Oluwagbenga Kolawole
Every session, successive UI freshmen face their own unprecedented and class-unique struggles. This is due to the social and political climate of the country under which matters like ASUU strike, pandemic, insurgency and so on come in. For instance, the 2020/2021 freshmen had to deal with the aftermath of the COVID 19 pandemic, spending half of the session at home stuck with virtual classes, while the 2021/2022 freshmen had to deal with Covid immunization and a strike which ensured that they remained freshmen for over fifteen months.The current sophomores in their freshman year had to adapt to subsidy removal and astronomical increase in the cost of essential goods and services, including education.
Although all other levels of study also suffer from the trickle down effects of these changes, the freshmen are ultimately the ones who are most affected because the university campus is ultimately unfamiliar grounds for them.
Adapting to the unacceptable
However, the present breed of UI freshmen have also had to brave some fresh odds of their own. Apart from having to grapple with the problem of settling into unfamiliar grounds, they have to wrestle with fee hike. At this point, it is pertinent to note that the issue of fee hike is not exclusive to The First and The Best alone; most federal and state universities and tertiary institutions across the country have hiked their fees. This situation is ironic however giving the fact that education in federal universities is renowned for being cheaper when compared to their state and private counterparts.
Despite the fact the open declarations of the government that education is free, this has proven to not be the case. Following President Bola Tinubu’s inauguration as the president of Nigeria, different voices emerged as regards how the government was no longer capable of sponsoring education and thus the Student Loan Bill was signed into law earlier this year, so that those who are passionate about their own academic pursuits could commit themselves into financial bondage.
It is on the back of this political drama and upheaval that the present crop of freshmen resumed.
Hit the ground running…virtually
Prior to their physical resumption, the newly admitted students had to deal with six weeks of virtual classes. Even their matriculation ceremony was virtual. The intensity of these classes were a bit overwhelming for some of the freshmen.
Boluwatife from the department of Physiology had issues with attending the virtual classes. According to him, “ the problem of attending the class some of them have zoom meeting ID link posted on the platform some there was no link and the zoom meeting was kind of restricted to about 300 so if you are late you might not get to attend the class [sic]. When I mean late some people are already there 30 minutes to the class so you that are comimg 5 minutes in you are probably the 301st person so there is no way you can attend if it's not streamed on YouTube (most classes are not streamed on YouTube) sometimes.”
“Moreover the lecturers they do attend though it's not very punctual. In short for the online classes the first few weeks were awkward but it got better later on though it wasn't the best,” he concluded.
Miracle, another freshman also shared this thought.
“Not all lectures were held for us we didn't do one course at all. And some lecturers were okay some weren't. Not explaining, giving test and assessment every week when we haven't fully resumed.”
On Fee Hike
Following the unimpressive impact of the student union resistance to the fee hike, the new students resumed to a much higher school bill than any of their predecessors. The new University of Ibadan Student union executives had earlier this session released a statement advising all students to hold on with payments till they are able to discuss a reduction with the school authority. This move would go on to create the semblance of hope in the hearts of students.
However, a few weeks and an aborted Congress later, there has been no visible signs of progress and change. Just as the payment portal is not showing signs of a reduction, the Oloye-led student union is not showing any signs of progress.
With the freshers still under the impression that things would look up, they soon find themselves under deadlines and ultimatums. For Wisdom, a freshman in Petroleum engineering, his first thought was that the fees were “unreasonably high.”
“The fee is exhorbitant. It was unexpected on my side and for my parents as well. It's the major reasons I have not paid yet in hopes that it could be reviewed and reduced…[sic],” Boluwatife stated.
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