University Experience In Nigeria: A Nigerian Student’s Perspective
“This is my class, Sir,” I told the lecturer, he was blocking the door with his body and I needed to get in. I repeated myself and he looked at me with angry eyes. See, any other day, I would have been scared of him but my favorite uncle left us that morning (RIP sir) and my eyes were still red. I didn’t care less about his expression.
When he saw I was not cowering, he shifted so there would be no space for me to pass without the risk of running into him.
“Sir, I am not your student. This is my class” I said. To give context, this lecturer was trying to stop his students from entering a class already filled with other students (my classmates) taking lectures. The only reason I was outside was that I came out to cry.
“Do you want to fail?!” He bellowed when it looked like I was a stubborn person. I laughed inside. There was nothing he could do to me, I was just one out of thousands of students, in a different faculty for that matter. At the end of the day, I did not attend that class. I had to respect him because of his age, even though I was well within my rights.
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Being a student in Nigeria is different from being a student anywhere else. If you never schooled in Nigeria, then you’ve missed a lot and also dodged a large bullet! Fun things happen but some experiences will just leave you open-mouthed and stunned.
Okay, disclaimer!
Whatever I’m going to say in this article is my experience. I’m not saying this is how it works everywhere. Just trying to share the good and bad of University life I encountered in my four years of being a student. So get some popcorn, sit down and dig in!
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Lecture Halls
Some departments are blessed with lecture halls that are personal to them. Some students have personal classes where they can eat, sleep, get married without any outside interference. Sadly, my classmates and I do not fall into this group. Taking courses from other faculties means we have to go over to their faculties and take those classes.
This means that sometimes, we have to RUN across the school to get to class. If you’re lucky, you reach class early enough to get a seat, if you’re not you’ll have to choose between standing inside the class for the duration of the lecture or standing outside the class for the duration of the lecture. There are perks for both, if you’re standing inside, you might get a seat to perch on, or even if you don’t, you get to listen to the lecturer.
The perk of standing outside is that you will have enough time to chat with your fellows who are also stuck outside. Bonding!
Most people won’t understand leaving for an eight o’clock class by 6:30 but those who have had similar experiences will. Every student who is serious about getting a chair will arrive at the class on or before 7:30 am. Before eight, people are already standing outside. If you arrive by 7:55, sorry for you. Remain outside!
These lecture halls are never big enough for the school’s growing population, how on earth will a class that’s supposed to accommodate just 250 persons contain almost a hundred more? How on earth will a student at the back of these classes hear what the lecturer is teaching? Some people (latecomers) end up attending classes just to make sure they don’t miss any tests, knowing that they would not learn anything that day.
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Lecturers
There are two distinct types of lecturers, the knowledgeable ones and those that are not knowledgeable. Students can differentiate between these two categories after the first few lectures. There are other kinds of lecturers though. The motherly/fatherly type, the always angry type, the promiscuous type, and the ones who extort money from students.
I have been lucky not to encounter the promiscuous ones or those who extort money from students but I know persons who have suffered these injustices. A lecturer once asked my friends to pay a sum of money before they would get their continuous assessment graded. At that point, they were low on cash, and that demand cost them a few meals.
Meanwhile, I would like to use this platform to completely bury the myth that “students have money”. it is a terrible misconception and could be a cause of extortion from students. Some of us are just trying to get our certificate and go home. We have just very little, and we try to survive on it. Thank you.
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School Hostels
If you never stayed in school hostels, then you probably missed half of your university experience. Although a lot of students despise school hostels because of the terrible state they are usually in, there are lots of fun experiences to be had. Most of these hostels, especially the more affordable ones are usually overpopulated and dirty.
Students suffer from power outages, lack of basic amenities like water. The place can be so unhygienic, with debris and body waste lying around. Many things go on in school hostels that we really shouldn’t talk about. Roommates fighting among themselves, students having issues with porters, students fighting over the small available water.
I can clearly remember the mayhem of that night when a mentally challenged man jumped the tall fence into our hostel (girls hostel). Before he could move two steps, the girls grabbed him and started beating him.
