SURVIVING DEPRESSION AND FRUSTRATION IN NIGERIAN UNIVERSITIES

Schooling in Nigeria is a struggle to the Nigerian students. Graduating without an issue is a blessing to be sincere. Most students suffer from depression and frustration while in school due to some factors which are mostly caused by the school authorities.

A frustrated/ depressed person
The educational system in Nigeria is gradually going down the drain which one may ask why?
First of all, lack of infrastructural amenities is a major factor that affects the educational system in schools. Nigerian universities admit more students when the basic infrastructural amenities such as lecture halls, laboratories and studios are limited and does not have the capacity to accommodate a large number. Imagine going to an 8.00am class at 6.45am just to keep space for yourself ahead of time because the lecture hall cannot accommodate all students. Frustrating right? Now imagine how hot the lecture hall would be once all the students try to fit into the lecture hall. Tell me; can a student obtain 100% concentration in a class like that? Certainly not possible.

Stress
Also, corruption and bribery is another factor that has tarnished the educational system in Nigeria. Lecturers as well as those at the higher authority has taken both bribery and corruption as the new way of survival making things difficult for students who do not have the capability of attaining finances to bribe, thereby frustrating them. Some students are also guilty of this crime. These days, some lecturers derive joy in frustrating students, one cannot pass a course of a corrupt minded lecturer without sorting him or her, even the serious minded students tend to fall into the trap of these lecturers and refusal to act on the abominal act demanded by these lecturers leads to them failing the course.

Cases of missing scripts can also affect a student’s mental health. Take for example, a student with an issue of a missing script gets frustrated while trying to sort out the issue, the lecturer tends to assume the fault is from the students(assumes that the student failed to sign the attendance list whereas he or she did), the student experiences setbacks such as neglience and nonchalant attitudes displayed by those responsible for making those corrections. In some cases, the issue might be resolved but in most cases, the student is made to rewrite the course. All these can cause depression and frustration.

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As a Nigerian student who is currently in school and has encountered and still experiencing these frustrations, I have come to a conclusion that God’s grace is the ultimate solution to surviving depression and frustration in the Nigerian University.