The first time this was mentioned amongst some university students, they reeled in laughter at that coinage because some had experienced and could attest to it.

In university campuses across Nigeria, it is a common phenomenon for male students to rent off-campus apartments just for comfort and a ‘bit of privacy’ as one of my classmates would say.

Living in those houses alone is now a thing of the past as some students wants to experiment marital life before leaving campus and getting married proper.

This led to the term ‘undergraduate nna anyi’ which represents a male student living in his rented apartment with his girlfriend. This ‘couple life’ as it is been referred to in some schools makes the male student assume the role of the husband and his girlfriend –the wife.

This relationship has every attribute of a real marriage except that it must be devoid of pregnancy and the consent of the parents of both parties. The ‘undergraduate nna anyi’ who relies on his parents for money, becomes the breadwinner as he provides money for food, sight-seeing during weekends and most often provides the female student with money for her upkeep.

The female student on the other hand cooks, cleans up the house and satisfies her man’s sexual appetite. In some of these relationships, the female student’s accommodation fee is used for household expenses or in some cases, the proud-but-hungry boyfriend asks the girlfriend to look good with it (i.e. buy clothes and beauty accessories).

This two are known by neighbors and people living around as they are seen going to and coming back from school together almost every day. For some, the only time they remember that they are actually students is when examinations come knocking as they spend a better part of the semester practicing family life. It is not uncommon to find most undergraduate nna anyi’s sleeping during lectures due to the vigils they keep at night.

These male students tell every form of lies to their parents in other to get money for themselves and the demanding relationship and the female student doesn’t have this knowledge. At times of lack, maybe when the money they expect is not forthcoming or when they must have exhausted their allowances before time, these male students are seen running from one friend to another trying to borrow money just to please their girlfriends because as we all know, women have affinity for cash.

The relationship as enjoyable as it seems from the outside, has dire consequences as some results in pregnancy which in turn leads to one or the two students dropping out of school or in more serious cases –death of either the boy or girl as a result of sexual marathons as had been witnessed in some University campuses.

Most often, the male student squanders their school fees in the process which kicks off their problems in school as some are seen spending 6,7 or more years for a 4 year academic program. My advice to those who are thinking of engaging in the so called couple life is this: ‘not all that glitters is gold’.

And for those who are already in it and think they are having fun, ‘the end justifies the means’.

I like this.

Good one, what is the likely outcome of this arrangement, it hardly lead to marriage.

Such an interesting article. Will visit your blog later. I love this.

olawalebabs: Good one, what is the likely outcome of this arrangement, it hardly lead to marriage.

Is this supposed to be a question or statement? I'm confused. After reading the OP's write-up and seeing the "likely outcomes", you are still asking! To be candid, I don't think you read this at all.

@OP, all what you said is very true! Though, I learned a new word for co-habitation from your write-up which is "nna anyi". Hilarious, I say! Nice observation and research based write-up.

kavey10:

Is this supposed to be a question or statement? I'm confused. After reading the OP's write-up and seeing the "likely outcomes", you are still asking! To be candid, I don't think you read this at all.

try to comprehend what i say before attacking me.

I'm just tryna tell you, what you said or asked(I don't even know maybe it was a statement you made or question) is already indicated in the OP's write-up. Peace.

olawalebabs: try to comprehend what i say before attacking me.

interesting

Why on earth would anyone want to live with a woman at such a young age?

Have a girlfriend, but you have your own place and she has hers.

There is zero advantage to living together.

Nna anyi, thats the name almost every Ghanaian female calls me each time i travel to Ghana.
They got that word from watching Nigerian movies.
I am hearing this kind of story for the first time, I dont know why I would be living with a girlfriend in the university instead of concentrating on my studies.

Khai... U don spoil run ooooo OMG, breez don blow we don see chicken yansh

It a common occurence in most state higher institutions,cos most of them lack hall of resisdence,it shows immorality at it peak among our youths, and the irony is that a larger percentage of those involve in this practice don't end up marrying each other

Well there are some time u needed not to be alone in a room sha! But taking care of someone to the extreme of begging my mates as if it a mandatory tins;no way!!!

Well, there are some time u needed not to be alone in a room sha! But taking care of someone to the extreme of begging my mates as if it a mandatory tins;no way!!!

@Kavey and olawalebabs,

Both of you are right though..

@ Ola, the last two paragraphs does explain your question- what the likely outcome is, particularly in dire consequences. However, the statement you made about hardly leading to marriage is true. It wasn't mentioned in the post.

@topic,

This is very interesting. Why will students engage in such engagement? To talk of parents who endorse this is just wonderful, really? Are parents not trying enough to send their son to school that the so-called nna anyi will add another liability to them? Well, I can't blame them, if the son had to work while going to school to earn money, he would have understood the hard way.

I dey hail all the ''Nna anyi''s in the house.

Ouch! @Op great write up.

Hummm.dis sounds like me at a point in my life but I must say,I dint regret it o.dos where the best 5 years of my life.

Result:
1- The Male graduates and Blames the Gov't for all his problems!
2- The Female graduates and Blames Gov't and Corruption and says all her friends got jobs because they had connections!

You all shouldn't talk like dat, n just judge like that, there are a lot of success stories from this type of relationships, some get to know each other well enough to know if they are compatible or not and end it quick before it goes any further if they see its not gonna work, while some get to get married after sseing they are ok, for some it works out,for some it doesn't. for me from experience i will tell you it actually makes you able to solve issues that might cause problems during marriage and it actually help to know your partners inner self before getting married so you know who you are getting married to, so you don't get married and see a revelation of a new being. you court and she/he is so romantic et al. only to get married and get to see he/she is something else. which is better solve before marriage or get married and stick with horror/sorrow for the rest of your life. So its always a two way thing. though i do not support you do that and focus solely on it,you should concentrate on your studies.

I have never heard of this word "nna anyi", until curiosity led me to open this thread. This arrangement of two (male and female) undergraduates living together off-campus is foolhardily. **puke at way of life of undergraduates**

true story. I can't comprehend why they do it though

The article is very spot on! Especially in schools devoid of any on-campus hostel accomodation for their students. A trip to the Olabisi Onabanjo University's (a.k.a OSU) host community will surely convince you!

It is true o! Became one myself as i was the one moving into my big gf's apartment, omoh! my G.P crashed in just 1 semester, had to spend an entire 2 sessions repairin the damage, thank God i made 2.1 albeit narrowly.Mehn, those were the best days of my life, but whatever u do, dont ever try this never,never,ever,ever,never....

The youth of today have a knack for everything reckless. To them, recklessness is another name for fun! They will abandon, detach and disassociate from anything insisting on propriety. That is why they have big quarrel with wholesome religion or godliness. But are they winning in life as a result? Are they making society a better place by their new ways? HELL NO! The end results on their lives and society is a tale in misery!

Nice article. I wanted to open a thread akin to this but with this, the OP has nailed it.

I live in the hostel (95%), but I have a place off-camp, in case. . .

Melancholy: Well, there are some time u needed not to be alone in a room sha! But taking care of someone to the extreme of begging my mates as if it a mandatory tins;no way!!!

This is exactly my problem in school I can't say no

Oooh. So glad this made the front page

kavey10:

Is this supposed to be a question or statement? I'm confused. After reading the OP's write-up and seeing the "likely outcomes", you are still asking! To be candid, I don't think you read this at all.

@OP, all what you said is very true! Though, I learned a new word for co-habitation from your write-up which is "nna anyi". Hilarious, I say! Nice observation and research based write-up.

"nna anyi" means "our father" and not cohabitation.
Married men were/ are so called by their wives and children.