#BNCampusSeries: Campus Life Taught Oluwatosin Olabode How to Become Street Smart

Editor’s note: For the next 3 months, we’ll be accepting and publishing students’ experiences on Nigerian campuses through the #BNCampusSeries. Beyond the four walls of the classrooms, so many things happen on campus, and our goal is to document the various aspects of this phase. The BellaNaija Campus stories will explore academics, finances, love, school anxiety, mental wellness, relationships, and everything in between, and we invite you to be a part of our effort to share the diverse experiences of campus life.

How did Oluwatosin Joy Olabode, move from being an ajebo to ‘street’? Read her story!

When I started my university journey, I was not prepared for the reality of it. The tales we hear growing up do not measure up to the actual experience. It has been a complete rollercoaster ride. I left home feeling free and ready to go on my own path and call myself an adult, but I was not anticipating the challenges that came with adulthood.

In 100 level, I got to experience first-hand what hunger felt like. Although my parents provided food and allowance, it was insufficient to sustain me. I needed more food and stuff since my brain was working harder than ever. The fear of failing and dropping out was overwhelming, so I attended every class, studied diligently and even went to night classes. I invested a lot of effort in studying and studying which made me leaner.

One of the things I had to learn was how to manage money. I knew I was a big spender; I loved buying things on impulse and sometimes gave to people needlessly. I shared my foodstuff with friends because they didn’t have enough but towards the end of the semester, I suffered. This greatly affected me in my first year of school, especially when people ended up taking advantage of my kindness. I had to learn to be street the hard way. I was also terrible at asking for help and it made things worse for me. At some point, I told myself that I wished my parents had made me know more about life and experience things more without providing everything for me. I understand them now but if I was to go back in time, I would plead to them to strike a balance between protecting me and letting me experience life to some extent. 

In my 100 level, I had a lot of fun moments on campus. One of them was strolling around campus with my friends at night. From my hostel, we decided to stroll to Item 7 – a popular yet affordable restaurant that can be perfectly described as the McDonald’s of the University of Ilorin. The restaurant’s packaging is elite and many students fancy it because it is almost affordable for everyone. When I first got to school, a package of rice with chicken was N500 but later, it increased to N1200 and then to N1400. This is why I believe the impact of inflation on students is not often talked about.

There’s also the Nutri-C spot, which is my favourite spot because it’s affordable. A cup of Nutri-C is N200 and it’s enough to make you feel refreshed. As I write this, I have just finished a cup of Nutri-C. We also used to visit the suya stand in front of the Abuja hostel. I have always loved eating suya and when I found that suya spot, I was so excited. My friends and I would stay there for hours to gist for a long time. There are other spots but these are what fill the memory of my campus life most. 

There are intangible things being a student of the University of Ilorin will teach you and one of them is sharpness. See ehn, if you attend Unilorin, no matter what you are, you must have experienced something called “shunting”. This is when there is a long line of students in the queue and a particular student skips the queue and smuggles their way to the front. I used to think it was cheating until I started spending hours waiting in a queue. This shunting technique helped me a lot to be quick-witted with my feet and my head. I’m not the most street-smart person but I’m not the same ajebota that got here.