UNIVERSITY LIFE IN NIGERIA: All You Need To Know
You just got admission into a university in Nigeria and now you are about to start the university school life, what is campus life in Nigerian universities? What are the things am going to face in the university, would be the questions you would be asking. Well, I am going to be answering those questions as you read this article about university life in Nigeria: all you need to know and what is required of you and basically how to start life in a university in Nigeria.
As a fresher, jambite or new student you need to know some things about being in the university, because if you are not enlightened you may end up frustrated in the university, so this guide will show you what is required in starting life in campus, things you should avoid, tips to survive and what you will likely face in the tertiary institution.
I want to let you all know that campus is one of the most critical places you will ever be, it’s as complex as the real world, very different from the nursery, primary and secondary school.
The university shapes you into the future, you don’t want to go to the university without graduating right? because many went in there blinding and they are lost forever. These tips I am going to give will give you the essentials of how to start life in university in Nigeria.
Most of the questions freshers usually ask is that, what is required in starting campus life? Here is the answer to your question.
Things Required In Starting Campus Life In Nigeria:
1. Good Accommodation:
Now you just want to enter school you would not sleep on the air, you have to choose a good accommodation, be it in the school hostel or somewhere around school. Many new students do not know the importance of living in a good place that is conducive for studying and also safe.
Are you capable of living with your other colleagues in the hostel, then there is no big problem for you, but you could be the type that just wants to stay off camp then there is work for you to find a good place in your school community to live. You have to tour around the area your school in located as early as possible so that you get the best spot for learning and a place that would be safe, because your accommodation plays a big role on your university life.
2. Good friends:
You are also required to find good friends in the university. I would always advice people to find friends rather than friends finding them. Life in campus is quite different from life in secondary school because the friend you keep will definitely influence you somehow and many newbie would be asking, how will you know good friends from the bad ones in the university? The answer is through their dress codes, their enthusiasm and urge to attend lectures, complete their school registration on time and trying to obey rules.
That’s how you know the kind of friends to keep in the university rather than associating with potential cultists and smokers.
3. Face Your Studies Squarely:
For you to graduate successfully in a Nigerian university, you have to face our studies squarely because that is the key to success. Although some universities or university lecturers may be corrupt to the extent of sleeping with the opposite sex or collecting bribe known as “sorting” from students for them to pass, you just have to stay focus and do not let that keep you off track in school.
I have successfully shown you what is required in starting campus life in a typical Nigerian university. Now let us head into things you should avoid in order to survive in a Nigerian university.
Things To Avoid On Campus:
1. Don’t Follow Bad Friends:
As I earlier said, your friends are your greatest influence in school, so you must try to avoid bad friends on campus if you want to survive, because you could have a friend who is a cult member and he offended rival cult member, if he was to be targeted and not found, you would be the person who will be targeted, so be very careful while choosing your friends in school.
2. Don’t Smoke And Drink Alcohol:
You got admission into the university, which is an institution where a good percentage of your brain is used to study, and you want to damage it by smoking and drinking? Taking alcohol and smoking cigarette in school can cause serious mental issues most especially if you are not strong enough.
Be yourself, don’t let anybody deceive you to drink alcohol or smoke weed in order to get sharp brain or feel good.
3. Don’t Join Bad Gang:
It’s almost every day in the national dailies where you will hear how young undergraduates died while exchanging bullets during a cult clash. It is very pathetic and so bad. Just like what happened recently in a university in the south-south region, where a young 200 level student was machete and shot dead because he belonged to a cult group, do you want to end your life this way? Then take advice and don’t join bad gang because it would do you more harm than good.
4. Don’t Be Too Close To The Opposite Sex:
Many of you are getting angry with this point, but it is true. It is better to stay safe than become a victim of what you never planned for. I didn’t say you should not associate with the opposite sex in the university but I said you shouldn’t be too close, so you do not fall into a trap of unwanted pregnancies, abortion, unwanted marriages, expulsion and even suspension.
5. Don’t Be Violent:
In the university, you have to calm down, even if you are a retired soldier. The university comprises of many people coming from various background, so you have to calm down in order to get what you want.
Even if someone is trying to deprive you of your rights, ensure you pass through the relevant authorities to get things done.
University is not like a secondary school where you fight or cause trouble then your parents would be invited to school and everything goes back to normal, in the university any offence you commit would be carried all around the news agencies in town and the government would be the one to handle your case.
So try to be a peaceful guy or girl while on campus.
Tips To Survive On Campus in Nigeria:
1. Pray To God For Help:
There is nothing you will ask God for that he will not give you and surviving on campus is not an exemption, because you will pass through trials and tribulations and in such situation it is only God who would be capable of helping you.
Learn to pray every day, when you want to eat, read, sleep, in lectures and when you want to attend any social activity in school.
