₦airaland Forum

Whaylecs:
The next time you come across a well-dressed young man arguing vehemently and threatening to do battle with a bus conductor in Lagos, don’t walk away like most people do. Wait till the fight is over and ask the young man this question: Are you a Zikite? In eight out of 10 cases, the guy would be a graduate of the University of Ibadan who was "unfortunate" to be offered accommodation in the institution’s most popular hall of residence.
Zikites, as residents of University of Ibadan’s Nnamdi Azikiwe Hall are addressed, are known for their uncompromising stand against injustice. However, they sometimes take their activism too far and that’s why the institution’s central administration has consistently branded the Hall as a "haven of thugs and notorious elements".
I’m a Zikite and forever will be one. Having graduated from UI last year, I must admit that I miss living in Zik Hall. The hall is a replica of the Kalakuta Republic, and Fela would not have hesitated in making it an extension of his liberal kingdom, were he to be alive. Don’t get me wrong, please. The activities of Zikites do not come near what obtained on Gbemisola Street. Though Zik Hall is a place of contrasts, its residents respect the beliefs of one another.
It is a hall where Christians will be praying and someone with a lit cigarette (and sometimes a roll of hemp) between his fingers will walk by and greetings would be exchanged. The Moslems wake up early, do their prayers and head back to their rooms to devour pots of beans with their roommates who are Christians, Buddhists etc. Though the Hall has been labeled a den of rebels, it is a nice place to live in. Nice in the sense that you can’t be oppressed in Zik Hall. The Hall has a unique culture that is strictly observed and valued by true Zikites. Unlike some other Halls of Residence where students lord it over one another, you are a freeborn in Zik Hall. It is a place where 100 level students and finalists see themselves as comrades, rather than trying to subdue one another. When you’re broke as a Zikite, all you need do is to pick up your spoon and enter any of the 253 rooms in the Hall. You will come out smiling with the hunger getting conquered.
Have you heard of the word "Zikism"? Zikism is the philosophy that defines the lifestyle of residents of Zik Hall. Zikites are an unusual lot, I must admit. The Hall’s geographical location on the UI campus does not help matters. It is very close to the university’s Zoological garden, so Zikites enjoy the queer privilege of being woken up daily by the roars of the zoo’s lion. When some baboons escaped from the zoo in 2001, they naturally came to Zik Hall and Zikites were on hand to catch and return them to their enclosure. People have attributed the strange behaviour of Zikites to the proximity of the Hall to the Zoological Garden.
You need to be around when Zikites hold their yearly carnival. Brilliant students would stay away from their books for some hours to show the university community their weird attributes. They dress up as ghosts and zombies (remember Michael Jackson’s Thriller?), masquerades, Ifa and Sango priests, Count Dracula, Okija shine priests (with plastic human skulls tied round their necks) professors, madmen, pastors and Imams, etc. They would move round the campus, dancing to music supplied by a hired band and the Hall’s supporters club. The Zik Hall carnival is always a sight to behold with residents of the university’s other halls of residence being held spellbound by the tantrums of their course mates.
Writing comprehensively on Zik Hall could lead to writing a Ph.D. thesis. However, it should be noted that the hall breeds great men. Call them what you want, but Zikites are intelligent, resourceful, law abiding and God fearing. Right from its inception in the 60s, Zik Hall has continued to produce men that have done the nation proud. The list includes Pastor W.F. Kumuyi, Mutiu Adepoju, Dimeji Lawal, Oba Wole Amele (councilor Balogun of the village Headmaster series), Major General Victor Odeka, Chief Dayo Abatan, the late activist, Dr Kumolu Johnson, amongst others. Anytime you are on the UI campus, try and take a cab to the Hall referred to as the heartbeat of the university – Nnamdi Azikiwe Hall. It is the abode of unpretentious undergraduates.

I pray lions won't be the next escapees.

Ama Tedderite.

blackblizy17:
who has noticed that anyone can log into our admissions.ui.edu.ng page just by putting the person's jamb reg number and any alphabet as password

True

cassyrooy:
i like your Cameraman haircut o

Lol, this guy sha. How you take see am? You no even talk about the girl herself, ko da o.

dkoncepts1:
Dami fresher pharmacy

That's his name; Dami Fresher Pharmacy.

Olanrewaju540:
Hy..plz ani pharmacy frshrz ere

Hi there.

Bukkiminat:
11michael...
Sorry can I add u on WhatsApp n oda pharmacy freshers

Hey, add me too; +2348131502744

11michael:
Oh aight. #teampharm we move.

Na so bro.

11michael:
I went to the bookstore for some books, just used the opportunity to familiarise myself with my faculty.

...and BTW, I wanted to send a private message but I couldn't even type the message. I'm a newbie tho'.

11michael:
I went to the bookstore for some books, just used the opportunity to familiarise myself with my faculty.

Oh, are you staying in 'High Bee' or got some sort of accommodation ni?

11michael:
Whew. Just left UI everywhere is still packed with people .... Mehn pharmacy students dey try.. They wrote pha 304 exams today heamatopoetics gastrointestinal tract or something like that.... #pharmacypeeps we will conquer.

Pharmacology of the Haemopoietic System/GIT. What were you doing there anyways?

Damyoung:
mails lyk?

The mails are bulletins.

Who else has been receiving mails from UI?

11michael:
Oshey team pharmacy. Are you male or female?

Male

Team Pharmacy.