By Zariat Yetunde Ayoade
“It was a Friday morning, my test was scheduled to hold at 8 am. I woke up and prepared for school. I stood at the bus stop as early as 7 am. And for more than an hour, I could not get a bike or bus to convey me to school. At 8:05 am, I saw a fellow coursemate who already got a bike, and she offered to help. We boarded the bike together. On getting to the test venue around 8:15 am, the lecturer had already closed the door. I missed my test that day. It was a heartbreaking and traumatising experience.”
These were exact words of Oluwaseyifunmi David, a student at the Department of English and Literary Studies, Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto (UDUS), who recounted her sad experience of being a resident at Kwakwalawa.
Kwakwalawa, Tribune CampusXtra gathered, is a small village after the first (Bilya Sanda) gate of the varsity. The village is said to accommodate a large number of students living off the campus because it is the closest to the school and also affordable.
Owing to the insufficient provision for accommodation in the school halls of residence, most students have to live off-campus, according to sources.
The increasing rate of students living in the area (Kwakwalawa) has made the request for a bus stop a necessity.
David, who has been living in Kwakwalawa for more than a year, was said to have applied for bed space at the university halls of residence, but it fell through.
“Kwakwalawa is not a bad place to stay. The transportation issue is worrisome.
“You can stand for hours and not get a bike or bus to take you to school and, perhaps, when you later see the bike, they charge you an exorbitant amount, like N200, because they know you won’t easily get another one. This happens mostly when [I am] having morning and evening lectures,” she lamented.
According to her, having a bus stop at Kwakwalawa will aid her movement to school, especially in the mornings.
“Coming back is not a problem. You can easily follow the bus going to Dandima,” she added.
Another resident, Filofoye Abiodun who spoke to Tribune CampusXtra said he spends N8,000 as his estimated transport fare for the month.
“In a month I spend over N8,000 as transport fare between Kwakwalawa and school.
“I remember the day of our orientation. I was supposed to have two tests. One was 8 am. On getting to the main road, I could not find any bike or bus. I trekked to my faculty [of Social Sciences] but later got to know that the two tests were not going to take place,” he recalled.
He added; “Assuming there is a bus stop at Kwakwalawa, it would reduce the cost of transportation. However, the challenge is if students can wait since it’s an eighteen-passenger bus”.
Our findings further reveal transportation has been a pressing issue, especially for students residing in Kwakwalawa area of the State, as students now trek to school as a result of the poor state of transportation in the area.
Mercy Agunbiade, a 200-level student of Mathematics also recounted her ordeal with transportation problems in Kwakwalawa.
“I was coming back from night class, around 9 pm. I know that was too late for someone not staying in school hostel but I had an assignment to submit the next day. I could not get a bike to take me to my hostel because it was too late, so I had to trek.
“Trekking alone as a lady around that time was risky. So, at the slightest sound I heard, I ran into the bush for safety. Without knowing what was coming behind me, I still had to run to safety,” she lamented.
“I enjoy staying in Kwakwalawa rather than the school hostel because I like my privacy. Getting a bike or bus has not been easy especially when having 8 am lectures or night reading.
“A bus stop or at least a means of transportation is a beautiful thing. It will ease the burden on us. Even if it is not a bus, it can be a tricycle that will have a fixed price,” she added.
This reporter gathered the shuttles that convey students from Dandima to school are 18-passenger buses which take time to fill up, hence, most students prefer bikes.
Abeeb Abdulroqeeb, a final-year student at the Faculty of Education, said he has been living in the area for about 5 years.
“I remember how, in my first year, there was a park at Kwakwalawa, but the drivers hardly see students to patronise them”.
However, he noted that students living in Kwakwalawa during that time were not as many as those currently living there and went further to ascribe the lack of bikes to the surge in population.
Although Habeeb maintained that he had never missed tests or exams due to unavailability of bikes but said he has missed lectures.
He further recommended tricycles as an affordable alternative for students to patronise.
“It can’t be easy for the driver to take 2 or 3 passengers to school. But students might not want to wait for passengers to fill up the vehicle. If only the students can consider the drivers too, it will be better,” he opined.
Hassanat Alabi, a 300-level student at the Faculty of Arts, said; “The only time I have problems is when I stay back to read in school. The bike men charge exorbitantly around evening time”.
Drivers kick against ‘Kwakwalawa Bus Stop’
“The inability of the students at Kwakwalawa to wait for the bus to full, is one challenge that would hinder having a bus stop there. I don’t know if they can meet the Dean of Student Affairs to make plans on providing buses for Kwakwalawa residents, with the condition that they would wait for the bus to full before conveying them to school,” Mr Sanusi Musa, the Chairman of the Drivers Association, Main Campus, suggested, citing concerns that the idea of having a bus stop is not a good one for him because a majority of students come from town to school or from school to town and not Kwakwalawa.
Speaking further, he recollected that, “students started living in Kwakwalawa recently. Some years back, there was no hostel at Kwakwalawa, which was why they don’t have a bus stop. The population of passengers in Dandima bus stop is high, compared to Kwakwalawa”.
“Our main challenge is the lack of co-operation from students, because as soon as they are ready to enter school, they would not want to consider the driver and wait for the bus to full. Some would rather take a tricycle or bike,” he complained.
“In my own view, providing a bus stop at Kwakwalawa is of no importance. We can pick and drop students at Kwakwalawa if they like, but if we attempt to park a bus there, and wait for it to full, you can spend the whole day before filling an eighteen-passenger bus. They can collect bike men phone number. When they are ready for school, the bike man will come and pick them and drop them back,” Mr Abu Wa’is, a bus driver at the school bus stop objected to the idea of having a bus stop at Kwakwalawa.
We’ll look into it – SUG
When contacted, Lukman Sanusi, the Student Union President of the Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, assured that his administration would address the problem.
“This issue is a vital one that contains the student interest and it is our top priority. Myself and my cabinet members will sit and discuss this issue so we can come up with a workable solution for all parties concerned,” Sanusi told Tribune CampusXtra.
School mgt reacts
In an interview with Prof. Umar Aliyu, the Dean of Student Affairs on the probability of having a bus stop in Kwakwalawa, he noted that “Dedicating a bus [to Kwakwalawa residents] will be a loss to the drivers because they might not have enough passengers. However, tricycle is a means of transportation the school can look into as an alternative mode of transportation for the students.”
The Dean further said he has spoken with the chairman of the tricycle association who assured him the situation will be addressed.
READ ALSO FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
and then