The purpose of this paper is to (1) describe the characteristics and governance structure of higher education at the Federal Universities in Nigeria, and (2) examine (a) how academic decisions are made, (b) the level of academic staff participation in university governance, and (c) the extent to which academic staff is consulted on key personnel issues. The results of the investigation revealed that (a) academic staff members believed they are consulted on academic matters through their representatives in the faculty senate, (b) their participation in decisions related to non-academic matters is very limited, (c) academic decisions related to admissions criteria and accreditation standards are made by external bodies, (d) administrators make administrative decisions with very limited input from academic staff (e) compared to lower ranked academic staff members, higher ranked academic staff members perceived the governance process to be very effective, and (f) academic staff members are dissatisfied with the general working conditions and the governance process. Overall, the results of this study strongly suggest the need for improvement in the consultation process, and more involvement of the academic staff in other governance issues especially the selection and appointment of administrators, including Vice-Chancellors.