On seeing her dead son’s body, she hit herself on the walkway like a pawpaw falling from its tree helplessly; it was 6:23a.m. I was talking to Nuru last night about his solitude these days. He told me he had never read anywhere aside the University Library since his four years on this campus; now, the university library is locked and we are to write exams in two weeks time. While many of us are trying to adapt to system that threatens our survivals as students on this university, Nuru told me he could not read to comprehend and he was scared of having carry-over which could lead to extra year because her mother had been paying her school fees with NAPO Loan and his father is late. I told him how my mother was embarrassed by NAPO Loaners in the public after government demolished her kiosk. My mother has been paying my school fees with NAPO Loan too and my father died before I got admission into the university.

Before we go to beds last night, we discussed how the university management is planning to increase the school fee and do away with squatters. The university Vice Chancellor (VC) Prof. Tartuffe who was a fellow of Canbridge University is willing to transform the university to international standard. We discussed how he was so silent to the death of some students who stay off-campus and made us accepted their deaths as suicide without proper investigation. About some students off campus who were raped and the Students Union match to the commissioner of police Office at Ogberan, how the Union who was headed by Dr Maradona was full of hooliganism and corruption; the management tactical support for the union and the justified suspension of those who spoke or stood against the union by Prof. Tartuffe.

Nuru and I know that we may not graduate if Prof. Tartuffe achieves his objective. We know that his believe is that university education is expensive and it’s not meant for people like us. Even when he knows that average citizens of this country live below two dollars per day and many civil servants are not getting their salaries, some are getting half salaries. I told Nuru that Prof. Tartuffe is trying to balance the class structure by setting a wide gap between the upper class and the lower class. Nuru said to me, “Suberu, if I did not complete my university education with all these pains my mother had gone through, I will take up gun and kill some of their children and kill myself”. I go to my bed; the electric power was taken off.

It was few minutes pass 12a.m. when Nuru started coughing; the room was dark because there was no electric power restore. We thought it was casual cough until some of us were awake when the coughing persisted. I switched on my touch and saw that Nuru was not just vomiting but was vomiting blood as he coughed helplessly. We were helpless as the University Hospital was not working because the Non Teaching University Staffs (NTUS) were on strike and the university has insisted that we must resume and write exams. We only stood by his side and poured water on his head that was when we called his mother so that she can come early in the morning to take him to hospital. Nuru gave up the ghost around 1p.m and that was the end. Around 5a.m, the news has circulated and management was able to arrange for ambulance around 7:40am and that was when we realized Nuru’s mother’s spinal cord is damaged and could not walk by herself anymore. Nobody will protest for Nuru’s death because no one wants to be suspended and then we are all living dead because we are in a system that threatens our survival. This is Federal University of Zombie.

(C) BADA YUSUF AMOO

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