By Fathiu Jimoh
Abdurasheed Abdulmushin kept refreshing his phone after his class representative asked students to join an online lecture. But the network would not respond to his frustration.
The 300-level English student, who lives around Presidential Villa behind the stadium at Usmanu Danfodiyo University Sokoto (UDUS), could neither access the class group nor respond to his classmates until he walked some distance in search of a stronger signal.
For Abdulmushin, this has become routine rather than an isolated experience. Like many students living in different parts of the university community, poor network coverage has turned ordinary academic activities into daily struggles.
Findings by Digest Press revealed that unreliable internet service has become a major obstacle to learning and research for students living both on and off campus. Students interviewed described missing online classes, struggling to submit assignments, failing to attend virtual interviews and spending hours searching for stable network signals.
Students Say Academic Work Suffers
Abdulmushin said poor connectivity becomes worse in the evenings when many students are online. According to him, downloading lecture materials, accessing educational websites and participating in class discussions often becomes impossible during those periods.
"There are times I have to leave my hostel and walk to another location before I can submit an assignment," he said. "It wastes valuable study time."
A similar experience was shared by Lukman Sodiq, a 300-level Mathematics student living around the Government House area behind the stadium. He said internet service deteriorates once he returns from campus, making it difficult to continue studying online.
According to him, unstable connectivity has prevented him from joining online classes, participating in academic discussions and completing internet-based research.
"Sometimes I cannot even connect after getting back to my hostel," he said.
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| Students at the designated WiFi Spot within UDUS. PC| Jimoh Fathiu |
Muhammad Bushroh Muhammad, a 300-level Law student living at Benji Hostel, said the situation has affected his academic research because most legal materials are now available online. He explained that downloading research materials, recent law reports and other legal resources sometimes takes hours because of weak internet service.
During examination periods, he added, the challenge becomes even worse as students compete for limited internet access while trying to prepare for their examinations.
Poor Connectivity Extends Beyond the Classroom
Oyelowo Sheriff, a 200-level Law student residing in Shama Village, said poor network coverage has affected communication with classmates and access to online lectures, internships and fellowship programmes.
He also complained that checking examination results through the university portal becomes difficult whenever many students attempt to access it at the same time.
For Abdullahi Gali, a 400-level Mass Communication student living in Bacazi, unreliable internet has slowed research work. He said there are occasions when network service disappears completely, forcing him to suspend academic work and miss important deadlines.
"Research that should take an hour can take the whole day because of poor connectivity," he said.
Abdulmalik Amina, a 300-level English student, recalled missing attendance during an online class because repeated network failures prevented her from staying connected.
For Ruqayat Babamale, a 400-level Linguistics student living in the school hostel, the consequences extended beyond academics. She said unstable internet prevented her from participating properly in an online scholarship interview she had prepared for several weeks.
By the time the connection improved, she said, the interview had already progressed.
University Officials Acknowledge the Challenge
The complaints are not limited to students.
Mr Abubakar, ICT Officer at the Faculty of Law, acknowledged that internet access has become essential to legal education because students depend on electronic law reports, digital libraries and online legal databases.
He said the faculty regularly receives complaints from students, particularly during course registration, result checking and other activities on the university portal.
According to him, the faculty has continued working to improve connectivity, although the challenge has not been completely resolved.
The Director of ICT and Management Information System (MIS) also acknowledged the growing concerns.
According to him, the university is identifying areas experiencing persistent connectivity problems while exploring measures to improve bandwidth and digital access across the campus.
Similarly, the Dean of Student Affairs, Professor Usman Aliyu, described internet access as an important part of students' welfare. He said the university is aware that poor connectivity affects learning, research and other academic opportunities.
He added that lasting improvement would require collaboration between the university and telecommunications service providers.