A Day in The Life of a U.I Student (Part boys)

The Premier University! The first and the best! The University of Ibadan was established in the year 1948, making it the first University in West African Country, Nigeria. Located in the suburbs of Ancient city, Ibadan, the university grew fast and soon became a household name not only in the country, but in the continent at large. It has been ranked number one in Nigeria for over 20 consecutive years.  The comprehensive citadel of learning is home to 16 faculties, over 90 departments for undergraduates and a minimum of additional 20 for post graduate. The University has produced consistently the best students in various disciplines in Nigeria and her students are known worldwide. All these attribute to why everyone calls it The First and The Best.

The life of a student of the University which became an independent University in 1962 is a huge contrast to that of someone visiting for recreational purposes. While a guest might be thrilled to observe the students’ smile and laugh and enjoy their excruciating day, it is just another day at work for most and for others who love to complain, they rant to anyone they can rant about their day to. However, none of these truly tells the true story of a scholar at the Citadel of knowledge.

A day in the life of a student, either those living on campus or the money bags who can afford the high rates of the off campus, it is never an uneventful day. Most certainly however, those on campus should have more fun. In fact, going for lectures is barely 30% of what we experience. It’s more like one boring something we all just have to do, not exactly want to. I’d try to make this as non unisex as possible(the title even says PART BOYS). It is facts that both guys and girls do not have the same kind of days, that is excluding the educational hours.

A guy’s hostel life is perhaps unarguably more fun than that of a girl (the girls reading this might love to argue with their phone/tab’s screen, as the case may be). A lot of times, guys hostels bubble throughout the night, with the troublemakers taking shifts and turns to sleep. While every normal student wants to sleep and get ready for the day’s work ahead, they don’t. Instead, they’d sing their hearts out, even the nightingales will be jealous. Steel plates in position, buckets also placed to act as the bass drum, the hostel’s joy bringers often start their chants from 9pm and hardly stop before 2am. 9pm is the ideal time to start because then girls pass through such hostels(Independence hall and Nnamdi Azikiwe hall) to get to theirs. The girls many times feel intimidated when various songs are hurled at them. At times, its wordings admire her beauty and shape, at other times, it is somewhat disheartening insults to say the least. For the guys though, they are simply having fun! They’d return to their rooms to 3 hours sleep so as to be awake just in time for the water hustle. Though water is not a problem, the problem is the bathroom. If you have an 8am class, you’d have to be a front liner in the bathroom queue. Lectures are next, the most tiring part of the day. Most lecturers are boring and will just read like their lecture notes aloud like grandpa does when reading his newspaper under the midnight sky. Boring, but the students still have to learn. Science students, perhaps are the luckiest as they have a couple of practical courses.

After lectures, some lovebirds go to the large university pool, a nice ideal place to release accumulated tension during the day. Single guys or less romantic ones who take sports over college love would be on the various fields. Basketball, football, handball, hockey, tennis, squash, volleyball, just name it, the premier university is home to all these.  Food is usually what is next in line after arriving the hostel. It’s been a tedious day; Hectic, and tiring. Many buy from restaurants and all. Their food is really tasty and nice! After eating, some students go for what is known on the campus as TDB (Till Day Break). In case you are confused, it is just a way of describing overnight reading.

The University of Ibadan is a Citadel of knowledge known for excellence. But it is not just book we do here. In fact, that’s the least of our worries.

photo credit: timsketch, unsplash