He was a pervert who loved watching girls bathe. He would stand on the fence, masturbating as he watched. Those girls had been waiting for an opportunity to teach him a lesson. So they beat him and dragged him to the Porter’s office. We were standing there, all of us in our bedclothes (it was at night) straining to see what was happening at the front when suddenly a stampede ensued. Girls were running towards us and we had no choice but to turn around and start running too!
I have never run so fast in my life. I climbed the staircase to four hundred series in a flash, laughing all the way! It was when I got to my room that I got the gist. The girls had attempted to reclaim their prisoner and the Porter’s reacted by chasing them away with canes. I was glad to be in one piece.
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Strike Actions
The issue of Strike actions is a very disheartening one. The Academic Staff Union of Universities and the Federal Government of Nigeria have been tussling for decades without end. It is not possible to graduate from a public University in Nigeria without being a victim to one or more strike actions. According to ASUU, the federal government cares little about the educational system in the country. According to FG, ASUU’s demands are uncalled for.
Nigerian students are hardly taken into consideration in these matters. Yes, we deserve the best education and that is what ASUU is fighting for but at whose expense? The saying “when two elephants fight, the grasses suffer” is very true here. Why we appreciate ASUU for their effort, we do not appreciate having to put our lives on hold for long periods (for as long as one year at times!). We have dreams too, and some of these dreams cannot be brought to reality if we are stuck as undergraduates forever.
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Exams
“Jacko! Jackophite!! Jackaholic!!!”
During exams, you’ll see students hailing themselves with names like this. Someone might just walk up to you and start fanning the area above your head claiming that he/she can see smoke coming out of your overused brain.
At this point, even those people that are generally unserious buckle up. You see them making quick friendships, buying books, photocopying notes they weren’t aware were in existence until they saw the exam timetable. Nobody smiles anymore, all those games we play in lecture halls and hallways? They reduce drastically! People develop red angry or tired eyes. Anybody who is found laughing and happy is automatically tagged a scholar, an enemy of progress. Someone who has read to his fill and is just trying to distract others.
You will see those that don’t sleep. They go for night class every night and only come back to their hostels to sleep for a few hours. If you’re not a till daybreak (TDB) enthusiast, these people will make you feel like an unserious student. What about the set of people who don’t bother reading hard because they know they’ll surely be privy to the exam questions? I give them a hand. Three gboza for you!
It is in the exam hall you differentiate people who are your friends from those that are just disguising. That’s also where you know those with strong principles, the ones that have vowed they’d rather die than tell the next person the answer to number two.
Some people are so bad, they come to the exam hall without reading and expect you to cater to them. One girl still has beef with me because I refused to tell her answers in the exam hall. What about those that cram the whole textbook into their heads and become deaf and dumb until the exam is over? The fun never ends.
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Romance In The University
There is love in the world. People are bound to fall in love, particularly in a system where the majority of the population are young adults. If you’re looking to date at a public University in Nigeria, you have thousands of persons to choose from, starting from your class.
In the University, there are two types of romance. The “boyfriend and girlfriend” type and the “Mommy and Daddy” type. In the boyfriend and girlfriend type, they are just two young people in love and vibing. They meet where they meet, have a couple of fun and stuff. People might not even know they are dating. This type of romance usually has other people saying “God when”.
The mommy and daddy type is when they live with each other and perform wifely/husband duties. The girl washes clothes, cooks and the guy provides and all. Sometimes, the girl provides, cooks, and washes clothes while the guy sits pretty or vice versa. This kind of arrangement usually ends in tears, with one party saying “I did so much for him/her”.
The last unnamed category is the “Pining group.” This group consists of persons who constantly pine for the one they love. They stay in love and pining for the duration of the program without getting to date their crush because of various reasons. You see these persons trying to get a hug in on sign-out day. So sad eh? This life no balance.
That’s all for today! I hope you enjoyed the ride. Please share your own University experience with us. Even if you’re not Nigerian. Feel free to spam the comment box!
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