The Speak Out for Justice Advocacy Ltd/Gte (SOJA) has appealed to the management of Madonna University’s Elele Campus in Rivers State to reconsider the expulsion of a final-year nursing student and the one-year suspension of 14 others over a viral social media video, warning that disciplinary measures should not unnecessarily destroy the academic and professional futures of young people.
The human rights advocacy organisation urged the university to embrace proportionality, fairness, and compassion in resolving the controversy, while maintaining that students must be held accountable for breaches of professional ethics and institutional regulations.
In a press statement dated 9 October 2026, SOJA’s Founder and Executive Director, Hameed Ajibola Jimoh, stated that the university should consider less severe disciplinary measures where appropriate, including formal warnings, ethics training, counselling, and supervised remediation.
The appeal comes amid growing public reaction to the university’s decision to expel one 500-level nursing student and suspend 14 others for a year over a video showing nursing students dancing within the institution’s teaching hospital.
The video, which circulated widely on social media, was part of a trend featuring healthcare workers dancing in clinical environments and reportedly carried the caption, “No fall sick o, na Gen Z full hospital now.”
The incident has triggered calls from student organisations and human rights advocates for the university to review the sanctions, with concerns raised over the consequences for students who have invested years in their education and are nearing the completion of their nursing programmes.
SOJA acknowledged that professional discipline is essential—particularly in nursing, where patient dignity, privacy, confidentiality, and welfare must remain paramount. However, Jimoh argued that the severity of disciplinary measures should be assessed against the nature of the misconduct, the individual circumstances of the students, their academic records, and the availability of alternative corrective measures.
“Discipline must correct misconduct without unnecessarily destroying the future of young people,” he stated.
The organisation maintained that expulsion and lengthy suspensions, especially at an advanced stage of a degree programme, could have consequences extending far beyond the immediate disciplinary objective, including the loss of years of academic effort, financial investment, and future professional opportunities.
SOJA also invoked Nigeria’s constitutional and international human rights obligations, arguing that disciplinary proceedings should respect human dignity and the principles of a fair hearing. It cited Section 34 of the 1999 Constitution, which protects human dignity, and Section 36, which guarantees a fair hearing in the determination of civil rights and obligations.
The organisation further referenced Articles 5 and 17 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights concerning human dignity and the right to education, as well as Article 13 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which recognises the right to education.
However, SOJA acknowledged that these protections do not exempt students from reasonable university regulations or automatically invalidate disciplinary sanctions. Rather, it argued that the exercise of disciplinary authority should be guided by procedural fairness, proportionality, and respect for the legitimate educational interests of the affected students.
The organisation called on Madonna University to review the sanctions individually, ensure that the students have meaningful opportunities to be heard and pursue any available internal appeals, and consider alternative penalties where justified by the circumstances. It also urged the institution to strengthen training on patient confidentiality, professional ethics, digital responsibility, and respect for human dignity to prevent similar incidents.
SOJA’s intervention follows appeals by the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) and the Nigerian Universities Nursing Students’ Association (NUNSA) for the university to reconsider its decision. NANS has urged the institution to replace the expulsion with a stern warning, arguing that the harsh punishment could have lasting consequences for the affected students’ academic careers and professional aspirations.
NUNSA has similarly called for constructive engagement and a fair review of the disciplinary measures, disclosing that it has commenced discussions with relevant stakeholders to represent the interests of the affected students. Amnesty International has also urged the university to reverse the sanctions, describing them as disproportionate and advocating dialogue and mediation.
The controversy has generated contrasting reactions, with some Nigerians arguing that nursing students must uphold the highest standards of professional conduct—particularly within hospital environments—while others believe the sanctions should be reconsidered given the students’ advanced stage of academic progression.
SOJA stressed that its appeal should not be interpreted as an endorsement of misconduct, but rather as a call for accountability that takes the full consequences of punishment into consideration.
“A university should uphold standards while remaining an institution of learning, correction, and human development,” the organisation noted, adding that protecting patients and maintaining professional discipline are fully compatible with offering students a second chance where circumstances justify it.
SOJA urged the university management to exercise its discretion with wisdom and compassion, allowing the affected students to learn from the incident and rebuild their professional futures, subject to appropriate safeguards and accountability.
