Dear Advocate of Reasoning,
The Liberalist’s latest article tells a sobering story about the erosion of press freedom, which is the foundation of our rights.
At Nigeria’s University of Ibadan, Akanni Oluwasegun arrived to cover the inauguration of newly elected student leaders. He stayed behind his phone, documenting speeches and capturing moments of the day. But when security operatives began dragging an elected SRC member, Nice Linus, out of the venue, Akanni did what any journalist would do; he moved closer to record it.
Deputy Registrar Tijani Musa spotted him and shouted: “He’s recording!” In seconds, three security officers pounced and slammed Akanni against a wall, slapped him multiple times, seized his phone, and dragged him away.
When Olanshile Ogunrinu, president of the Union of Campus Journalists, tried to intervene, they beat him too, seized his phone, and held it for hours.
The brutality of that day sent a dangerous message: that students who dare to speak out or expose injustice should expect violence, not protection.
And it fits into a much larger trend.
Across Nigeria, attacks on journalists are rising. In 2024 alone, security forces committed 128 violations against the press. During the August protests last year, they assaulted 56 journalists in just 10 days.
Universities, supposed to protect inquiry and debate, are leading the attack. Last year, Usmanu Danfodiyo University suspended Pen Press, a student publication. In 2020, Adamawa State University banned a campus press club for three months.
The Nigerian Constitution assigns the media a duty to hold power accountable and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights protects free expression. Meanwhile, the institutions where they teach the law and train students in civil obedience now trample on it.
“The danger,” says Lekan Otufodunrin of the Media Career Development Network, “is that student journalists begin to believe they have no voice even before they enter the profession.”
When we silence campus journalists, we do more than harm individuals. We corrode the future of free expression itself. We tell young people that the safest choice is fear.
Read the full story on The Liberalist here.
This is Letters of Reasoning and this is from The Liberalist.