There are many good student fellowships you will find on campus, it would be wise to identify yourself with one, so that your Christian faith would be boosted.
Remember Jesus Christ is the only one that can set you free from sin and sorrows. If you have not accepted Jesus as your Lord and Personal Saviour, going to the university would be wasting of time. I know what I am saying.
Accept Jesus today as your Lord and Personal Saviour today….
2. Make Your Book Your Best Friend:
You came to the university to study right? If not you would have being in your parent/guardian’s house chilling and watching movies right? That’s why you should make your book your best friend because if you do not, you will end up graduating from the university with a very low grade.
Try to read as often as possible and you would realize that the university is not something you should really be afraid of.
3. Manage Whatever Resources you Have:
The university is one place you would have to spend so much money. In fact the cheapest of all you will spend in the university is your school fees because there are much more undefined things you would have to spend money on they include accommodation, school, faculty and departmental registration. You may also compulsorily buy handouts from lecturers that would be teaching you some courses.
Prepare well financially if you want to get into the university and manage your resources when you get there.
4. Be Humble:
As an undergraduate, humility is what can take you far even beyond your expectations. Even if you are not bright, with your humility you can get someone to teach you how to do things right.
Don’t argue with your lecturers and colleagues in school, so that they won’t develop hatred on you. If you are polite, people would love and cherish you.
Now, I have just given you the tip to survive in the university, now let’s head unto what you would likely face when you get in there.
What You Will Face In The University:
1. You Will Spend A Lot Of Money:
Once you have made up your mind to go to the university, you will spend so much on registering right from your faculty, department, student affairs department, examinations and records department, you will photocopy a lot of documents and ensure that all the documents are submitted to the appropriate blocks.
So you have to prepare yourself well financially before going to the university.
2. You will See People Who Are Better Than You:
Sorry for stating this but it’s the truth, maybe you were the best in your secondary school, the university would be a place where you will find people who are blessed upstairs.
So do not think you are going to the university to carry first position, just calm down and try to learn from others who may know some concepts better than you.
3. You Will Have Carryovers If You Fail:
Unlike secondary school, if you cannot get up to 40 marks in a particular course in the university, you have automatically failed and you have to write the examination next section.
So try to ensure you pass all the courses you are offering whether the subject is interesting to you or not.
4. You Will See All Sorts Of People:
In the university you are not only going to meet with people you had known, you would also meet people from other states, religion and countries.
You have to learn to live with all sorts of people by understanding their way of life.
So now, I hope you have learnt something new today about campus life in Nigeria by reading this article, hope you enjoy your stay in campus and graduate with good grades.
As a fresher, jambite or new student you need to know some things about being in the university, because if you are not enlightened you may end up frustrated in the university, so this guide will show you what is required in starting life in campus, things you should avoid, tips to survive and what you will likely face in the tertiary institution.
I want to let you all know that campus is one of the most critical places you will ever be, it’s as complex as the real world, very different from the nursery, primary and secondary school.
The university shapes you into the future, you don’t want to go to the university without graduating right? because many went in there blinding and they are lost forever. These tips I am going to give will give you the essentials of how to start life in university in Nigeria.
Most of the questions freshers usually ask is that, what is required in starting campus life? Here is the answer to your question.
Things Required In Starting Campus Life In Nigeria:
1. Good Accommodation:
Now you just want to enter school you would not sleep on the air, you have to choose a good accommodation, be it in the school hostel or somewhere around school. Many new students do not know the importance of living in a good place that is conducive for studying and also safe.
Are you capable of living with your other colleagues in the hostel, then there is no big problem for you, but you could be the type that just wants to stay off camp then there is work for you to find a good place in your school community to live. You have to tour around the area your school in located as early as possible so that you get the best spot for learning and a place that would be safe, because your accommodation plays a big role on your university life.
2. Good friends:
You are also required to find good friends in the university. I would always advice people to find friends rather than friends finding them. Life in campus is quite different from life in secondary school because the friend you keep will definitely influence you somehow and many newbie would be asking, how will you know good friends from the bad ones in the university? The answer is through their dress codes, their enthusiasm and urge to attend lectures, complete their school registration on time and trying to obey rules.
That’s how you know the kind of friends to keep in the university rather than associating with potential cultists and smokers.
3. Face Your Studies Squarely:
For you to graduate successfully in a Nigerian university, you have to face our studies squarely because that is the key to success. Although some universities or university lecturers may be corrupt to the extent of sleeping with the opposite sex or collecting bribe known as “sorting” from students for them to pass, you just have to stay focus and do not let that keep you off track in school.
I have successfully shown you what is required in starting campus life in a typical Nigerian university. Now let us head into things you should avoid in order to survive in a Nigerian university.
