‘We are not nurseries’: Student moms have no campus support

Although most public universities in the Sub-Saharan African region would acknowledge the right of their female students, as adults, to produce babies, most universities are yet to develop a formal policy that makes provision for the safety and care of students’ offspring on campus.

Nigeria has 270 universities, 148 of which are private and run either by religious bodies or private individuals. Investigations across the country’s six geo-political zones show that almost all privately run universities do not admit students who are mothers at undergraduate level and make no provision for campus childcare.

Examples of these universities are Covenant University, Babcock University, Ajayi Crowther University, Mountain Top University, Redeemer’s University, Bowen University and Anchor University.

Administrators at publicly run universities tend to argue that universities are places of academic study, rather than nurseries.

A possible fallout from this approach is the recent alleged murder of a newborn child by its student mother at a hostel in the Federal University Dutse in Jigawa State, Nigeria’s north-western geopolitical zone. According to reports confirmed by university spokesperson Abdullahi Bello, the woman gave birth in the hostel’s toilets, and threw the baby from the top floor of a three-storey building.

Ensuring access to education for the girl child in Nigeria is an ongoing challenge. The West African country ranks 11th in the world for the highest number of child marriages. It can be argued that those women who make it to university deserve to be supported, even if they have children.

University World News reached out to several Nigerian universities to ask what formal services were available for nursing mothers who are still students, and found them to be lacking.

While one institution said it was considering a crèche in the near future, and some lecturers at one institution allowed mothers to bring their child into class at an institution that also permitted student mothers to use the staff day-care facility, other institutions took a harder line, claiming to be, first and foremost, an academic entity, created to impart knowledge and foster research activities.

Private arrangements

Professor Musa Obalola, dean of student affairs at the University of Lagos, or UNILAG, one of the most sought-after universities in Nigeria, said the university has a minimum age of 16 for students.

“We do have requirements for admission, and pregnancy or having babies is not one of them. So, we don’t test for pregnancy and we don’t ask if our students have babies,” he said, adding that there was no special provision to support those students who had babies.

“They continue their schooling. Having babies is a personal thing; it’s not within the university’s jurisdiction. We are generally concerned about the welfare of our students. We don’t have any policy on babies and children … People who have babies should make private arrangements to take care of them. We don’t have nurseries for babies.

“As long as you are able to complete your schoolwork, you can apply for sick leave or a leave of absence. Basic admission requirement is our priority, and pregnancy or having babies is personal, not really our concern.”

Dr Kola Oni, a lecturer at Ajayi Crowther University, a private institution in south-western Nigeria, said the academic environment had a different set of requirements from a child-rearing one.

“It is not easy to attend to nursing mothers. The university requires a serene environment. So they can’t be making provisions for babies. It is an academic environment. We don’t have nurseries for babies because it is not practical,” Oni said.

A misplacement of priorities

The lecturer also said the provision of such services would be interpreted as a misplacement of priorities by stakeholders in his institution, particularly in the context of the funding challenges known to be facing Nigerian tertiary institutions.

“We don’t even have enough facilities for academics. Is it nursing mothers universities will now be thinking of? That would be biting off more than one can chew. It is not practical,” he emphasised.

“Our medical system, the transport and others are not that buoyant … We have not developed to that level. Education should either be before procreation or after. Child-tending is distracting and a mouthful on its own.”

Professor Nosa Owens-Ibie, vice-chancellor of the privately-owned Caleb University, said the institution does not have a specific policy for babies because of its residential nature.

“Caleb University is a residential university: all our undergraduate students are expected to live on campus,” he said.

Trinity University, a private institution located in Lagos, Nigeria’s economic epicentre, responded with a more comprehensive stance, saying that, while the institution has no standing policy against admitting students who are mothers, there is neither provision for nursing mothers nor a childcare policy.

“They [nursing mothers] are allowed to continue for as long as they can cope with the rigours of academics, as long as the baby’s and mother’s health is not at risk. Otherwise, they could apply for a deferment for a period, say, a semester – as long as may be necessary and applicable,” said Michael Bamigbola, the university’s head of corporate affairs.

Trinity University noted that some students take care of their babies on campus, with some coming with their own hired domestic help. However, it said that neither babies nor personal staff of students are accommodated in the regular halls of residence.

Care and understanding

Asked what sort of support is provided to students, Trinity said flexible academic programmes were available, as well as counselling, and “spiritual support”.

“We give them care and understanding, without compromising the academic standard,” the school said. “We have married students, male and female. We accommodate them and are friendly to them. There is no discriminatory treatment.”

Concerning the availability of nursery facilities for mothers to keep their children in while in class, the school said there are plans in place to establish such.

“There is a plan in place to make special facilities available to them, such as a crèche or baby-friendly centre. In the meantime, we have created special spaces for them, with female porters available to lend a hand, as may be necessary. Also, we make an extension of the university’s clinic especially available to support them in the care of their babies,” the institution said.

A representative of Dennis Osadebay University (DOU), a public institution located in Delta, a state in the south-south region of Nigeria, said there was no allowance for nurseries on campus or any special policy for children.

“Babies are gifts from God. DOU is a public institution. We do not discriminate on the basis of marriage and childbearing,” said Dr Enakirerhi Lucky Izobo, the dean of students.

“They are allowed to continue their studies. DOU is an adult institution where both married and single people are admitted if they are qualified. We do not discriminate on the basis of marriage. However, they have to learn to cope with the demands of being mothers and rigorous academic activities,” the dean said.

The institution also said there was no “preferential treatment” for nursing mothers. “They are treated as other students.”

“We do not expect students to be pregnant and nurse children while in school. While being a nursing mother is not an offence, they must provide their own private arrangements to care for their babies.”

Care co-operatives

In the absence of campus care facilities, nursing mothers have come to rely on other sources of help to cope with motherhood while pursuing academic training.

Suliah Lawal, a student at Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University located in north-eastern Nigeria, said that, while the school admits students with babies and did not discriminate against students based on marital or parental status, it lacked dedicated services for nursing mothers and encouraged students to explore informal arrangements like babysitting cooperatives.

“The Gender Unit also connects student mothers with local resources and support networks,” she said.

Lawal said students who become pregnant after admission are allowed to continue their studies. However, that is often not without disruption. “They may need to take a semester or session off due to health reasons or childcare responsibilities,” she said.

Abubakar Fathia, a 200-level student of agricultural engineering in another institution located in north-eastern Nigeria, said: “There are no counselling and health services for student mothers. Lecturers may also accommodate informal arrangements to help student mothers to balance their academic and maternal responsibilities.”

Teni Bayo, a 400-level student of Obafemi Awolowo University, a federal institution in south-western Nigeria, said the school is hospitable to nursing mothers.

“My school allows any sane person into the school … One of my classmates just gave birth recently and even the lecturers allow the child in class sometimes,” she said.

She also said that there was a day-care service available. “It was originally meant to be for staff alone but they allow students too, even though it’s a paid service.”