As against general assumption, gaining admission into any Nigerian
university does not put an end to the problems one faced while seeking
admission into a university or any tertiary institution in Nigeria. Rather, it
is the starting point for some familiar and unfamiliar challenges. These
challenges are discussed below:
1. SETTLING DOWN
First on the mind is the curiosity of getting to know your new
environment for the foreseeable future. House hunting is supposed to be
done at this stage, and most students actually prefer having their
lounge/apartment closer to the campus for easy transition. But when that isn't
possible due to lack of space or unwillingness to live in campus-provided
lounges, they tend to look outside for suitable houses with affordable price
tags.
Getting used to campus environment is quite stressful because one has to
find his faculty and teaching centres in the midst of other gigantic structures
which are far away from where one lives.
2. LANGUAGE
Language is also a challenge as most universities are located in states
or communities where one's mother tongue is not spoken. This will make it
difficult to get vital information about the school and the community from the
natives, especially the elderly ones who neither understand English nor Pidgin.
Besides, the importance of language in trade cannot be overemphasized. A
food item of N200 can be sold to a student at N150 if he/she bargains price
with the seller in the seller's language. In other words, a student who does
not understand the language of the community where his/her school is located is
likely to get goods and services at higher prices since most of the traders
will be natives of that community.
3. LECTURE TIME
In most tertiary institution in Nigeria, lectures start at 8:00am and
end at 4:00pm. However, some lecturers are good at fixing their lectures before
and after the official time to suit their schedules for the day. First-year
students always find this challenging since they are not used to it.
4. CONGESTION OF THE LECTURE HALLS
Unlike in secondary schools, most of the lectures in universities take
place in halls. And halls are usually bigger than classrooms, yet overcrowded
to the extent that lecturers may be forced to speak with public address
systems. This doesn't help the situation either, especially when they choose to
do so in high tempo and linguistic accents that may be difficult to decode.
5. LECTURES' TEACHING STYLE AND MARKING SCHEME
The mode of teaching in any tertiary institution differs from what
first-year students are used to in secondary schools. Most university lecturers
only scratch a topic on its surface and compel the students to research on it.
This is one of the familiar challenges that a first-year student encounters in
any Nigerian university. Students are perceived by university power brokers to
be sophisticated and flexible in all aspects of their academic lives hence the
complex scheme of work.
Also, students whose secondary schools failed to implant in them the
necessary ethos of dictate writing will struggle to take down important points
as a lecturer explains a topic or dictates his note.
Surprisingly, most lecturers do not mark your examination scripts based
on correctness. Rather, they mark them based on what they have given you in
class. In other words, if your explanation of a concept does not correspond
with the lecturer's, you will be awarded zero regardless of its correctness.
This is entirely different from secondary school examinations where students
can always go behind to pick points and ideas which correspond with their
teachers' explanations but differ in style.
6. LIBERTY
Liberty is an unexpected challenge, too. Most first-year students who
have been deprived of certain freedoms while in college or secondary school due
to strict parental guidance or rules and regulations of their secondary
schools, may want enjoy the freedom that comes with being university students.
They develop this terrible habit of procrastination. Postponing and delaying
every assignment, missing classes and indulging in other frivolities with
friends. This, if not quickly and carefully managed, may cost the students
their academics. One needs to strike the right balance between school and
social affairs in order not to face the awkward distraction when they meet in
loggerhead.
Freshers might just need to find repose in new ways because there are
always going to be bouts of nostalgia by virtue of being new to town and having
fewer sidekicks. The thoughts of family and friends left behind could come
flooding in, especially at a time when they feel regress and need someone close
to comfort them.
Tertiary institutions have always been skilled at announcing themselves
to incomers, especially 'jambites,' and these 'jambites' always arrive in quick
successions. However, the ability to prepare for their arrival has been a major
challenge. And that is why we have the aforementioned problems which may not be
resolved soon. Therefore, determination, resolve and focus are the correct
tools any fresher/freshman must wield in order to address these problems, and
one just has to look beyond them in the right manner in order to maintain a
positive outlook.
WRITTEN BY:
Victor Wisdom