I passed through the polytechnic system of education, and during my second year, things were very tough financially. It was hard for me to pay my school fees, and because it was the final year of that category (OND), we were also being pressured to pay PROJECT FEES. The school department was even more aggressive in enforcing the project fees than the actual school fees, and we were threatened that anyone who failed to pay would not be allowed to write the semester tests.

The department was so serious about making those of us who were yet to pay the project fees miss the tests, and we had already seen this kind of situation play out in the first year, where a lot of students dropped out because they were prevented from writing exams due to their inability to pay school fees. So, I was battling with how to raise money for both school fees and project fees, with the project fee being the biggest challenge at that moment.

Tests were approaching, and we had been warned several times that without paying the project fees, defaulters would not be allowed to write the tests. In a department like mine, once you miss a test, that is practically the end of the course, it is very difficult to pass the courses with just exam scores.

A day before the scheduled test, while moving from one place to another, the biggest school riot the institution had ever witnessed broke out. My department initiated it, and out of anger and frustration, I joined in.

I remember clearly, it was a Wednesday, and I missed going to midweek service (church), which I usually attended every Wednesday after school. I was filled with joy that day as I joined the protest and participated in the destruction of school properties. Guys! I am always proud that I joined, and I have no regrets about it. If I had not been in school that day, I would have regretted deeply missing the protest that later turned into a riot.

It was intense. Major roads in front of the school premises were blocked, and the so-called “devilish” leaders in our department who were enforcing the project fees ran for their lives.

Do you know why that moment was special?

A state of emergency was declared in the town for a whole week, school activities were suspended, and the issue reached the government level. When we eventually resumed, the project fee was completely canceled. I mean, there was no longer anything called project fees in the school system.

The deadline for school fee payment was extended by about a month, and within that period, I was able to source for the money and make the payment.

Imagine if the protest and riot had not happened, most of us would have ended up with several carryovers that year and would have been forced to return the following year for an extension. Yes, that was the school system back then. Once a student had a carryover in the final year, the student was made to spend an extra year.

Thanks for reading.

The photo used is mine