By Tijani Ibrahim
‘Suffering’ and ‘smiling’ are the best words to describe James Taiwo. Struggling in sweats, though, he is contented with the little he earns as a student barber in Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto.
After the hectic goings and comings of the academic activities in the day, Taiwo still struggles to hustle at night in order to put food on his table. The only means of earning a living as a student for the 28-year-old is to engage in night barbing at a cheaper price for his fellow students in the hostel.
“I have been in this artisan for four years now. That is, I started when I was in 100 level and I am happy and comfortable doing this work,” he proudly says.
Besides making a token of money, passion for what he does (barbing) would not always allow him to jettison night barbing whenever he returns from school.
“For everything one does, one must have passion, no matter how small is the business.I have a high level of passion in this work because, I have been doing it before I gained admission into the University.
“Immediately I arrived for confirmation of my admission, I came with my barbing equipment, in order to keep myself busy against unnecessary acts,” he tells THE NEWS DIGEST
His daily routines have been so tight that he leaves for class early in the morning and comes back late to the hostel only to work at night till the late hours.
Despite the time-consuming hustling job, the income he makes is not enough to pay his school fees. He still has to look for part-time jobs to do during the long session holiday to settle his school bills.
“The income aspect of it is enough to sustain my daily needs like handout and even feeding (sometimes). The only thing I am not capable of doing from the income is to pay my school fees.
“Whenever I get home for holiday, I look for jobs that can fetch me enough money. As we all know that the issue of school fees is not the matter of 5000 Naira,” he recalls.
I’M WORKING HARD BECAUSE I DON’T WANT TO BE A LAZY NIGERIAN YOUTH
Portraying himself as an hardworking Nigerian youth, contrasting the proposition of President Muhammadu Buhari that most Nigerian youths are lazy, Taiwo remains dedicated to both his reading and night barbing, being the sponsor of himself.
“I sponsor my education and that is why I don’t miss a night for working. I am doing all these because I don’t want to be a lazy Nigerian youth,” he proclaims.
When asked how much he made from the night barbing, he said: “It depends, for instance, we cut hair at the rate of N50 per head, when the school resumes fully, we make up to 1000 naira on daily basis. So, if we multiply that by 30 days of the months, then, we make 30 thousand naira in a month,” he says. “I don’t think there is anyone that can give me 30 thousand naira in a month, considering the state of the nation’s economy,” Taiwo adds, while he tells his customer to sit well as he barbs his hair.
Schooling and hustling as students have become parri passu activities for some Nigerian youths in tertiary institutions. This is due to the rapid poverty rate and other socio-economic threats in the country. However, Taiwo advises his fellow students and youths to embrace hustling alongside schooling.
“No condition is permanent; do not over depend on people because they might fail you. Second, our parents might not be able to meet all our needs, even though they want to do, they might delay. So if you have any vocational work that you can do, do not feel reluctant in doing it. It is just as good as entrepreneurship.
“As a youth do not depend on whether government will provide you any job, I as an example, I don’t have any fear after my graduation with the little I know. I can fetch some pennies for myself. Therefore, we should discover our talents.”
I SLEEP IN CLASS BECAUSE I’M A STUDENT NIGHT BARBER
Abdulrahman Yahaya speaks while he cuts hair for a fellow student who is seated on a big stone placed on the ground beside the outer part window of the Zamfara hostel, one of the students’ halls of residence in Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto. The 300 level student of English Language from Kogi State started as an apprentice barber in 2010, five years before gaining admission into the University.
As this reporter engages Yahaya in a discussion, he narrates one of the challenges he faces as a student barber. He hardly sleeps for six hours, being a student who hustles at night, especially when he’s supposed to be in bed.
“There are times I will work from 8:00pm till 2:00am. If eventually I have lectures early in the following morning, while the lecturer lectures, I sleep in the class, because I’m a student night barber,” he narrates.
As a student night barber, Yahaya does not read at night as many students prefer to do. He spends his nights, hustling, cutting hair for whosoever patronises him among the male students in the hostel. Thus, he spends all his days attending lectures and studying before returning to hair cutting at night.
Yahaya affirms that though, the job eats time, he has no choice than to venture into it, since he has no other means of feeding himself.
“Sincerely, it isn’t easy to school and hustle at the same time. But then, I have no choice than to look for a way to cater for myself, which is what I’m doing now,” he says, pointing at his clipper as he cuts the hair of one of his customers, who gallantly sits on the stone placed at the ‘barber’s shop’.
Sadly enough, students across Nigerian universities engage in many activities on campus to survive. While some students are fully sponsored, many others sponsor themselves. Most students who do business on campus have to sell below the prices obtained outside as this is the only way they get other students to patronise them.
THE NEWS DIGEST speaks with the Dean of Students’ Affairs, Prof Aminu Mode who though feels for those students that school and hustle at the same time, he claims that he is not aware of their existence on the campus.
“The management has no much problem with them for doing business in the hostel, except for the rule in the students’ handbook which against the use of electrical appliances in the hostel. And as for this case, they are urged to find space in the mini mart which is meant for business as hostel is meant to relax and read. What they need to do is to follow the normal procedure and they will be allowed,” he said.