By Maryam Umar Ayomide
When Rufai Halima, a first-year nursing student at the University of Maiduguri (Unimaid), returned from the lecture hall exhausted as usual, she found that her food supplies were almost depleted. This was not surprising, as she already knew what was left couldn’t satisfy her hungry stomach. However, she was hesitant to purchase the necessary ingredients for a proper dinner due to the exorbitant prices charged by campus vendors.
Halima recounts how one of her roommates bought a toothpaste that was sold for N1,800 in school at the rate of N1,300 outside. This seemingly small price difference sometimes determines whether a student will starve. While Halimah would have loved to buy her necessities outside the school like other students, her department’s bulky workload and busy schedules rendered market visitation almost impossible.
Food is a necessity for human survival, while an average citizen might sacrifice decent clothing to cut costs, no one can escape the need to eat. Despite the immense importance of food, the limited competition and lack of price control within Nigerian universities provide an opportunity for vendors to profit from the difficult circumstances of students like Halimah.
According to the National Bureau of Statistics “Selected Food Price Watch” for November 2024, the average price of food in Nigeria rose by 97% making it nearly impossible for low-income families to afford a proper diet. This is due to the inflationary pressure on the Nigerian economy. With the Headline inflation rate at 24.48% in January 2025, food prices have risen thereby straining household budgets.
Despite greater financial constraints and lesser advantages, Nigerian Students are victims of economic distress due to casual extortion by business owners on campus. For Abdullah Rofiat, 400-level Agricultural Science student at Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto (UDUS), bulk-buying foodstuffs and other necessities at Hajiya Halima Market became her survival hack.
Rofiat was in 200-level when she discovered the significant difference in prices during a random visit to the market. “I don’t buy foodstuffs in school anymore unless it’s urgent, you must be smart to survive here,” she said.
A final year male student of the same university who pleads anonymity discloses the unbearable ordeal he has endured due to the harsh economic reality. As a student from a humble background, surviving on a modest allowance has been hard. According to him, studying and attending classes on an empty stomach is a frequent occurrence due to the unaffordable pricing on Campus.
For him and many others in a similar situation, the local fried potato garnished with garbage sold by the locals is the ultimate savior “If not for Denkeli and Awara who have been sold by those Yarinya girls, I don’t know how I and many others would have been surviving,” he added.
Another student under the siege of this crisis is Oseni Aminah, a 300-level student of Linguistics at the University of Ilorin. She contends that business owners are intentionally squeezing students’ pockets dry under the guise of inflation.
Late last year an Ugandan university student gained global attention after allegedly dying from starvation. With Nigeria’s current economic reality and the campus vendors’ markup, such tragedies loom closer than we think. Studying under harsh conditions is hard enough, students shouldn’t have to battle hunger and anxiety due to exploitative pricing.
A Senior Lecturer of the department of Economics at Usmanu Danfodiyo University Sokoto, Dr Miftau Olarinde opined that apart from inflation, the size of the market and the bargaining behavior of customers often influence prices.
He noted that the size of the market in Nigerian campuses is usually small , and therefore not the best place for healthy competition. This is detrimental to buyers because there are limited options to explore. regards to the bargaining behavior of buyers, Dr Muftau contends that students with rich parents, in a bid to show-off to their peers, often purchase goods without bargaining, and business owners leverage their indifference to sell at higher rates.
The 2022 National Food Consumption and Micronutrient Survey reflects that Inadequate nutrition puts students at the risk of poor cognitive development. This data directly links high cost of food to academic failure.
Mrs Comfort, a stall owner at the University of Ilorin, denies the idea that sellers are simply exploiting the students, noting that the high price is as a result of fuel prices, electricity and logistics. “Most of the sellers here buy their wares from the same market students go to for bulk purchase, and you don’t expect us to sell at the exact price the goods are bought,” she explained.
The Dean Students’ Affairs, Usmanu Danfodiyo University Sokoto, Prof Umar Aliyu contends that vendors have their profit to make, but if the price is significantly different from what’s obtainable at the market, students should not hesitate to lodge complaints to the relevant offices of the student union government and his office when necessary.
The Director of Welfare, Usmanu Danfodiyo University Student Union Caretaker Committee, Aminu Kalgo, recognizing the economic hardship being faced by students noted that a meeting was recently held with stall owners in the university to discuss price regulation. He further promised that proper measures will be taken to maintain affordability.
Dr Muftau noted that regulating vendor prices is against the law and will not even work in the university’s context. He, however, suggests that the school authority should encourage competition as the small numbers of entrepreneurs causes monopoly and thus high prices. If there are many options to choose from, the high prices would naturally decrease.