By Adeniran Temiloluwa
The political structure in the school system cuts across both the students’ union level, the lecturers and senate and also the involvement of individuals in non governmental agencies and the para-military.
However, the struggles for existence in this beautiful environment is not always a easy one as students try to cut out on all the struggles and challenges that comes with schooling.
The financial capability for living a standard life for most student is not available. They engage in various trades and petty work for survival. The school dues, the money for course materials and other educational accessories are readily never enough.
In some instances, some students involve themselves in various illegal businesses and life styles in order to survive and match up with the trending standard of life on campus. In the quest for fulfilling social standard rites, they become easily influenced by peers and eventually fall off track.
Another ranging challenge that comes on board is the ability to cope with the stress associated with academic activities. At times, students have to treck long distances to lecture classes in empty stomach. Sometimes, they have to wake up so early as 4 am in order to attend early classes and sit at the front of the class where they could audibly hear the lecturer because of the poor state of public address system. A lecture hall with dilapidated structures may not help matters either.
Coping with lecturers and their expectations is another mountain to climb as it takes extra sleepless nights of reading to get the full understanding of the subject topics. Some lecturers look for the slightest offence to pick on a students, making learning a problem for some of them.
This has led many to resolving to pay their way through (in cash and kind). I will also say this isn’t all as the various violence that spurs up in the campus – cultist activities, theft, the various molesting of female student and killings.
On a last note, an adage says “When hunger is removed from poverty, the poverty has been conquered”. The kind of feeding students go through on campus is not only funny but weird. They sometimes combine food or source out from friends around to satisfy their hunger.
Most don’t even have hostels or don’t have enough money to get a lodge. They resort to squatting in the hostel with their friends or off campus.
There is no limit to the survival of students on campus. As we know that life is not a bed of roses, when you go through the challenges, they eventually make you strong.
Through the thick and thin, students pick fun from the various challenges that comes their way, the end of the day while some die off, some drop out and some eventually put through to graduate out of the campus. Life is actually full of lessons and interesting moments on campus. It’s a taste of reality.
Adeniran Temiloluwa is a student at Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko
