2023/12/01 by Jeremiah O. Arowosegbe
Social Sciences · #African cultural and philosophical studies #Global Educational Policies and Reforms #Higher Education Governance and Development
paper · doi:10.1017/s0001972023000785
crossref issued 2023/12/01 · crossref published 2023/12/01 · crossref published-print 2023/12/01 · openalex publication_date 2023/12/01 · crossref published-online 2024/01/22 · crossref created 2024/03/04 · crossref deposited 2024/10/24 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · crossref indexed 2026/07/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/25
Abstract Extensively ignored by the literature on the subject, recent interest in the fate of academic freedom in Africa is linked with shared concerns about the exploding nature of its societal crises. The collapse of political integration and social cohesion; the decline of the civil society and the implosion of conflicts; the rise of authoritarian, non-developmental populist regimes amid extreme poverty; and the worsening material conditions of the populations are major indications of such crises. Nowhere are these crises worse illustrated than in the universities where constrained funding, infrastructural collapse, massive brain drains and strained relations with the state inhibit the production of knowledge. This article reflects on the trajectory of the universities in postcolonial Africa. It draws on the national public universities in Nigeria and accounts for the changes and continuities underlying their performance against the backdrop of hostile material conditions and uncongenial political control, which not only remain disruptive but continue to undermine institutional autonomy and the integrity of scholarship in the universities across Africa.