In Nigeria under the leadership of President Bola Tinubu, a lot of students are facing hardship in their education. Some have even quit due to high cost of school fees and the increase in price of educational materials, coupled with the high cost of fuel and food in the country. All these have made education a battlefield for students.
For instance, due to the high cost of transportation, tertiary students are facing the problem of moving from one location to another for educational reasons. They have to go through hell before they get funds to cover for the high cost of foodstuff and school fees.
While in school, students fall sick. They eat unhealthy food and end up with cholera and typhoid. Student meals are unbalanced due to insufficient money to get nutritious foodstuffs and that affects the students’ health. The school hostels are not well maintained. Therefore, it is easy to come in contact with contaminated water and this might cause cholera and other infections.
Furthermore, students get ulcers in school not because they can’t get foodstuffs but because they don’t have money to get them. When a student does not eat well, he/she might not focus or pay attention in the lecture hall.
It is my hope that the government can fund the agricultural sector so as to improve food supply in the country so that food prices can reduce. The government should also increase funding towards the educational sector so that such funds can be channeled to improving facilities in schools such as hostels and lecture halls. Government should also see that the level of unemployment in the country is reduced.
Abolade Malik, Mass Communication Department, Federal University of Kashere
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