A LEGAL APPRAISAL OF THE DECLINE OF THE STUDENTS' MOVEMENT AND ITS IMPACT ON GOVERNANCE IN NIGERIA

Abstract

Students‘ unionism in Nigeria represents one of the most enduring and transformative social movements in the country‘s modern political history. From its colonial origins in the 1930s, through the emergence of the National Union of Nigerian Students (NUNS) in 1956, to the radical resistance epitomized by the 1978 —Ali Must Go‖ crisis, and the eventual creation of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) in 1980, students were the bastion of justice, democracy, and social reform until its unfortunate decline. This paper adopted the doctrinal method and used the historical and analytical approaches in providing a historical examination of students‘ unionism in Nigeria, interrogated its decline and the impact on good governance on the larger society. It was found that the enactment of the Students‘ Union Activities (Control and Regulation) Decree No. 47 of 1989 represented the fossil era of Military regimes toward the students‘ movement in Nigeria. Rights were abused and the civil space for the cultivation of vibrant student unionism was constricted. This paper argued that the introduction of civil government in 1999 has been unable to clear the hangover from the Military regimes. The larger impact of this anomaly on the society includes loss of democratic nursery, weakened resistance to impunity and elite capture. This paper recommended statutory guarantees for freedom of association in higher institutions, judicial activism in protecting student rights, legislative reforms to prevent arbitrary proscription of unions and encouraging civic education and non-violent unionism.