The Hitmen That Stalk The Students -By Ademola Olamide

“The hitmen stalk at first, thereafter, find the perfect opportunity to strike, and when the hitmen strike, they strike so hard, and deep, and steadily, that there comes afterward, the ceaseless flow of blood out of the jugular vein.”

The cankerworm began sometime around 2014, then when the institution realised that they would no longer receive the hundred percent subvention from the state government again, but rather a certain percentage, and be left in the wilderness to acquire the rest of the revenue to take care of their needs. This act had undoubtedly instigated various policies to be purported by the institution, among which are the birth and inflation of irrelevance fees paid on a miscellaneous portal – internet and health insurance fee, and Medical and Oath fee – hike in tuition fee, and nauseatingly, the mass admission of students into the institution. Those began the first stalk, and subsequently, the first strike of the hitmen.

The strike proceeded, intensified, changing phases as time progressed, and then from 2015, stretching through to 2018, the amount of students admitted into the institution became intensified that the largest lecture theatre which is the Educational Trust Fund Lecture theatre, built to accommodate 1000 students at maximum takes in two times of its capacity, leaving students sitting on the window panes while the lecturers strain his or her voice to get the lectures across, how bad! And added to it was the corresponding increment in the tuition fee despite the mass intake. On the side of the hitmen, they’d made a strike which wasn’t too deep, seemingly the increment was minimal, and so the students, out of indifference, obliged to pay.

Now in 2018, the hitmen stalked again, calculating every move of the students and waiting for the perfect time to strike, this time, it was a strike so deep. It started with the 2018/2019 admitted students – there was a gross reduction in the intake of the prospective candidates, and this, as thoughtful of the students, became the first step the hitmen took to give succour to the wounds they had inflicted on us earlier on – giving the students hope to enjoy education in a not too crowded environment – just like how the cenotaph commemorate the fallen. The students had basked in this radiance of unquantified joy until another strike, so deep, came, beginning with the 23% increase in the acceptance fee, followed by the 50% increase in the tuition fee to be paid by the prospective students. Yet, with these increment in fees, there wasn’t any noticeable development made in the school, except if the overnight renovation of the school environment consequence of the convocation ceremony that occurred mid-December could be labelled a noticeable development, then there was development.

In conclusion, the hitmen has stalked, and subsequently struck us, the students now are in limbo, and walking dead, the fees pushing up throbbing questions among which is “are we actually in a state-owned government institution?” In this citadel of technological innovation, education, they’ve made us to believe it isn’t free any longer, but at least, we shouldn’t be getting it at a price that would leave a V-shaped marking around our neck.

– Ademola Olamide.