The Fight I Could Not Retire From
I retired in April 2025
But I did not retire from the fight.
For 36 years, I served inside the Nigerian university system.
I rose from Assistant Library Officer in the University Library to Executive Officer, where I climbed the ladder to the position of Principal Executive Officer 1. A cadre in the registry often seen as that of a glorified clerk.
Having realised this, I fought for conversion from the executive cadre to the Administrative cadre.
From Senior Assistant Registrar to Deputy Registrar, I eventually became Acting Registrar of Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, where I retired at the mandatory retirement age.
I chaired SSANU AAU. I sat at the national table as a member of the FG/SSANU 2009 Renegotiation Team and served in the 6-Man Joint Secretariat of the renegotiation team.
I was also Vice-Chairman of NLC Edo State.
Professionally, I remained active, serving as Chairman of ANUPA Association of Nigerian University Professional Administrators.
I championed staff development, both within and outside the university, leading a total of 23 administrative staff to the Administrative Staff College of Nigeria (ASCON), Topo-Badagry, for professional training.
I saw the files. I signed the queries. I enforced the 2-week transcript service charter. I digitized student records when others said it was impossible.
I dismissed the thieves.
I also buried the honest men the system broke.
That experience taught me one thing: our universities are not failing because they lack resources alone. They are failing because they have normalized silence, compromise, and decay.
And every year, we pretend otherwise.
We blame poor funding.
We blame government.
We blame policy.
But too often, we refuse to confront the internal rot.
That refusal is what keeps us trapped.
That is why I founded CampusDialog.
Not as a gossip blog.
Not as a platform for noise.
But as a surgical theatre for truth.
Because our universities are dying in silence.
Webometrics ranks us outside the best 1,000.
Our graduates are increasingly unemployable.
Our research contributes little to GDP.
Our postgraduate schools have become cemeteries of dreams.
And our registries, in too many places, operate like marketplaces rather than custodians of records.
No more.
CampusDialog exists to expose the rot, explain the system, elevate standards, and empower the people.
We will confront fraud, sex-for-grades, degree racketeering, and diversion of public trust.
We will also spotlight institutions proving that excellence is still possible.
We will document reform so others can replicate it.
And we will give students, parents, and honest staff the knowledge they need to challenge failure.
I make this promise:
I will not write what is popular.
I will write what is true.
I will not protect the guilty.
I will protect the record.
I will not speak merely as a unionist.
I will speak as a man who has seen the inside and outside of the university system, having headed the registry for 30 months.
If you are a student tired of endless strikes, this is your voice.
If you are a parent who paid fees for eight years on a four-year course, this is your evidence.
If you are a staff member who still believes in merit, this is your defence.
If you are a Vice-Chancellor who wants to reform, this is your blueprint.
The ivory tower has locked its gates against accountability for too long.
CampusDialog opens them.
The truth starts here.
The cleaning starts with us.
Because if we cannot clean the tower, the world will simply walk past it.
And history will record that we chose silence over reform.
I refuse that silence.
That is the fight I could not retire from.
Ambrose Odiase, FIPMA, MANUPA, MAUA (UK)
Founding Editor, CampusDialog
Retired Acting Registrar, Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma
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