Nigeria, June 8 -- It's sad no, it's enraging that in the face of the painful death of Prof. Roko, a fellow academic's best contribution is to throw a blanket of shame over the entire academic community with the tired line: "Well, professors rig elections too."

Yes, some do. And shame on them. But to use that to dismiss the systemic starvation, abandonment, and death of lecturers is a disgusting moral evasion.

Let's be clear:

The corrupt professor who helps a politician rig an election is not the same as the professor dying in silence on a sickbed because he hasn't been paid for three months.

Not every professor is an INEC returning officer.

Not every academic is on the payroll of corrupt politicians.

And certainly, not every intell...