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Gabriel Dike
Vice-Chancellor of Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile – Ife, Prof Eyitope Ogunbodede on Monday advised Nigerian youths not to see suicide as an option to whatever problem they may be going through in life.
Prof Ogunbodede stated this in reaction to the death of another OAU student, Opeyemi Dara, who committed suicide by taking sniper last week.
In a statement signed by OAU Public Relations Officer, Mr. Abiodun Olarewaju, disclosed that the management university commiserate with parents, guardians, colleagues, friends and well wishers of late Miss Dara.
Miss Dara, a 400 level OAU student in the Department of English committed suicide last week, she took sniper allegedly because of her poor academic performance.
The VC appealed to staff and students of OAU to take advantage of the mechanisms put in place by the university administration in addressing all academic, social, medical and other challenges.
His words: ”All youths are advised never to see suicide as an option, since tough times do not last but are only passing phases in the lives of all mortals”.
Olarewaju said the authorities of OAU would use the statement to put the records straight, stating that Dara, who resides off-campus, allegedly first took the sniper on April 22, 2019, but the Security Unit of the university, got the information and went to her house, took her first to the University Health Centre where she was referred to the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospitals Complex (OAUTHC).
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According to him Dara, was treated and discharged home to her parents and was brought in by the parents and readmitted at the Intensive Care Unit of the OAUTHC last Thursday, August 1st after another dose of sniper but unfortunately she died the next day.
”There are indications that she had an underlying medical condition.”
The image maker revealed that Miss Dara is on a Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of 2.68 which qualified her as an average student on a 2 – 2 class of grade, adding ”It is, therefore, our firm belief that a student who was on Second Class ((Lower Division) can not be said to be poor academically, talk less of committing suicide because of such. In actual fact, Dara did not have any outstanding course except her project which she was yet to submit.”
He explained that the project couldn’t have been a challenge to her because she had authored two books – ‘Heels on Steel’ (a play) and ‘ Let Me Run Mad Today (a poem) both published by the Words Rhymes and Rhythm Limited (www.wrr.ng).
Olarewaju said Dara was admitted to OAU in the 2014/2015 academic session and her graduating year result (2017/2018) indicate that she had passed all the departmental courses except, Research Method and Project (EGL 420).
He further stressed that she had not submitted any essay for grading which is understandable by virtue of her encounter of April 22 and the fact that she had not reported in the university since then.
”The Obafemi Awolowo University has a very robust Student Advisory System which has been in place for decades, and the university has the highest number of dedicated Guidance Counsellors of any university in Nigeria, he noted”.
