By Yisau Babatunde
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| Abu SUG Shop. PC| Yisau Babatunde |
"Don't go there to Abu SUG Shop. The provisions and groceries are getting costly by the day."
That was the response I received just as I was about to step into the Students' Union Government (SUG) shop located at the entrance of Jibril Aminu's hostels at Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto (, UDUS).
I paused, reflected and took steps backward.
The comment was neither an outburst nor a complaint directed at the shop. It sounded more like advice from one student trying to help another stretch a limited budget, like many conversations on campus, I could have dismissed it.
Almost all students complain about everything, from accommodation to internet access, lecture schedules and transportation. Not every complaint tells the whole story.
But this one stayed and hit me differently, not because it accused anyone of wrongdoing, but because it raised a much larger question.
If students begin warning one another against buying from a shop established under the banner of student welfare, has that shop begun to drift away from the very purpose for which it was created?
And that question deserves more attention than it currently receives.
Across Nigerian universities, Students' Union businesses occupy a unique position and a clear standpoint.
Unlike private supermarkets or commercial stores whose primary objective is profit, SUG businesses are generally established to complement student welfare. They are expected to provide essential commodities within easy reach of students while making campus life slightly easier and, where possible, more affordable.
The keyword has never simply been accosted profit. It has always been welfare first.
That distinction matters because welfare is one of the principal reasons students elect union leaders in the first place.
Whether through transportation, accommodation advocacy, health initiatives or access to basic commodities, student representation is ultimately measured by how much it improves students' everyday lives within the campus.
The Reality Facing Students Today
Most disturbing, the conversation becomes even more relevant against the backdrop of Nigeria's current economic reality.
According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Nigeria's headline Inflation stood at 34.80 per cent in December 2024, while food inflation reached 39.84 per cent, reflecting sharp increases in the prices of bread, rice, yam, cooking oil, eggs and other household essentials.
For many students, monthly stipends have not increased at the same pace the inflation does and that makes it worse.
The World Bank, in its Nigeria Development Update, notes that persistent inflation continues to reduce household purchasing power, particularly among low-income households. In such situations students who come from such households are at the receiving end of this problem.
For many UDUS students, they are not insulated from these realities, many depend entirely on monthly allowances sent by parents or guardians.
Waheed Kabir explained how hard it has become lately when the stipend he often received from home is not enough to cater for him considering the price of food and other groceries.
When I want to buy biscuits or drinks, it is always at a higher price at one SUG shop close to the Dean Student Affairs Complex, I hate to admit it but that is just bad for a student union shop “
I was so eager to access what Kabir said, I went over there to bought a a Lucky Pen and the boy I met there stand on selling it #150 despite my begging, a pen of #100; I was so annoying but satisfied that what Kabir told me is true.
Maybe, they have forgotten that most of the students survive through small businesses, freelancing and occasional support from relatives, then every increase in the price of basic commodities forces them to make difficult choices.
To many working adults, a ₦100 increase in the price of bread may seem insignificant, but to a student managing a fixed allowance, it is not because every penny already had a budget for.
Definitely, a few additional naira spent on milk today may mean skipping a snack tomorrow. Higher prices for toiletries may reduce the money available for printing assignments or reading materials.
The burden rarely comes from one purchase, It comes from many small increases happening simultaneously and this is why student welfare cannot be discussed only during elections.
It must also be reflected in the everyday systems students rely on, no reasonable student expects SUG shops to sell goods below cost.
I never disagree that businesses must pay suppliers, they must cover transportation costs, they must account for inflation, electricity and staffing meaning profit is necessary for sustainability.
But should profitability become the primary objective of a students' union business? That is where opinion begins to differ.
Unlike private retailers, SUG businesses derive their legitimacy not merely from commerce but from representation and equitable accountability.
Students naturally expect that a business operating under their union should provide some practical advantage over ordinary shops whether through lower mark-ups, subsidised products, student discounts or transparent pricing.
If that difference didn't disappear, students will inevitably also perhaps prices are rising because private suppliers have increased theirs, students deserve to know because transparency will not eliminate inflation but will bridge the trust gap within the students union and the students.
Each shop should start pasting periodic price updates, explaining cost increases and engaging students openly would likely reduce suspicion far more effectively than silence.
Student unions cannot always prevent hardship but they can, however, explain it.
In fact, during examination periods, temporary welfare packages could provide discounted essentials for financially struggling students, such initiatives would reinforce the very philosophy upon which student businesses were founded.
Leadership is often judged by the projects it commissions, sometimes it should also be judged by the everyday burdens it helps students carry easily and effortlessly.