By Boluwatife Akinola
Students in Nigerian tertiary institutions have expressed concern about worsening mental health due to the current economic challenges in Nigeria.
They lamented that academic pressure and economic struggles had affected their personal and educational development.
Recent times have seen several cases of depression and suicide reported among tertiary institution students in the country.
Students who spoke with The Hope highlighted the impact of the prevailing economic conditions in Nigeria on their daily lives.
Damilola Akinola, a student at Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, shared her struggle with transportation costs, which have tripled due to the price hike in petrol. She described how this economic challenge affects her mental health, making it difficult for her to concentrate on her studies.
In her words, “the economy is affecting my mental health as a student, especially transportation to school; everything is triple now, and we are going to eat. To call home is also hard because they will also complain, and they send #2,000 per month.”
Similarly, a student at the Federal University of Oye, Oye Ekiti, explained the challenges of managing academic stress and economic hardships, emphasizing the strain on her mental well-being.
She mentioned the difficulties in balancing academic responsibilities with the rising transportation costs and other goods and services.
Agbebi Omowumi, a student of Federal Polytechnic Offa, Kwara state, lamented the academic stress, unbalanced lecture schedules, unprepared tests, project supervisor issues, and the pressure to write final exams.
She described how she sustains herself by vending shirts to her schoolmates, struggling to make ends meet while dealing with the challenges of education.
Other students echoed similar sentiments, highlighting the pressure from all angles, including the challenges of balancing the education calendar after last year’s eight-month industrial strike by lecturers, meeting deadlines, managing projects, and paying various bills.
