Adetunji oluwafemi
One pivotal prayer often echoed by Nigerians is, “May Nigeria not happen to you” This prayer is crucial because only those who have experienced Nigeria’s hardships can truly comprehend the in-depth meaning of that prayer.
There’s this Yoruba adage that resonates deeply: “Eni sàngó o tojú è wolè ò ní báwon bu oba kòso” which translates to, “He who has not witnessed thunder’s strike will disrespect the god of thunder.” This is why Nigerians take this prayer seriously so that Nigeria’s afflictions should not befall them. It’s indeed a harsh reality.
With current hardship, occasioned by economic challenges that had plagued the present administration under President Tinubu, it is not uncommon to hear sarcastic greetings like “A kú u Tinubu to”. This is a popular greeting amongst the South West region of Nigeria, whenever they exchange this greeting, they acknowledge the agony under the Tinubu regime. Once again,
Consequently, everyone is grappling with one hardship or the other as a Nigerian citizen. One can trace the foundation of the trouble to the removal of fuel subsidies by the Federal Governments of Nigeria which the government says had become imminent if Nigeria will not go into bankruptcy.
The removal of fuel subsidies in Nigeria has had a significant economic effect and it has evoked some degree of hardship on most citizens including Nigerian students. When fuel subsidies were removed in 2023, the prices of fuel products especially petrol increased, leading to higher transportation costs. This, since then resulted in inflation as the prices of both local and imported products skyrocketed due to increased production and transportation cost.
The effect of this action had translated into untold hardships for many Nigerian students, Obafemi Awolowo university, Ile-Ife Osun state inclusive, hitting them hard in the pockets. The transportation and that of foodstuff and other important items costs are gradually squeezing their initial budget and making things tougher for them. This is especially so for those who are from extremely poor families.
For Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) students living outside the campus had to bear with a hundred and fifty percent rise in cost of transport from the school’s gate to the campus. What used to cost fifty Naira is now One hundred and fifty Naira.
As a result, a survey had shown that 40% of OAU students living outside campus rarely attend lectures because of increments in transportation costs. Students also claimed that the cost of foodstuffs in Ile- Ife, the host town, can rarely be compared with some other parts of Osun State Nigeria.
The effect had compelled some students to devise means of survival. The survival strategy ranges from pulling funds together to buy foodstuff in bulk or starting a side hustle. Some of the students I spoke to affirmed that they pull funds together to buy in bulk or travel homes to get foodstuff from their parents rather than using hard earned income to buy food stuff within the university environment.
For some, there is no end in sight for this strategy as prices of food items continue to increase daily. Market women within Ile-Ile had also complained, the price in food items is not peculiar to the town as they also have to break even.
A new ‘device ’introduced by some students within the campus to beat economic hardship which has made three-squared meals unaffordable for many students, is to employ feeding formulas ranging from zero-zero one, one-zero-one or zero-one-zero among others.
Another significant effect of this hardship on OAU students was that many students now spend most of their time engaging in activities that enable them to earn free money from Sports Betting, Tapswap, Yescoin, and other cryptocurrencies. They now spend more time sharing links, subscribing, liking, and commenting on different channels to earn money, having limited time and commitment to their studies.
It is imperative to also note that, economic hardship has forced some OAU students to discontinue their studies because they’re unable to pay up their tuition fees. A student whose parents are pensioners claimed that the pension couldn’t even meet their daily physical needs, not to mention paying a tuition fee.
A 100-level student of English Language who was also unable to pay her tuition fee had to do virtual crowdfunding through the use of WhatsApp messages and other means to friends and foes to help raise her school fees and remain in school.
In all of these, many students continue to suffer from mental health related issues as a result of mental toils the economic situation placed on them.
To reduce this, it is imperative that the Federal Governments of Nigeria should find a sustainable way of resolving this hardship on these young minds before its effects go beyond what can be handled. The future of Nigeria is the young minds who are determined to get education, develop their mental capacity so they can add value to the nation in the end.
PC; Facebook
#Adetunji Olufwaemi, a campus journalist and 2024 campus Journalism fellow of Africa Foundation for Young Media Professionals sent this story from Obafemi Awolowo University,Ile-Ife Osun State
