Students Union, University Administration and Political Development of Nations

Abstract

Many countries have not appropriately interpreted the role of students union in effective administration of their universities and the development of their polities in general. Nigeria, particularly, has some universities that still, in this century, regard students union as an impediment to peaceful administration; with old ones proscribing and new ones avoiding it; while the government does nothing to check the situation. After a content analysis of literature on global reasons for establishing universities, the peculiarity of university students as elites in training, as well as a trajectory of students’ union activities in university administration and political development around the world, this paper asserts, resting on the reciprocal determinism of the social learning theory, that students union makes university administration smooth. It also strategically assists university students to acquire the skills they need for developing the politics of their countries. The paper recommends, among other things, that universities all over the world, whether owned by governments, individuals, trusts or even religious bodies, should be mandated to have students union for effective administration of their institutions and continuity of their countries’ political development.