Audu Abdullahi wore a weary face as he stood at the Bus Stop close to the Convocation Theater, Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto.
One could tell that the 300-level student of Economics had a stressful lecture day, and when the sun set, his hope of enjoying the cool breezy night on his bed was flowing away.
He arrived at the bus stop perplexed after realizing no bus is available to convey him to Gidan Igwe, his place of residence.
It was around 9:00 pm, Abdullahi told the News Digest Press, he arrived at the bus stop and couldn’t see any bus on sight. In fact, it was not his first time of experience such.
“This has been happening since I was in 200-level,” he said. “But everything got worse this session because the drivers leave the bus stop around 8 pm.”
Usmanu Danfodiyo University has a bus stop inside the university where buses convey students going outside the campus to its twin bus stop at Dandima by the school’s main entrance gate.
Abdullahi is one of the students who convey buses every night to their place of residence outside the university campus. Most times, he stayed behind to read after lectures, thus arriving at the bus stop late.
While buses are always available throughout the day, NEWS DIGEST PRESS gathered that there is scarcity any moment after 8:00 pm.
Due to insufficient availability of accommodation on campus, some students stay off-campus and board the school buses at the main gate every morning that convey them to school. But the thought of getting stranded at night due to missing the last available bus always chase them out earlier than they wanted.
Abdullahi Idris, an Economics student, claimed the challenges have since started the moment the bus stop location was changed.
On 31 May, 2021, the university management relocated the bus stop which used to be at the opposite of the school mini-mart. Now at its new place, situated at the entrance of Convocation Theater, the students lament the change might have caused bus scarcity at night.
When buses are nowhere to be found, the students claim, bikes become the only option. Unfortunately, not many students could afford the exorbitant price a bike rider would charge for about six kilometers journey.
“I left the hostel at 8 pm,” Usman Adam, a 200-level law student narrated, “despit3 hours of waiting at the bus stop, I didn’t get a bus. I have to sleep in school because the bike men were asking for #300.”
Speaking with the NEWS DIGEST PRESS, Muhammad Umar, the Chairman of the Students Union Caretaker Committee, declared his ignorance of the bus scarcity at night.
“Since I have now known about it,” he said, “the SU CTC is going to do something about it.”
Emmanuel Raphael and Mustapha Kenu, who have been trapped in the school environs on several occasions due to bus scarcity at night, proposed 10 pm as the closing hours.
According to them, it would allow students to do necessary academic activities before leaving the campus.
“Buses should always be available for students,” Emmanuel Raphael, a 200-level Business Administration student said, “because of some necessary activities such as night classes, tutorials among others.”