Cost Or Distance?

 

Óna k'ówó oge dé yadu bejuñu ma

Many (not all) Students usually find themselves negotiating the thin line between comfort and survival, especially when it comes to feeding. The restaurants within the environment proudly serve good food, they have clean spaces, better hygiene, more variety, and the reassurance that comes with eating in a regulated environment. But that quality comes with prices that many students simply cannot keep up with, especially students from middle class homes. A plate that looks ordinary suddenly becomes a luxury when multiplied across weeks and months. So while nobody denies the standard of these cafeterias, the real question is whether that standard aligns with the financial realities of the (majority) of the people they are supposed to serve. For many students, the answer is quietly but clearly a NO.

Once you step outside the gate, a different economy appears, an economy that speaks the language many students understand. Affordability. The food might not wear the same face of hygiene and polish, but the prices are friendly enough to make the sacrifice feel worth it. For students from middle-class homes down to those struggling through school with very limited means, that short walk out of campus is not about preference, it is about survival. No be enjoyment dem come for, na survival (giggles). They are not chasing comfort, they are trying to stretch stipends, manage allowances, and avoid going hungry before the month ends. A lot of times, they have food stuff, but there's no much time to sacrifice on cooking because of higher goals and aspirations, so they employ the services of cafeterias. The quality (of food from outside) may be lower, but hunger does not argue with quality my people, it argues with price. And when price wins, quality can only bow its head.

It is easy for some to mock the students who 'trek for food,' but it is harder to admit the truth, that not everybody is eating for enjoyment. Many are simply eating to stay alive and stay focused on the reason they are in school, to learn, to grow, to build a future. Food, at its core, is not just about taste, it is fuel. And the fuel that a student can afford determines whether the brain stays alert in class or wanders off in tiredness. In this sense, the issue is no longer a simple debate about expensive versus cheap food, it becomes a matter of the system understanding the lived experiences of its students. A system that support academic excellence should also respect the economic diversity of the students who walk through its gates every morning.

A balanced solution is not impossible. The expensive restaurants, with all their standards, can still maintain quality while finding creative ways to reduce cost or provide student-friendly options. The system itself can regulate prices or INTRODUCE LOW-COST CAFETERIAS that do not compromise basic hygiene. Feeding students should not be treated like a business opportunity alone but as part of the welfare system that keeps their minds capable of learning. Until such changes come, students will continue to move in that quiet daily migration, from the expensive comfort inside to the affordable struggle outside, choosing distance over cost, survival over taste, and necessity over pride. This choice should not be shamed, it should be understood.

®Ahmed Salim Jn ✍️ 

#Uloko