OAU students sitting for an exam recently
Nigerian students face hard times as various facilities break down in public universities,CHARLES ABAH and SODIQ OYELEKE write
Not many Nigerian students are happy even as the country celebrates its 55th independence anniversary. The President of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife Student Union, Omotayo Akande, is one of such undergraduates. His comments as the nation's political leadership continues to pop champagne in commemoration of the anniversary easily depict this.
"There is nothing to celebrate in a country where its students are passing through excruciating times," he says.
The student leader did not just stop at expressing this feeling. On October 1, the day Nigeria marked its 55th anniversary, he led hundreds of students of the university to protest against what he called "the poor state of the nation's universities."
According to him, from their hostels, classrooms, libraries to even their laboratories, it is a long tale of dilapidation and decay. Besides, he decried the unstable academic calendar as well as the dwindling allocation to nation's education sector, especially to the universities.
Akande added, "The OAU is ranked as one the best universities in Nigeria, yet it has mounting infrastructural challenges. If the OAU, with this international rating, has these challenges, I wonder what would be the fate of the other less-fancied ones. If the best still engages its students in overcrowded classrooms, dilapidated hostels with very poor living condition and where its science students still use 18th century microscopes, one can then imagine what will obtain in the other ones.
"We demand the funding of the Nigeria education sector in line with the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation requirement. Anything short of the 26 per cent as recommended by the UN body makes the President Muhammadu Buhari's call for change a facade.
"That the largest economy in Africa does not have its best university among the top 10 in Africa is a national shame and we, the Great Ife Student Union, demand the total overhaul of the education sector.
"We demand the reversal of all fee hikes in tertiary institutions. At OAU, we demand regular electricity supply and the fumigation of our hostels. The sordid welfare condition on campus is a clear testament that the fee hike cannot become a mainstay of the institution."
The unsavoury condition is not just the lot of the OAU. Students of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, University of Lagos, University of Ibadan, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, and many more of the older ivory towers are also facing similar challenges.
For instance, only last week, UNILAG students protested against what they termed "the incessant attacks of bedbugs and neglect of accommodation facilities by the university authorities."
Their hostels, they also alleged, were in a bad condition. In fact, some students of the university protested on Friday over the poor condition of facilities at LUTH. A third year student, Ogechi Anekwe, got electrocuted the other day too after an electric wire fell on her.
Even the "bedbug syndrome" is not limited to UNILAG. Emmanuel Ojedokun, the spokesperson of the OAU students, who attested to this, said the infestation of bedbugs was not a strange sight in the university. According to him, bedbugs decorate their hostels due to improper fumigation.
Ojedokun added, "The living condition on campus is laughable, inimical and unpalatable for human existence. Our hostels are in a deplorable state. For example, in Fajuyi Hall, Block 5, the soak-away has broken and on the verge of causing an endemic. The major blocks in Awolowo Hall are developing cracks. In fact, some days ago, the exterior extension of Block 4 collapsed and almost killed some students.
"The lecture theatres are inadequate, ill-furnished and ill-equipped and the few ones available are without modern-day facilities. Imagine students writing examinations without chairs and tables in an amphitheatre in the 21st century. After paying exorbitant tuition imposed on us a sessioný ago, we expect a corresponding improved welfare condition but that is not to be.
"Our laboratories are ill-equipped. We call on the Federal Government to wade in and prevent the lives of future Nigerian leaders from being wasted as a result of bad living condition."
At the University of Nigeria, the second oldest university in the country, its students are also facing challenges occasioned by poor amenities.
Infrastructural challenges, bearing on poor water supply, electricity and inadequate convenient toilet facilities, among others, are some of the unpleasant experiences there.
The students' plan to protest against lack of facilities prompted the authorities to shut the institution for some weeks last June. But, too bad, some students reportedly lost their lives while travelling home after the forced closure of the school.
Before then, they had picketed the Nsukka office of the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company, to kick against the poor electricity supply to the university.
At the UI, a student, who spoke to our correspondents on the condition of anonymity, urged the authorities to ensure steady supply of water on campus.
She said, "Because water does not flow always, most of the toilets are dirty and the bathroom floor is slippery. We take proper care when we use them, especially in the female hostel."
The outgoing Vice Chancellor of the institution, Prof. Isaac Adewole, who said the management was already the addressing sanitary situation in the hostels, added that the activities of illegal occupants in the hostels were contributing to the poor state of the toilets and bathrooms.
He said, "There are too many illegal occupants in the hostels and their presence is affecting the hostels' sanitary facility. However, the water treatment plant will soon be completed so that there will be more water in the hostels. No matter what you do to upgrade the toilets, if there is no water, it will still be in poor condition."
Even as the majority of the students blame the authorities, a handful of others disagree. A part four student of the Arts faculty at OAU, simply identified as Lawrence, blamed the poor sanitary condition on campuses on students. According to him, many of the students are dirty and lack good management skills to maintain the facilities on campuses.
He posited, "It baffles me that we keep blaming the management when we, students, use these facilities. We pay as low as N3, 000 for hostels and still do not manage them well. If we say there are bedbugs, the question is: who brought these pests on campus? Is it the management or students? The answer to me is obvious, the students.
"I can only agree to the view that we need more hostels. The ones we have are the old and can no longer accommodate us."
Another OAU student, who craved anonymity, simply blamed the rot on overpopulation on campus.
She said, "I am one of those who sat for the exam in the amphitheatre – without a table or chair to rest your back on. We had to place our answer sheets on our laps to write. It was not a funny experience but when others were complaining, I could not because I knew that there was no alternative. Overpopulation is a problem but who is ready to forfeit his/her admission to reduce the population?"
Decaying infrastructure threatens glory of old-generation varsities
OCTOBER 6, 2015 : CHARLES ABAH AND SODIQ OYELEKE0 COMMENTS
http://www.punchng.com/education/decaying-infrastructure-threatens-glory-of-old-generation-varsities/
Written by NEWSTRAWL ONLINE UPDATE
Sodiq Oyeleke is a Media, Human Resources, Project Management and Public Relations Practitioner
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