Students’ Activism: Intersection of Challenges and Opportunities for Good Governance in South West, Nigeria

Abstract

Good governance forms the fulcrum of state legitimacy which is dependent on the cooperation of all segments of the society. Thus, students’ movements by their numerical capacity and status as young political elites in training are integral part of political spectrum globally. Through, their advocacy, activism and engagement, they have not only shaped and influenced educational policies in higher institutions of learning; they have become influential in changing the narratives and dynamics of public policies. The Nigerian students are not exempted from the foregoing. Their documented cases of holding governments accountable before the Fourth Republic have promoted good governance. However, the capacity and quality of the Nigerian students’ leadership is on a decline due to lack of internal cohesion, material inclination, loss of public legitimacy and disoriented leadership. This has created disconnection between students’ activism expected roles to interrogate public policy to the advantage of Nigerians. The study is qualitatively designed with primary and secondary data. The primary data was sourced through 10 key informant interviews conducted while published journals, textbooks, magazines and other textual materials were used as secondary data. It used students’ socio-political role theory as framework of analysis. The findings revealed that students’ activism failed to impact on good governance in Southwest due to pervasive hegemonic political antics of the state governors, unnecessary political ambitions of the students’ leaders and depleted leftist ideology in the students’ constituency. The study recommends for paradigm shift in the mode of recruiting students’ leadership and integration of students’ leadership in the policymaking circles of government among others, to strengthen students’ capacity to improve good governance in Southwest Nigeria.