By Fathiu jimoh
In Nigerian universities today, it is not just the burden of assignments or sleepless nights over exams that weighs on students. It is also the empty stomachs, the skipped meals, and the silent suffering over how to afford just one plate of food a day.
At the Usmanu Danfodiyo university sokoto (UDUS)Sadiat Muhammed, a 200-level Pure English Language student in the Faculty of Arts, explains how she survives most days on biscuits or soaked garri.
“Sometimes, I pretend I am fasting, just to avoid people noticing that I do not have food,” she said.
Nothing remains in Sadiat’s account after paying her school fees and buying textbooks. She struggles daily with how to eat in the day and at night.
“It is not that I am lazy. My parents send money, but after paying hostel fees, transport, and buying books, nothing is left in my account again,” she added.
“It is not assignments or group presentations that disturb me the most. It is how to eat and take care of myself,” she said.
She added that since the Nigerian government introduced the student loan, she applied many times but did not get anything.
“Since October, they have not approved my loan, which is making things very hard for me”, she said.
In Kwara State University (KWASU), a final-year student of Entrepreneurship, Muhammed Musa, works nights as a security office assistant just to feed himself after searching for many jobs inside the school that could serve as a side hustle.
“I come to lectures straight from work. No sleep, no food. It is affecting my health and my academics, but I do not have options because this is where I gain one or two things”, for survival.
Musa said the work affects his education.
“I always miss some attendance in class. My assignments do not go well, and in some of my C.As, I scored low marks, not because of anything but because of hunger and suffering.”
At Usman Danfodiyo university sokoto University (UDUS), Rabi Sulyman, a 300-level Biology student, was admitted to the clinic after she fainted in class due to hunger.
“That day, I had not eaten anything for two days. I did not have money, and I was too ashamed to ask for help.”
Rabi said before she entered the class that morning it was with a blurry vision.
“My vision was blurry, and it was like I was seeing two people in front of me.”
At the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Daniel Abubakar, a 200-level Biochemistry student said students queue daily at church canteens that provide free meals. For some, that is the only meal they have all day.
“If you are not sharp, you will not even get food. Sometimes the food finishes before your turn”, he lamented.
In Usmanu Danfodiyo University Sokoto (UDUS), Abdulramanh Maridiyat said many students depend on cheap food like garri.
“Some students use the little money they have to buy foodstuff, but many still struggle. When they (parents) send money, I use it to pay my school fees and to cover other expenses.”
Garri is the main food I buy because other foods require ingredients and gas or stove to prepare. Many students buy garri because it is affordable.”
The rise in cost of living, especially food prices, worsens the problem. A plate of rice that used to be 200 naira now costs 500 naira or more. Many students cannot afford it daily. Some even skip buying textbooks just to eat, while others fall into risky behaviours to survive.
Lecturers and school authorities often do not know how deep the problem is. Hunger, unlike poor grades, does not show on a report sheet, but it quietly breaks the spirit of students.
DATA TELLS A SAD REALITY
Academic performance is threatened when students cannot learn on an empty stomach.
Health and nutrition concerns include high prevalence of food insecurity among students, with some going to bed hungry
For example, 13.2 percent of medical students in one study reported they went to bed hungry.
Psychological and emotional stress is added on top of academic and financial stress.
DATA
According to the National Library of Medicine, a study of university students in southeast Nigeria found that about 35.7 percent of students had low food insecurity and 45.0 percent had very low food security.
At the University of Ibadan, a 2019 study among 208 medical students (levels 300–500) found that 64.9 percent of the students were food insecure. The study also reported very low dietary diversity, especially among female students, and linked food insecurity to low monthly allowances and financial hardship.
CAUSES OF HUNGER AND STRUGGLE AMONG STUDENTS
Low or Irregular Financial Support. Many students rely on small allowances from parents or guardians. Most students do not have any other source of income. Some get money only at the beginning of the semester, and it is fast spent.
Rising sost of food due to Inflation has pushed up food prices nationwide. Basic meals on campus now cost two to three times more than in previous years.
No Part-Time Job Opportunities. Most Nigerian students cannot work while studying due to workload or lack of jobs. This increases dependency and limits their ability to support themselves.
Meanwhile, life goes on and they hope that something will happen to change their hunger situation, or that the government will intervene with a policy that would also cater for their stomach as much as their education.