My University Contest | By @awesononso

Hey everyone!

I’m glad to see our campusconnect community finally come to life. It’s a dream come true and a win for every student out there.

I’m going to be participating in the first contest, “My University”. I hope you enjoy my write up. Let’s go...

My University

I’m a student of the “great” University of Nigeria, Nsukka(UNN).

https://w3w.co/unbuttons.yelled.gargling

The university is a federal university located at Onitsha Road at the heart of the little town, Nsukka, Enugu state. It was founded Nnamdi Azikiwe in 1955 and began operation in 1960.

_{Nnamdi Azikiwe}

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UNN has 17 faculties spread along 3 campuses, Nsukka Campus, Enugu Campus and Ituku-Ozala campus. There are over 100 undergraduate programs and over 200 postgraduate programs.

The UNN motto is “To restore the dignity of man” with its mascot as the Lion. Students admitted into the university are called Lions and Lioness just to establish a sense of belonging and pride amongst students.

_{The Lion Mascot statue}

Why did I pick UNN?

The short answer is for no good reason. I’m going to be plain here. Fresh out of secondary school, I didn’t know much about good universities. I just randomly chose UNN and my parents encouraged me to go ahead. Now I’m not sure I want to be here. Bringing us to the next question...

Why I believe my school is the best?

The truth is I don’t. I like to stay true to myself and present my views as plain and as honest as possible. UNN is definitely not as high class as they say. It’s not even close.

UNN has a number of problems and I’m going to talk about some of them:

1: Education

UNN has one of the worst educational status I’ve ever witnessed. The lecturers are so nonchalant and inattentive that students are left to suffer the consequences during exams.

2: Sports

And yet another lack in UNN. The school lacks proper sports equipment. Most of the ones that were functional decades ago have all deteriorated. Out of 4 basketball courts only one is functioning and we the students are the ones that manage it. The football stadium that has been in construction since the ‘80s is still the way it was. Let’s not even talk about tennis and volleyball.

3: Infrastructure

Imagine a class with open ceilings and bad seats. Can you?
Ok imagine a university without proper labs.
Oh and How can I forget the hostels?
UNN hostels are, in a nutshell, uninhabitable. Just about two weeks ago, a males’ hostel roof was blown off by the wind. That kind of scenario is not new. We’ve just been lucky that no one has ever gotten hurt.

5: Lack if amenities

UNN lacks basic amenities like water, electricity, shelter, etc. I already talked about the hostels. A room meant for 3 people is normally occupied by more than 8 people and it gets worse. Getting a place with clean water in UNN is a goldmine for students. Let’s not even talk about electricity.

4: Fraud

UNN is a place where the powerful thrives on the weak. Imagine this: the acceptance fee used to be 2,500naira but it shot up to 25knaira overnight. Now it’s 50k naira. Also, late course reg fee used to be 500naira but it shot up to 10k. How?
Well that’s the something we see here. Worst part is we don’t know who to blame.

5: Security

UNN encourages students to go to class at night and study. This would have been a good thing if security was provided for the students. It’s not uncommon for thieves to rob a whole class with a “security man” just by the corner. A number of my friends have even been mugged on the roads at night. For this reason, I hardly go out at night. It’s really bad.

6: No one cares

The reality of being a UNN student is that you’re basically on your own. I mentioned earlier that we don’t know who to blame for the problems we’re facing. That’s true because we literally don’t know who to talk to. Things just happen and no one knows why. No one cares about the effects of policies on the students. Things just happen and the people on top shut their eyes and ears.

The problems I just mentioned above are just the tip of the iceberg. UNN, as I heard, used to be a great school but right now it’s a sinking titanic. However, I feel like there’s still hope. Students have agitated but the real change will come from the people at the top. We need better leaders and an accountability system. Until that happens, UNN will keep sinking.

Special thanks to @campusconnectng