By Yisau Babatunde
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| Piles of Wastes at Jibril Aminu's Block A PC| Yisau Babatunde |
There is something unsettling whenever I walk through the school hostel, especially the male hostels where overgrown weeds compete with buildings for attention, drainage channels disappear beneath vegetation that keeps growing, and heaps of refuse become as familiar as hostel rooms.
Almost all passersby notice it before anyone says a word because the bushes are stretching along pedestrian walkways and the clogged drains hidden beneath weeds.
What about the piles of plastic waste and food remnants exposed to the scorching sun while still producing a sweet offensive odour, pardon my manners; I have a lot of unanswered questions still leaving my mind unrest.
At some moments, I was lost in thought and pondering hard over what might have led us here, a student asked me from afar; "What are you looking for at a place smelling like that, that place don dey for a while ooo"
Rhetorically, I asked myself “when did this even become normal?” At that moment, I knew it was becoming a culture of neglect.
A growing pattern that the management will always neglect the growing weeds till the end of the session while Jibril Aminu’s Block A has permanently turned to the dumpsite of all kind of refuse without imagining or ever think about the live of those residing close to the designated dumpsite by the school management.
Then, perhaps the greatest danger of environmental neglect is not the weeds or the refuse themselves. It is how easily the students are becoming too comfortable with them.
Shortly, I saw students walking past the overgrown surroundings, eating biscuits while still laughing uncontrollably. They avoid certain paths because the vegetation has become too dense to walk over and these conditions stop attracting attention. They simply become part of our daily campus life.
That normalisation becomes alarming and should concern everyone.
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| Growing Weeds around the School Hostel. PC| Yisau Babatunde |
A university is expected to shape minds, inspire innovation and model responsibility. Yet, the condition of some parts of the university raises an uncomfortable question: what are we learning when neglect becomes part of our educational environment?
This question prompted me to take a closer look and take a wider step.
Across sections of the campus, vegetation has spread around buildings, pedestrian walkways and drainage channels. In some locations, refuse has accumulated in open spaces, consisting largely of plastic packaging, disposable food containers and other domestic waste. While these observations do not prove widespread environmental failure across the university, they raise legitimate concerns about sanitation, safety and maintenance.
This observation goes beyond appearance.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) environmental management, including proper drainage, regular waste disposal and eliminating stagnant water is one of the most effective ways to reduce mosquito breeding, typhoid or malaria infection.
This is particularly significant in Nigeria, where the WHO's 2024 World Malaria Report estimates that the country accounted for approximately 26.8 per cent of global malaria cases and 30.9 global malaria deaths in 2023, making Nigeria the country with the highest malaria burden in the world.
This does not mean that every overgrown area causes malaria but it highlights why maintaining drainage systems and preventing stagnant water should never be treated as an afterthought, waste management is very important.
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) estimates that the world generates more than 2 billion of municipal solid waste every year, with at least 33 per cent not being managed in an environmentally safe manner. Now, imagining such a university campus where thousands of students live, study and eat every day, consistent waste collection is not simply about cleanliness, it is a public health responsibility for every authority concern.
The impact extends to learning itself.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has consistently maintained that a safe, healthy and inclusive learning environment is fundamental to quality education. Similarly, the Organisation For Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has found that well-maintained educational environments contribute positively to students' well-being, satisfaction and academic performance.
In other words, the environment is not separate from education. So, what will be my university's fate? It is part of education.
However, I say that none of this means the responsibility lies solely with the university administration.
Students also contribute largely to the environmental degradation through indiscriminate disposal of waste. Every plastic bottle tossed onto the ground, every food pack abandoned after lunch and every nylon bag dropped beside a walkway adds to a growing sanitation challenge.
Therefore, the environmental responsibility must be shared, not isolated.
Students should make proper use of waste bins and management should make provision for it, avoid littering and support environmental sanitation campaigns. More student organisations should organise periodic clean-up exercises and awareness which aims to promote environmental stewardship across the campus.
For our dear management, routine clearing of vegetation should be proactive rather than reactive. Drainage channels should be desilted before the peak of the rainy season while waste bins should be strategically placed and emptied regularly. Refuse should never remain long enough to become a permanent feature of the landscape.
Definitely, these are not extraordinary demands, they are the minimum standards expected of an institution committed to excellence. Besides, our school slogan which read: “Character and Learning” should also reflects in our management affairs too, it shouldn't only be restricted to students alone.
On a more final note, I feel duty-bound bringing notice on the need of enforcing regular sanitation on UDUS campus. It's until then our school will have a safe learning environment where visitors, project commissioners guest of honours and, including students can be proud to call a peaceful home for studies. And that's not too much to ask.