Students in Nigerian universities have stories to tell, but hardly anyone to tell them to. For our new weekly series, Aluta and Chill, we are putting the spotlight on these students and their various campus experiences.
With a university system that a lot of them describe as “stifling”, a lot of Unilorin students have a lot to say. In this week’s Aluta and Chill, seven of them share their worst experiences with lecturers. From late coming to tribalism, these stories are as varied as they get.
Oghosa – I SCORED 4/20 BECAUSE THE LECTURER DID NOT MARK SOME OF MY ANSWERS
It was in 100 level. We all wrote a test and when the scripts were returned, I found out that this lecturer did not mark seven of my answers. It was not that I failed them or something of that nature — she simply did not mark it. When I went to complain to her, she said I and the whole class would have failed anyway, and that was why she added ten marks for everyone. I tried to talk but she told me to keep quiet. I could either choose her own ten marks or my own “correct” score. I didn’t know what else to say, because everything she said didn’t add up. I scored 4/20 in the test. The question is: “Where are the 10 marks she claimed to add?”
Ejiro – MY COURSE ADVISOR HAS NEVER LIKED ME
I am the class representative, but my course advisor has never liked me. I am Igbo and she is Hausa. Every time she gets the opportunity, she reminds me that this is not the village I am from where there is no light or road. She says that how can I, a ‘foreigner’, lead the owners of the land? She always looks for every opportunity to insult me before the class. There was a time I appointed someone to assist me in my duties as a representative. Some students in the class believed that it was not my duty to do so and they reported me to her. The next day, she spent the entire two hours meant for her lectures to openly make a caricature of the boy I appointed and then insulted me too.
Florence – THE ISSUE OF FUCKED UP RESULTS IS A GENERAL EXPERIENCE FOR ALL UNILORIN STUDENTS
I actively avoid lecturers, so I barely have experiences with them. But the issue of fucked up results is one general experience for every Unilorin student, so I’ll share my experience. There was this course I spent a lot of time preparing for. It was a first year course, and we had heard a lot about her: her strictness, the difficulty of passing her course, the bogus materials to read. I was prepared. If there was anything, I was ready to give my all to pass that course. She didn’t make it easy for us. Every morning we had her class, she would tell us that we were all failures, a disgrace. That with us, the country has no future. If you ask a single question, she would find a way to make you the butt of everyone’s jokes. It was a traumatising experience and I didn’t want to go through it another time, so I knew carrying the course over was not an option. It was the only course I read hard for. With all I read and wrote, I was sure I would have a B. But when the results were released, I had a D. It was a staggering blow.
Nelson – I WAS HUMILIATED FOR HAVING AN ARGUMENT WITH A COURSE MATE
I had a confrontation with a coursemate. Not a fight – you can’t fight here. The penalty is expulsion after you face the Student Disciplinary Committee (SDC). We had an argument on the WhatsApp group chat and it led to a real life confrontation, because I was really angry. It turned out this individual had a shady closeness with a lecturer and he went ahead to report me to her.
The next thing I knew, the lecturer called me for a class meeting. I don’t take the course, but she requested to see me in the class. I went. Turned out that she wanted to humiliate me. In front of a class of over 200 students, she gave me a thorough dressing down. She verbally attacked me and threatened to throw me out of school. She never did though, but the reason for her actions were known to me: she was the godmother for a small circle of students led by the guy I had an argument with.
Damian – OUR LECTURER WAS THE ONE AT FAULT, BUT HE STILL MANAGED TO BLAME US
Our lecturer gave us a wrong question. When he marked our scripts, he marked based on the correct questions. We were confused and so we told him that we answered based on what he gave us and he marked us wrong. When he went through his questions correctly, he found out that he was the wrong one. We assumed that he would conduct another test or do something to augment it, since he was the one at fault, but he refused and said we had already scored what would be the final scores. So we got angry and told him that he was the wrong one and should do something about it. To be honest, we were willing to rewrite another test or anything he brought up. Instead, he became angry and said we were accusing him of being incompetent and not knowing what he was doing. In the end, we had to keep quiet and collect the marks like that, because we knew that if we carried on that way, things would be damaged beyond control.
Jimi – I CAME LATE TO CLASS AND GOT DRAGGED TWICE
I had a class scheduled for 10am and I was in class before that time. But as the faculty general secretary, I was to be in a 10am meeting with the faculty staff adviser and the dean of the faculty. I left for the meeting and returned to the class at about 11am. As soon as I entered, the lecturer spotted me and started saying, “You! Look at, look at. Unserious one. After everything, you’ll come begging for marks. We know your type.” This was right in front of the class. To be honest, I would not have returned to the class at all, but he was a lecturer I liked a lot and I didn’t want to miss his class.
Apparently, that was only round one. While he was dictating, he looked up to see that I was not writing. And then he started another round of drag. It was literally the worst thing I have ever experienced.
*All names have been changed to protect the identities of the subjects.
Can’t get enough Aluta and Chill? Check back every Thursday at 9 AM for a new episode. Find other stories in the series here.
