The second semester of the 2023/2024 University of Ibadan academic session, began on Monday, 4th November, 2024, about ten days after the conclusion of the first. Expected routines picked up; students going back into student mode, having never really switched out in the first place. At least, so it appears on the surface. Aside from the short break between semesters, a lot more has happened, and is set to happen, that sets this second semester apart from the near-century’s worth before it.
It’s preceded by strike actions from the Non-Academic Staff Union of Universities (NASU) and Joint Health Sector Unions, UCH (JOHESU UCH), a political landscape that has tilted – if only slightly – towards activism, and the advent of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund, among others. In the wake of these actions, paradigm shifts necessitating re-evaluation of what it means to be a student of the university, at this point in time, have occurred. And as we head into the third week of academic activities, it is that which we must do.
The state of core Academic activities will be the first point of call. Recently, the Times Higher Education rankings were released, and yours truly, the Premier, fell from her hallowed number one spot. While the fall does not directly correlate to the decline in conditions necessary for excellence in the various metrics utilised, it’s difficult not to relate these occurrences to one another. These are not optimal conditions to compete on a global scale, not to speak of maintaining our place on the national stage.
For about three sessions, the University has operated an eleven-weeks per semester calendar. This has been beneficial in ensuring more academic activities are completed in a calendar year than before. Considering the delays effected by the COVID-19 break and ASUU’s eight-month strike in 2022, it was essential that concessions of that sort were made. The shortening also placed pressure on lecturers to cover as much of the curricula as possible prior to tests and examinations. Sadly, the downside to this is that a considerable number, do not. Even with thirteen weeks, students often complained about the reticence of members of faculty. Now, picture eleven. Also, in this second semester, final-year students will be working on and submitting projects for evaluation, as well as seeking to meet all other graduation requirements. This shorter calendar is a bargain that could do with a restructuring of the teaching process.
Clinical students on the UCH Campus are not particularly affected by the calendar. However, the pressure still builds up. The cycle of unending postings, tests, and professional exams, which are always in view, contribute to equally unending burnouts. Save for the 100-level students, whose second semester exams determine their progression or otherwise to the Basic Medical Sciences courses, everyone else has the second semester has a reminder of the number of clock ticks left before yet another professional examination.
There’s more beyond the eleven-week calendar. Education has never cost this much since UI was founded 76 years ago. So much so that about 3,283 UI students successfully applied for the second batch of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund. Medicine and Surgery students made up about 155 of this number. Yet, it wasn’t sufficient, as a considerable deal of fundraising still had to be embarked on at class, departmental, and faculty level. Outside the school fees, cost of living has also spiked. Prices from campus vendors have undergone multiple reviews, although questions about regulation remain. In the Alexander Brown Hall , for example, which houses undergraduate clinical students in the Faculties of Clinical Sciences, Basic Medical Sciences, and Dentistry, spoons of rice in the cafetarias, have increased by as much as 60% between September – when the loans were disbursed – and now. Transportation prices have remained stable on campus, much unlike rest of the State, which for students living in satellite towns like Agbowo and Ajibode, has meant another round of extra costs to make the journey to-and-from school.
All of these culminate in a learning environment chuck full of distractions, or for want of a better word, burdens. Many a student have always worked while in school. It’s a hallmark of tertiary education. The difference now are the figures. More hours for statistically lower pay, and at the risk of a higher academic burden. For many, with resumption for the 2024/2025 session less than five months away, the second semester is less about the time left till graduation, and more about the time left to prevent prematurely convoking via withdrawal.
Living conditions are also a challenge of their own. In October, NASU embarked on a strike action that effectively crippled activities on campus.The aftermath of the strike suggests that this could re-occur in a given while. For individuals in the College of Medicine, this took on an even darker tone as JOHESU followed suit. Clinical postings were affected, as were activities outside the hospital. Little did students know, that even worse was coming. As of this publication, there has been no power supply to the University College Hospital for 20 Days; a new record, leading to a bizzare turn of events, where residents of the Alexander Brown Hall and Ayodele Falase Postgraduate Hall have had to seek water and locations to power their devices in the most ungainly manner. Hospital wards and seminar rooms are a regular point of call. Queues of buckets and kegs have been seen at the construction site for one of the new blocks of hostels, of all places. But for a boycott, which appears to have forced the hand of Management and Administration to act — if only slightly — there was little to show that higher-ups were any interested in the situation of students.
Considering the increase in fees, and introduction of the 20,000 Naira Utility fee in particular, it’s befuddling that students have to live this way. At the ABH Town Hall meetings, many have spelled out the long-term implications of the living situation. Pre-clinical students, drawn even closer to Clinical status by virtue of this semester, would be crossing into deep waters. Professional examinations and resits would be taken with just about three hours of electricity provided each day. This is what the second semester for the 2023/2024 academic session for over 600 students portends; this short-changed, twisted version of Medical education.
Interestingly, even House Officers are not left out of the mess. The conclusion of >6 years of medical school is a year of housemanship in unbefitting conditions, joining students in rat-races to the nearest powered ward. It’s not so hard to predict the effect of these down the line. Exits. More and more exits. And a population that’s worse off for it.
That being said, it’s still a second semester in the Premiere University, after all, and that means two things; politics and socials. The politics of lobbying is alive and kicking, as individuals gear up for elections into the various student leadership positions that exist on campus. Same old tactics, and similar faces. But if there ever was a time when students needed to discard the old, it’s now. Pre and post the July 6th-7th Protests, a lot of decisions taken by leadership at SU, Hall, Faculty, and Departmental levels, revealed themselves to not be in the best interest of constituents. The same goes for decisions not taken. The culture of inaction in the face of impending crises must not be upheld, and only by electing accountable, pragmatic leaders can we achieve this. It’s advised that we do not conflate catchy taglines and so-called political moves with the capacity to fulfil students’ mandate. Another mistake would be equating increasing visibility, or willingness to serve, to the quality of service procurable. A lot of students are ready to serve. ‘How well?’ is what we should determine via meaningful engagement with these aspirants, rather than shallow ‘God bless my leader’ and ‘I dey for you’ conversations.
In the likely event that the above isn’t adhered to, at least we would have social life as First and Best students to look forward to. Departmental, Hall, and Faculty Weeks with various iterations of dinners, multiple sports competitions (Survival Cup, CBN Cup, Sigma Chief’s Cup, Inter-Hall), concerts, SU Week, and the eagerly anticipated Jaw War, to name a few. Jaw War, in particular, would be an attraction as this edition, tagged ‘Rise of Legends’ is the unofficial entry to a new era of public speaking excellence in the University.
A word of caution to all and sundry: It is important to effectively compartmentalise each one of these factors, as they are invariably intertwined. The quality of living conditions on campus – UI and UCH – are heavily dependent on the quality of leaders elected. Any bad choices made stand to mar the session ahead. This extends to cost of living as well. For as many who will bear more than their fair share of financial burdens next session, planning begins now. The tough situation of things requires possibly seeking out scholarships and other forms of assistance available. It also demands a level of judiciousness in spending. Of course, most students in this situation, do not have to be reminded of these measures. For student-residents of UCH, solidarity in requesting better standards of living is non-negotiable. If there will be doctors, dentists, physiotherapists, medical laboratory scientists, and public health professionals, there must be provisions to ensure that the path towards attainment, is less damning, well-traveled as it already is.
To be a student of the University of Ibadan, at this moment in history, is to be unlike any that have come before. So much is changing in so little time. And posterity might not bear us witness to these travails, not unless we make it count for something.
