On Thursday, a dress code policy posted by Great Ife, a popular X account that shares news and stories associated with the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), generated sufficient controversy about the high-handedness of Nigerian public universities.
The account published what it claimed to be a dress code circular from Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, with a long list of clothing items and behaviours deemed inappropriate and punishable by rustication.
According to the document, students risked a semester-long suspension for wearing dreadlocks, shorts, tattered jeans, heavy makeup or rumpled clothes.
It went further, threatening a two-semester rustication for “unclenched hugging” between male and female students, wearing coloured hair and male students having braided hair. The document looked official, carried a reference number (RDBCA/UBK/XV/12/266) and was dated June 13, 2025.
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Some news outlets ran the story. The headlines framed it as a crackdown on indecent dressing by the OAU management, noting that students would have to “adjust their wardrobes” in line with the new rules.
At the time of this report, the original post had got 2.5 million impressions on X. More than 6,600 people liked the post and another 5,600 people had reposted.
VERIFICATION
FIJ found a basis to consider that the document did not originate from OAU.
WE HAVE SEEN THIS SCRIPT BEFORE
This is not the first time a circular with the exact content has gone viral. On a Sunday in August 2023, a document with the same set of rules surfaced online and trended. Several media outlets also ran the news then.
This is an excerpt of a report by The Guardian for instance, on the ‘new’ OAU dress code in 2023:
“…also banned backless clothes, transparent wear, off-shoulder clothes, bum shorts, tattered jeans, dreadlocks, earrings for male/cowries for female, and micro/mini dress.
It vowed that heavy make-ups, rumpled and dirty clothes, and hair plaiting or weaving by male students would no longer be tolerated on the campus.
According to the school, violators of any of the dress codes will be rusticated from the school for one semester while in addition, any student found with coloured hairstyles, hair braiding for males, or spangled hairstyle for males will be rusticated for two semesters from the school.
It said it would rusticate students found touching, kissing and hugging a member of the opposite sex and students found massaging or sitting on the lap of the opposite sex for two semesters.
The university also banned sagging of trousers or knickers for males and females, hair braiding for males, nose, mouth, eye or extra rings, crop/jump tops, unconventional wearing of caps, tattoo/indelible markings for males, multi-coloured braid for females, haircuts with inscriptions, T-shirts with obscene inscriptions depicting immorality, hooliganism, among others”.
On August 24, 2023, Abiodun Olarewaju, OAU’s spokesperson, was forced to clarify that the university had not issued the circular. At the time, he said that the university had indeed been working on a dress code policy but it had never issued a circular to that effect.
THE GREAT IFE ACCOUNT
The most recent version of the post did not originate from any of the university’s official accounts or the student union body. It was first shared by Great Ife, a social media page that presents conversations around the university but is not affiliated with its administration.
The official handles of the university and its student union can be found here and here.
OAU’S CONFIRMATION
When FIJ contacted Olanrewaju, the university’s Public Relations Officer, on Monday, he stated that the circulated document did not originate from the school management. He acknowledged that while the university was indeed considering implementing a dress code, the process was ongoing and no such directive had been issued.
Here are the words spoken by the university representative, extracted from the conversation:
“That circular that you’re seeing did not emanate from the University. However, we are working towards something like that, but ours is not in the form of a ‘must-be’ dress code in the university. We have been on it for a while.
“We don’t want our students dressing anyhow. Most of these dress styles go against our culture, and we wouldn’t want a situation where our students dress without regard for the academic and intellectual environment they’re in.
“There must be a difference between students in the university and those working in a hotel. Several units will have to give input so that everything is balanced.
“But what was circulated yesterday has nothing to do with the university administration.”
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For now, there is no dress code policy issued or enforced by OAU that threatens students with rustication for their fashion choices. Discussions may be ongoing behind closed doors but until a verified policy is publicly released, students are not bound by the circulating document.
VERDICT
False. The trending dress code circular attributed to OAU is not from the university. It has surfaced before, been discredited before, and remains nothing but a viral hoax.
The post FACT-CHECK: Did OAU Introduce New Dress Code Policy? Not Quite appeared first on Foundation For Investigative Journalism.