Nigerian university students voice out on campus ills in new anthology

Students from Nigerian universities across the country have written about the plight of undergraduates in a new anthology.

The anthology titled “Memoirs Of Nigerian University Students” (MONUS) was launched at the University of Ibadan, on Friday.

Toheeb Ojuolape, founder of Tell! and producer of the anthology, said the publication was created in partnership with Okadabooks, Bambooks and the University of Ibadan literary and debating society.

He said the anthology is a collection of over 100 true-life stories of university students gathered from over 70 Nigerian universities, including University of Ibadan (UI), Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), University of Lagos (UNILAG), University of Benin (UNIBEN), Babcock University, Ahmadu Bello University, Federal University Oye Ekiti (FUOYE), among others.

Some of the stories in the publication cut across themes such as #SexForGrade, cultism, rape, university frustrations, tales of triumph, struggles and trials, unnecessary red-tapism, among others.

“MONUS anthology seeks to serve as a means of reflection on the state in which our universities have degenerated into.

“The organizers hope that the stories can attract both national and international attention to university education in Nigeria to incite sustainable change and development in Nigerian Universities.”

Ojuolape, a final year student of Petroleum Engineering at UI, said part of the proceeds from the publication, which is sold for N200, will be used in providing education grant for students from low-income families.

“One of the goals of the anthology which is sold for just N200 is to reach a target of 20,000 sales so that the organizers can use part of the proceedings to support at least 10 students from low-income families across various universities, with a sum of #100, 000 education grant,” the statement read.

The publication had Fisayo Soyombo, investigative journalist and TheCable’s former editor, as its guest editor while the forward was written by Tijani Mayowa, Chevening scholar and fact-checker at AFP.