By Mahmud Tim Kargbo
When Fourah Bay College opened in 1827, it was hailed as the “Athens of West Africa.” It promised more than literacy; it offered enlightenment, a place where persuasion could defeat anger. Almost two centuries later, Sierra Leone’s universities stand at a dangerous crossroads. They are too often arenas of rage instead of sanctuaries of reason. The question facing the country is clear. Will campuses continue as battlegrounds of protest or be reclaimed as schools of disciplined inquiry?
The origins of this crisis stretch back further than most admit. At independence, Sir Milton Margai preserved the colonial model of higher education. Fourah Bay College remained small, selective and elite. Curricula prioritised colonial-era disciplines instead of technical and vocational skills. Promised expansion of teacher training and applied sciences lagged behind, leaving thousands excluded. This decision to preserve exclusivity, while politically convenient, sowed the seeds of later unrest.
Reference: http://www.britannica.com/topic/Fourah-Bay-College
Sir Albert Margai’s centralising style further alienated students who sought open debate. By the late 1970s, under Siaka Stevens, corruption and authoritarianism provoked major student uprisings. The most infamous was the 1977 Fourah Bay College protest, crushed with arrests and intimidation. Joseph Saidu Momoh inherited collapsing institutions. By the late 1980s, universities were underfunded, lecturers unpaid and students frustrated. Police responded with tear gas instead of reforms.
The descent into civil war under the NPRC was catastrophic. By 1995, UNESCO recorded fewer than 2,000 students in functioning universities nationwide. Fourah Bay College and Njala were shells of themselves. Some students fled; others were pulled into armed groups. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission later concluded that youth marginalisation, corruption and disregard for truth were among the drivers of the war.
Reference: http://www.sierraleonetrc.org/index.php/view-report-text-vol1/item/volume-one-chapter-two?category_id=12
Ahmad Tejan Kabbah oversaw a return to democracy in 1996, but universities remained starved of funds. By 2006, enrolment had reached 12,000, but infrastructure was still in ruins. Njala University students staged protests in 2005 demanding basic facilities. Under Ernest Bai Koroma, enrolment exploded to 35,000 by 2015, but resources lagged far behind. Strikes, salary arrears and infrastructure breakdowns culminated in the 2016 Njala University shutdown.
Reference:
http://www.irinnews.org/news/2016/02/25/sierra-leone-students-protest-over-university-closures
Julius Maada Bio’s government brought some liberalisation. The repeal of the seditious libel law in 2020 was a landmark for free expression. Yet conditions on campuses remained combustible. Tuition protests erupted, and in August 2022, student grievances over fees and unemployment fused with wider economic anger to spark deadly unrest. Dozens were killed. Once again, universities were at the centre of a national tragedy.
References:
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-53599564
http://www.reuters.com/world/africa/dozens-dead-after-violent-protests-sierra-leone-2022-08-11/
To understand this history fully, we must look beyond Sierra Leone’s borders. Higher education was shaped by colonial policy that kept access narrow and curricula foreign. In the 1980s and 1990s, the International Monetary Fund and World Bank demanded austerity through structural adjustment programmes. This slashed education budgets just as enrolment was rising. Oxfam’s 2021 report Adding Fuel to the Fire: How IMF Demands for Austerity Will Drive Inequality and Harm Recovery warned that such conditions deepen inequality and undermine investment in public goods like education. Christian Aid’s 2020 briefing Sierra Leone: Trapped in Debt, Denied Development showed how debt servicing drained funds away from schools and universities, locking the country in underdevelopment.
References:
http://www.oxfam.org/en/research/adding-fuel-fire
http://www.christianaid.org.uk/resources/about-us/sierra-leone-trapped-debt-denied-development
These external constraints compounded domestic failures. But responsibility lies squarely with Sierra Leone’s leaders to defend intellectual life, fund universities sustainably and align curricula with the economy. The 1991 Constitution guarantees freedom of expression while allowing proportionate restrictions for public order and safety. The principle is clear. Universities must be safe spaces for reasoned dissent, research and critique, not for mob violence or partisan manipulation.
