Summary: Suspended ABSU Professor Nnamdi Nwaeze finally speaks out after being sanctioned for his viral Facebook post comparing the earnings of university professors to keke napep riders in Nigeria.
Professor Nnamdi Nwaeze of Abia State University (ABSU) has finally broken his silence after the institution slammed him with a suspension following a Facebook post that set Nigerian social media on fire.
The outspoken academic had taken to Facebook to make a painful but relatable observation — that some keke napep (tricycle) riders in Nigeria are currently earning more than university professors. A statement that, if we are being honest, many Nigerians nodded their heads to.
The Post That Shook ABSU
For anyone who has watched a hardworking lecturer struggle to make ends meet while a savvy keke rider in Aba or Umuahia pockets thousands of naira daily from transport fares, Professor Nwaeze’s comments were not exactly breaking news. It was the kind of truth that sits heavily in the chest — the sort of thing people whisper at faculty meetings but rarely say out loud.
But Professor Nwaeze said it out loud. On Facebook, no less.
The university authorities, apparently unimpressed by his candour, responded swiftly with a suspension — a move that itself sparked fresh outrage among Nigerians who felt the institution was punishing a man for simply stating facts.
Professor Nwaeze Finally Speaks
Now, after days of silence, the suspended professor has come forward to address the controversy surrounding his case. His decision to speak out signals that he has no intentions of quietly accepting what many have described as a heavy-handed response from the university administration.
—
Nigerians React
As expected, Nigerians on social media were not having it. Many took to Twitter (now X), Facebook, and WhatsApp groups to defend the professor, arguing that rather than suspend him, ABSU should be looking inward and asking the hard questions about why Nigerian academics are so poorly remunerated.
“So instead of fixing the salaries, they suspended the man for talking about it? Classic Nigeria,” one Twitter user wrote.
The situation has once again thrown a spotlight on the long-standing crisis in Nigeria’s public university system — from ASUU strikes to unpaid salaries, poor research funding, and brain drain that continues to send some of the country’s finest academic minds abroad.
—
The Bigger Picture
Professor Nwaeze’s post, however controversial ABSU found it, touches on a deeply uncomfortable reality. Nigeria’s educational sector has been battling underfunding and neglect for decades. Meanwhile, the informal economy — from keke riders to roadside traders — often provides more immediate and tangible income for everyday Nigerians.
It raises a legitimate question: Are we truly valuing education and the people who deliver it?
Until Nigerian universities — especially state-owned ones — address the welfare of their academic staff, stories like Professor Nwaeze’s will keep resurfacing. And Nigerians will keep talking about them.
Stay with us for updates as this story develops.
For more information, check buzzUp9ja
Be the first to comment