ABSTRACT

The ceremonial opening of the University of Nigeria on 7 October 1960 formed part of Nigeria’s independence celebrations, linking the destiny of the institution to the nation. Seven years later, the outbreak of the Nigeria–Biafra war (1967–70) instigated a decoupling. This article reads the war as a turning point in the history of the institution, and examines the post-war dynamics on campus, arguing that the momentum many university academics invested in building Biafra was transferred into the rebuilding of the University of Nigeria. In the post-war context, community building was a central aspect of the university’s restorative project, and the experience of “campus kids”, the children of university staff growing up on campus, was shaped by the sense of kinship that was fostered between families. With a focus on campus kids from the 1980s and 1990s, this article explores the use of social media in facilitating the reconnection of campus kids online. It discusses the use of online spaces in the remapping of the past, community building and socio-economic support, and suggests that these digital communities present a contemporary online iteration of the home-town association.

摘要

1960 年 10 月 7 日，尼日利亚大学举行了开学仪式，这是尼日利亚独立庆祝活动的一部分，将学校的命运与国家联系在一起。七年后，尼日利亚-比夫拉战争（1967-70）的爆发引发了两国脱钩。本文将这场战争视为该机构历史上的一个转折点，并考察了战后校园的动态，认为许多大学学者投资建设比夫拉的动力被转移到了尼日利亚大学的重建中。在战后背景下，社区建设是大学恢复项目的核心部分，而“校园孩子”（在校园里长大的大学教职员工的孩子）的经历是由家庭之间培养的亲情感塑造的。本文重点关注 20 世纪 80 年代和 90 年代的校园孩子，探讨社交媒体在促进校园孩子在线重新联系方面的使用。它讨论了在线空间在过去的重新映射、社区建设和社会经济支持中的使用，并建议这些数字社区呈现了家乡协会的当代在线迭代。