Why OAU buses are overwhelmed by 12,000-student enrollment surge

Adebimpe Oluwatofunmi

For the past few weeks, there has been a scarcity of buses on the town-gboro and campus routes at Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), where students have had to queue long distances before entering a bus. The chairman of the Transport Management Commission, Adebisi Adeyinka Samuel, has attributed the crisis to a sharp rise in student population that has stretched the campus bus service beyond its capacity.

Mr Samuel, a student of the Department of Basic Medical Sciences who is popularly known on campus as Icon, said the situation should not be described simply as bus scarcity but as a crisis caused by sudden overpopulation and poor dispersion of lecture times. “I don't want us to take it as bus scarcity. Being for the fact I think what the major problem is over population,” he said.

He explained that in recent years, OAU typically admitted between 3,000 and 5,000 students per session, but this academic year the figure reportedly rose to between 10,000 and 12,000. “We noticed that in recent years the school has not admitted more than 3000 to 5000 students, but this year the school admitted close to 10000 to 12000 students,” Mr Samuel said. The existing transport structure, he added, was designed for the older, smaller numbers and has not been upgraded fast enough to match the new reality.

According to him, this surge in enrollment, combined with the way lectures are scheduled, has made peak periods particularly chaotic. “The cluster of students finishing lectures at the same time. And most times like Tuesdays and Thursdays there were a lot of lectures and everybody tends to leave lectures at the same time,” he noted. Large numbers of students finish classes at the same time, especially on busy days like Tuesdays and Thursdays, resulting in long queues and overcrowded bus stops as everyone tries to leave lecture halls simultaneously.

Before the current Transport Management Commission was appointed, Mr Samuel said, only about 150 buses were operating on campus. The new committee reviewed the situation and concluded that the number was grossly inadequate for the present student population. The committee then opened discussions with the university management and demanded an expansion of the fleet.

Following those engagements, management approved an additional 50 buses, bringing the total to about 200 currently in operation.

 “Before this committee was appointed, the number of buses operating on campus were just 150 buses. We noticed that 150 buses can not be sufficient. We had a meeting with the management, they added 50 buses making it 200 buses in total,” Mr Samuel said. He described this as a positive step but admitted that the increase has still not fully bridged the gap between available capacity and actual demand at peak hours.

To manage the rush periods, the commission, which has only seven core members, relies on a network of volunteers and student representatives from different faculties. These volunteers help monitor major bus stops and intervene when congestion builds up, particularly at the campus gate and town-bound loading points. “Actually, you know we are just seven members, we can not do it alone. So we are working with volunteers and Honourable members of each faculty, we make sure that the buses carry both students going to town and campus gate together for the equal and balances of everything,” he explained.

Beyond the university-managed buses, traditional transport options such as motorbikes and the Town Gboro Lagere buses still operate within and around the campus. However, these services remain largely outside the direct control of the university administration. They also rely strictly on cash payments, a practice Mr Samuel linked to long-standing habits among operators who are accustomed to cash-only transactions.

“Well, what I think is the main problem we have in exploring other payment options apart from cash is that the management is not the one in charge of the Town Gboro Lagere Buses. These people are traditional so they have been accustomed to the use of cash policy,” he said. He noted that this cash dependence has made it difficult to introduce modern, alternative payment channels such as electronic or card-based systems on those routes. There have also been rumours among students that the university management may be planning to phase out or restructure some of these traditional operators, a move that, if confirmed, could further complicate efforts to reform payment systems and integrate services.

Despite the challenges, Mr Samuel indicated that there are ongoing discussions about new models and that the university may be considering other frameworks, including possible arrangements tied to the planned C.H.E. system, to improve both payment options and general service delivery.

Looking ahead, the transport commission chairman said his administration’s broader goal is to help build a system that is free, safe and better for all categories of users. “For every administration we propanded a free, safe, and a better transport system for everybody. And then whatsoever our transport system we want it to be favourable for everyone,” he stated. He stressed that whatever adjustments are made, whether in the number of buses, payment systems, or loading arrangements, should be designed to make campus transportation more convenient and fair to students, staff and other commuters before the end of the current tenure.