Growing up in this country some years ago was full of fun and pleasant memories; from your classmates, to your teachers, the school authority, and everyone around. It was a grand community wherein all the misdemeanor of children were corrected by neighbours and parenting was done by the community.
The happenings in the North-East have made schooling very dangerous by the activities of Boko Haram. In the last few years, students in that region of the country have been turned into refugees in their homeland, though, recently, the Borno State government is making attempts at resettling the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), and schools are being built and commissioned all over.
Imagine the recent happening in Greenfield University, Kaduna State. Some students were killed for no just cause. The situation is critically alarming that lecturers, workers, and students have become targets of kidnappers.
It is such a challenging time to be a student when you also think about the number of auto crashes that claim the lives of students annually or back to their homes.
When you encounter Nigerian students, you need to pity them specially. They would spend years in a tertiary institution of learning, either state or federal, because the Academic Staff Union of Universities and the government are always at loggerheads over things they usually claim would benefit the students. It is so sad that students now only know the year in which they enroll into university; they can never know the year in which they will graduate.
Despite all these, female students are exposed to several ills within few years of maturity. They are trailed by lecturers old enough to be their fathers; some evil students rape and murder them among others. The journey of a female student needs special care with all that is heard and seen these days.
At the moment, Nigeria is just heading for a more grievous crisis in the education sector. Every senator wants a university to be sited in his hometown, as such, quality education is fast depreciating in Nigeria. Asides that, all the polytechnics are being converted to universities. These schools may become universities but what of the technical know-how that we are losing.
Ultimately, if you are fortunate to get through school without any scar or blemish; the hurdle of serving your fatherland is staring at you in the face. With all the various uprisings in the country, where is the safe haven for a one-year period for the NYSC.
It is such a challenging time to be a student; it is such a challenging thing to be out of school and it is such a challenging time to be in search of work! May the Lord see us through these trying times.
Olutayo Irantiola is based in Lagos
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