Welcome back to school

It’s been two weeks since the official resumption of the University of Ibadan on August 21st 2023. Many freshmen can be seen roaming around sightseeing as they acclimate themselves with the school environment and its surroundings.

The new academic session has started on a somewhat lukewarm note as there has been uncertainty about the state of things most especially the price of the school fees which seems to be flauntuating depending on the sources of your information. The latest increment in the accommodation fee as left a sour taste in the mouth with the freshmen paying #60,000 while the returning students pay the sum of #45000.

The difference in the amount of money paid by the freshmen and the returning students have raised a lot of eyebrows, with some even making moves to put out a petition to call for a congress on the issue of the increment of fees without improvement of facilities. It remains to be seen if this will eventually become a reality, as we all know the Nigerian way of always adapting to every situation even though it is detrimental to our well being.

The effect of the increment in fees can be felt in every area of the school, most especially in the Nnamdi Azikiwe hall, Zikhall, where the number of freshmen willing to join the hall is lower than usual, with just over 200 new students admitted into the hall.

It is a common knowledge that accomodation in university of Ibadan mostly caters to the freshmen and the finalist, as they are seen as the priority for accomodation, while the returning students or staylites as they are called make up a minor part of the accommodation process. But recent events and development have thrown up a different scenario in the accommodation process. As many of the staylites are expected to get accommodation in the present session, with an overwhelming ratio of two staylites to one freshman.

This is setting up for an interesting situation, considering the fact that the staylites will outnumber the freshmen, there will be a mixture of both staylites and freshmen in the allocation of rooms in the hall (something that has being a regular occurrence in the hall in the past). This will make for an interesting situation considering the high rate of bullying and intimidation that was reported in the hall last session.

The topic of bullying and intimidation took a center stage in the affairs of Zikhall last session and was a major topic on the manifesto night leading up to the last hall elections, which led to a lot of tempers flaring and a lot of bad blood among opposing parties.

Although the hall was able to overcome the obstacle of the differences that arose during the period and rallied together to get a resounding victory in the subsequent student union elections, one would hope that such situations will not rear its ugly head again in the affairs of Zikhall. It is pertinent to note that there needs to be a sense of oneness and accountability among Zikites. Be it finalists, staylites or Freshman, there needs to be a sense of equality and sense of belonging that will foster the brotherhood that Zikhall has always been known for.

There needs to be a form of orientation among the new and old Zikites that preaches the gospel of equality, respectability and oneness that will negate the rise of bullying and intimidation amongst us. As it is known, the spirit of Zikism entails oneness, togetherness and brotherhood, which equates to the motto of the hall which is “the quality of greatness”.

Once again we welcome us all back to school, as we resume our various academic activities and wish each and everyone of us all the best in our various disciplines. And to the freshmen welcome on board, as your life is about to take a major turn; whichever way it goes depends on you. We besiege you to remember the child of whom you are. With that we say bienvenido.