could lose its military partnership, discipline systems, and specialised research agenda for the armed forces and the local community. The army’s supervision has been very important for campus safety and getting students to enrol after the war. Dr. Adamu said that without clear communication with all the stakeholders, including students, staff, military authorities, and regional leaders, the results could be unpredictable.

What happens next and how the government reacts

Dr. Adamu has asked the President and lawmakers to hold public hearings, get input from NAUB’s internal community and federal defence stakeholders, and promise to uphold the law. He was open to talking about changes, but he wanted to be careful and said that the university act should be kept in place first. The national government has not yet made a public statement.

The call to keep the university act in place raises bigger questions about how Nigeria can reform higher education while also keeping the peace in the regions, and whether specialised schools like NAUB should stay under hybrid governance structures or be merged into larger federal systems. For now, people like Adamu who work in academics are hoping the government listens and that NAUB’s original vision lives on.