Reference: http://www.sierra-leone.org/Laws/constitution1991.pdf
Reform is possible. Independent tribunals for academic freedom disputes can replace tear gas with due process. Compulsory civic education and structured debate courses can turn grievance into argument. Funding must be stabilised through transparent multi-year budgets. Curricula must be rebalanced towards skills that match real labour market needs in agriculture, health, engineering and digital technology.
The lessons are sobering. The 1977 Fourah Bay College crackdown proved that repression breeds confrontation. The 2016 Njala shutdown showed that underfunding destroys trust. The 2022 unrest revealed how student anger, fused with economic pain, can convulse a nation.
The way forward is simple but urgent. Protect reason, not rage. If Sierra Leone’s universities are to reclaim the spirit of the “Athens of West Africa,” they must be rebuilt as sanctuaries of persuasion, responsibility and intellectual courage. Rage cannot educate. Only reason can.
Appendix: University Crisis in Sierra Leone –Data and Events by Government Era
Sir Milton Margai 1961 to 1964
Enrolment fewer than 1,000 students
Spending about 2.0 percent of GDP
Issue preserved elite colonial model of higher education
Reference: http://www.britannica.com/topic/Fourah-Bay-College
Sir Albert Margai 1964 to 1967
Enrolment about 1,200
Spending below 2.0 percent of GDP
Issue centralisation deepened mistrust on campuses
Reference: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.XPD.TOTL.GD.ZS?locations=SL
Siaka Stevens 1968 to 1985
Enrolment about 4,000 by early 1980s
Spending about 1.8 percent of GDP
Event 1977 Fourah Bay College protests crushed by force
References:
http://uis.unesco.org/en/country/sl
http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/380181468742512999/Sierra-Leone-Education-sector-review
Joseph Saidu Momoh 1985 to 1992
Enrolment about 3,500 by 1990
Spending about 1.5 percent of GDP
Event graduate unemployment exceeded 50 percent
Reference:
http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.XPD.TOTL.GD.ZS?locations=SL
NPRC Military Rule 1992 to 1996
Enrolment fewer than 2,000 by 1995
Event campuses abandoned or militarised during war
References:
http://uis.unesco.org/en/country/sl
http://www.sierraleonetrc.org/index.php/view-report-text-vol1/item/volume-one-chapter-two?category_id=12
Ahmad Tejan Kabbah 1996 to 2007
Enrolment rose from 3,500 in 2000 to 12,000 in 2006
Spending about 2.4 percent of GDP
Event 2005 Njala protests against poor facilities
Reference: http://hdr.undp.org/data-center/country-insights#/ranks/SLE
Ernest Bai Koroma 2007 to 2018
Enrolment reached 35,000 by 2015
Spending between 2.5 and 3.0 percent of GDP
Event 2016 Njala shutdown with mass protests
References:
http://uis.unesco.org/en/country/sl
http://www.irinnews.org/news/2016/02/25/sierra-leone-students-protest-over-university-closures
Julius Maada Bio 2018 to present
Enrolment about 55,000 by 2022
Spending about 4.2 percent of GDP by 2021
Event August 2022 protests turned deadly amid student and national grievances
References:
http://uis.unesco.org/en/country/sl
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-53599564
http://www.reuters.com/world/africa/dozens-dead-after-violent-protests-sierra-leone-2022-08-11/
External and neocolonial factors
Colonial legacy restricted access and narrowed curricula
Structural adjustment cut education budgets in the 1980s and 1990s
Debt servicing continues to crowd out investment
References:
http://www.oxfam.org/en/research/adding-fuel-fire
http://www.christianaid.org.uk/resources/about-us/sierra-leone-trapped-debt-denied-development
http://www.worldbank.org
http://www.imf.org
http://www.unesco.org/gem-report
http://www.unicef.org/sierra-leone/education