Things To Avoid On Campus:
1. Don’t Follow Bad Friends:
As I earlier said, your friends are your greatest influence in school, so you must try to avoid bad friends on campus if you want to survive, because you could have a friend who is a cult member and he offended rival cult member, if he was to be targeted and not found, you would be the person who will be targeted, so be very careful while choosing your friends in school.
2. Don’t Smoke And Drink Alcohol:
You got admission into the university, which is an institution where a good percentage of your brain is used to study, and you want to damage it by smoking and drinking? Taking alcohol and smoking cigarette in school can cause serious mental issues most especially if you are not strong enough.
Be yourself, don’t let anybody deceive you to drink alcohol or smoke weed in order to get sharp brain or feel good.
3. Don’t Join Bad Gang:
It’s almost every day in the national dailies where you will hear how young undergraduates died while exchanging bullets during a cult clash. It is very pathetic and so bad. Just like what happened recently in a university in the south-south region, where a young 200 level student was machete and shot dead because he belonged to a cult group, do you want to end your life this way? Then take advice and don’t join bad gang because it would do you more harm than good.
4. Don’t Be Too Close To The Opposite Sex:
Many of you are getting angry with this point, but it is true. It is better to stay safe than become a victim of what you never planned for. I didn’t say you should not associate with the opposite sex in the university but I said you shouldn’t be too close, so you do not fall into a trap of unwanted pregnancies, abortion, unwanted marriages, expulsion and even suspension.
5. Don’t Be Violent:
In the university, you have to calm down, even if you are a retired soldier. The university comprises of many people coming from various background, so you have to calm down in order to get what you want.
Even if someone is trying to deprive you of your rights, ensure you pass through the relevant authorities to get things done.
University is not like a secondary school where you fight or cause trouble then your parents would be invited to school and everything goes back to normal, in the university any offence you commit would be carried all around the news agencies in town and the government would be the one to handle your case.
So try to be a peaceful guy or girl while on campus.
Tips To Survive On Campus in Nigeria:
1. Pray To God For Help:
There is nothing you will ask God for that he will not give you and surviving on campus is not an exemption, because you will pass through trials and tribulations and in such situation it is only God who would be capable of helping you.
Learn to pray every day, when you want to eat, read, sleep, in lectures and when you want to attend any social activity in school.
There are many good student fellowships you will find on campus, it would be wise to identify yourself with one, so that your Christian faith would be boosted.
Remember Jesus Christ is the only one that can set you free from sin and sorrows. If you have not accepted Jesus as your Lord and Personal Saviour, going to the university would be wasting of time. I know what I am saying.
Accept Jesus today as your Lord and Personal Saviour today….
2. Make Your Book Your Best Friend:
You came to the university to study right? If not you would have being in your parent/guardian’s house chilling and watching movies right? That’s why you should make your book your best friend because if you do not, you will end up graduating from the university with a very low grade.
Try to read as often as possible and you would realize that the university is not something you should really be afraid of.
3. Manage Whatever Resources you Have:
The university is one place you would have to spend so much money. In fact the cheapest of all you will spend in the university is your school fees because there are much more undefined things you would have to spend money on they include accommodation, school, faculty and departmental registration. You may also compulsorily buy handouts from lecturers that would be teaching you some courses.
Prepare well financially if you want to get into the university and manage your resources when you get there.
4. Be Humble:
As an undergraduate, humility is what can take you far even beyond your expectations. Even if you are not bright, with your humility you can get someone to teach you how to do things right.
Don’t argue with your lecturers and colleagues in school, so that they won’t develop hatred on you. If you are polite, people would love and cherish you.
Now, I have just given you the tip to survive in the university, now let’s head unto what you would likely face when you get in there.
What You Will Face In The University:
1. You Will Spend A Lot Of Money:
Once you have made up your mind to go to the university, you will spend so much on registering right from your faculty, department, student affairs department, examinations and records department, you will photocopy a lot of documents and ensure that all the documents are submitted to the appropriate blocks.
So you have to prepare yourself well financially before going to the university.
2. You will See People Who Are Better Than You:
Sorry for stating this but it’s the truth, maybe you were the best in your secondary school, the university would be a place where you will find people who are blessed upstairs.
So do not think you are going to the university to carry first position, just calm down and try to learn from others who may know some concepts better than you.
3. You Will Have Carryovers If You Fail:
Unlike secondary school, if you cannot get up to 40 marks in a particular course in the university, you have automatically failed and you have to write the examination next section.
So try to ensure you pass all the courses you are offering whether the subject is interesting to you or not.
4. You Will See All Sorts Of People:
In the university you are not only going to meet with people you had known, you would also meet people from other states, religion and countries.
You have to learn to live with all sorts of people by understanding their way of life.
So now, I hope you have learnt something new today about campus life in Nigeria by reading this article, hope you enjoy your stay in campus and graduate with good grades.
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