Aworetan Oluwashina, a 300-level philosophy student at the University of Lagos (Unilag), who had been reported missing for several weeks, has reappeared, stating that he was not actually missing.
He said that rather, the astronomical hike in tuition by the university management forced him to leave the school to hustle to make money.
On March 7, SaharaReporters reported that Oluwashina’s family expressed worry over his sudden disappearance after he had not been seen by his classmates for over two weeks.
Oluwashina’s elder brother, Aworetan Soji, who confirmed his disappearance to SaharaReporters in a phone conversation, also said that the family did not know about his whereabouts.
Soji said his brother had not been taking examinations in school before his disappearance.
Soji said the family had reported the incident to the University of Lagos Dean of Students Affairs, adding that they were about to also report his disappearance to the police.
He, however, said he learnt that Oluwashina once called their mother but did not say where he was.
But in an interview with Segun O’Law of Objective TV, Oluwashina who initially dropped out of Olabisi Onabanjo University over a tuition hike and gained admission into the University of Lagos, said when he encountered the same problem in his new school, he was forced to go into the streets of Lagos to hustle for his tuition.
He said, “When I was declared missing, I was actually out there at Ikotun. I went to work. I was trying to gather the rest of my school fees. The reason people could not get in touch with me was because my line was barred and I was so into the work that I did not try to get a new SIM card.”
When asked if he started the work before the university hiked the fees or after, he said he started the work around early February.
Regarding the kind of work he was doing and if he had been able to raise the money he needed for his tuition, he said, “I was coming from the library very close to university junction and I saw a job vacancy for a house help and the salary was N40,000.
“I called the number on the post and a girl answered and told me the interview was the next day. I went there and it turned out to be a network marketing job. I felt like I could just do it for a few weeks and see what I would be able to gather.
“I didn’t want to leave it and start looking for another job because I know I have limited time. After three weeks or thereabouts, I called my mother when I got a new SIM card. We spoke and she was really asking where I was and I told her I was fine.
“But she never mentioned to me that they had been looking for me. The next day my brothers called me and asked where I was. The DSA (Dean of Student Affairs) of the university also called me and asked where I was.”
He, however, said that he had not been able to raise the required money and that he missed some of his examinations.
He said, “I went to the office of the DSA and he said it was not possible for me to register for this semester again because they had started exams and they had taken about three papers for my department and people had generated their pass for the exams and they had closed the portal and had registered courses.”
He said that the requirement is that students must pay their fees before they can register for their courses.
