A former Chief of Staff in the presidency, Prof. Ibrahim Agboola Gambari, has urged Nigerian academics to step out of their comfort zones and play a more active role in governance and policy direction.
Gambari who gave the warning in a public lecture he delivered on Saturday in Ilorin, Kwara State warned that continued silence by scholars could deepen democratic decline and institutional failure in the country.
Gambari delivered the lecture titled “Roles and Responsibilities of Academia in Good Governance” at the Annual Meeting of the Association of Ilorin Emirate Professors.
Drawing from decades of experience as an academic, diplomat, former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations and Chief of Staff to the late President Muhammadu Buhari, Gambari said the quality of governance in any society is directly linked to how effectively its academic community engages those in power.
“Academia and government operate in a mutually reinforcing ecosystem.
“I have seen up-close where government works and where it fails, and in both cases, academia had a role to play in the final outcome,” he said.
He stressed that scholars must see themselves as custodians of truth and the conscience of society, adding that power is easily lost when leaders fail to listen or carry the people along.
“Academics must caution political leaders. Power is never permanent, especially when it is exercised without inclusion and fairness,” Gambari warned.
Using Kwara State as an example, the elder statesman recalled key political turning points that reshaped the state’s leadership, including the defeat of the old Ilorin Province establishment by the Ilorin Talaka Parapọ̀ in 1957, the loss of Governor Adamu Atta in 1983, and the 2019 “O to gẹ” movement that led to a sweeping electoral victory for the opposition.
According to him, Nigeria’s growing youth population, rising social pressures and persistent governance gaps demand a new approach from universities and research institutions, particularly in evidence-based policymaking, civic education and capacity building.
He identified areas where academic expertise is urgently needed to support governance, including legislative research, public sector training, anti-corruption frameworks, digital governance, crisis management and climate resilience.
“Old methods of engagement no longer work in a society driven by technology, bold youth activism and rapid political change.
“Academics must remain independent but be courageous enough to speak truth to power,” he said.
Gambari listed core values of good governance to include ethics, transparency, accountability, rule of law, equity, participation and sustainability, noting that governance only earns legitimacy when citizens can see and measure these principles in action.
Placing Nigeria’s challenges within a global context, he said governments worldwide are grappling with geopolitical tensions, climate change, technological disruption and resurging nationalism, all of which make leadership decisions more complex.
He noted that successful democracies rely heavily on universities and research institutions for data-driven policies and ethical guidance, urging Nigerian scholars to adopt similar roles to prevent public distrust and social instability.
Gambari also called for stronger collaboration across disciplines, arguing that today’s governance challenges are too complex to be solved from a single academic perspective.
He urged scholars to leave their “ivory towers” and engage the public through constructive dialogue, while guarding against political compromise that could erode intellectual integrity.
“When the relationship between academia and governance is balanced, we see effective policies, democratic accountability and social development.
“When it is not, the result is chaos, distrust and societal breakdown,” he said.
The lecture ended with a call on Nigerian academics to sustain engagement at both national and global levels in order to strengthen governance structures and rebuild public confidence in leadership.
(vitalnewsngr.com)
