Lawyer Rasheedat Adeshina don remind Nigerians of one university battle wey start as student activism but later turn into a 14-year legal fight for her academic certificate. Adeshina entered the University of Ilorin in 1995 to study Industrial Chemistry and became involved in students’ union activities before trouble began following student protests during the late 1990s.
After she completed her final examinations, UNILORIN withheld her results and certificate. Instead of abandoning the matter, Adeshina carried the case from the Federal High Court to the Court of Appeal and eventually to the Supreme Court, where she won in 2014. The university was subsequently required to release her certificate and pay damages.
From Student Protest to Courtroom Marathon
Adeshina’s trouble reportedly started around 1998 when students protested against increased school fees and poor welfare conditions. She was an Assistant Secretary-General of the UNILORIN Students’ Union at the time, and after the authorities moved against student activists, she was suspended. She challenged the suspension in court and won, but she said the university still resisted the court order before eventually allowing her to sit her examinations.
The final examination itself therefore reportedly became another episode of the struggle. Adeshina said she sometimes went into the examination hall carrying a court order, ready to produce it if anybody tried to stop her from writing the paper. After she completed her studies, however, the bigger battle started because the university refused to release her final result and certificate.
UNILORIN Took the Matter to the Supreme Court
When the university refused to release her academic documents, Adeshina returned to court in 2004. The Federal High Court ruled in her favour, and the Court of Appeal also upheld the decision in 2006. UNILORIN continued the legal battle until the matter reached the Supreme Court, which on June 6, 2014, ruled in Adeshina’s favour.
While waiting for justice, Adeshina refused to allow the missing certificate completely stop her future. She later wrote another GCE, JAMB and Post-UTME and gained admission to the University of Ibadan to study Law in 2013/14. She was already a law student when the Supreme Court finally delivered the judgment that ended her long battle with UNILORIN.
Her story eventually became a powerful example of how student activism, education and the courts can collide in Nigeria. In November 2015, Adeshina and fellow former UNILORIN student activist Lanre Akinola received their certificates after years of legal struggle; contemporary reports put Adeshina’s wait at about 14 years.
For Adeshina, the matter was never simply about a piece of paper. It was about whether a university could withhold the academic reward of a student who had completed the required work because of a dispute surrounding activism. Her journey from Industrial Chemistry student, to court fighter, to law student and eventually lawyer remains one of those Nigerian education stories wey make person ask: how many years should certificate matter take before school and student finally settle? OGM News Pidgin go continue to follow stories wey touch education, students’ rights and accountability, because this kind history still get plenty lessons for today’s universities.
Table of Contents
Discover more from OGM News NG
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
