Dearest gentle reader,
It's quite the achievement to be admitted into the University of Ibadan, and it sure has been my pleasure seeing your rather glowing faces in the past week or so. Surely, you guys have been relatively untouched by Akanbi and his shenanigans from Abuja.
Now that you're finally in the ‘first and best’ university in Nigeria, I figured that you'd need a few tips. Oh, don't worry they aren't burdensome–I just thought you'd want to know more about your university while you settled in.
Just like Harry Potter was nearly overwhelmed by Hogwarts’ architecture, you'd find UI to be a little daunting to navigate through. It's not a large school, but the road networks are very labyrinthine–you’d have almost definitely gotten lost already. (I did get lost on my way to Indy Hall while coming from my orientation at ICC, so I have a bit of the experience too.)
So here are some of the UI roads I thought you should get very familiar with. I picked these because they are landmarks from which you can find most locations–they are quite hard to miss.
It is important to note that nobody calls these roads by their given names. So, I added structures to make them easier to identify.
Oduduwa Road (Queen Elizabeth II Hall, Admin block)
Oduduwa Road is the first of many roads and it starts at the eastern entrance of the university. It's also the only dual-carriage road on campus, and for easy identification, the Queen Elizabeth II hall is right along the way.
It was rightly named after the Yoruba ancestor and ends in front of the Admin block.
Niger Road (Kuti Hall, Bello Hall, Faculty of Science)
Niger Road is one of the most popular passages on campus, and it runs from Kuti Hall up to the VC’s lodge, passing in front of Sultan Bello Hall and the right by some departments in the Faculty of Science (Botany, Zoology, Physics, Chemistry, and Geology). On the other side of the road is the SU sports complex, comprising the basketball, volleyball, and tennis courts, and the football, handball, and hockey pitches.
Like you might've guessed, it was named after the River Niger.
Barth Road (Queen Idia Hall, behind Independence Hall, ISI)
If you stay in Indy Hall (don't ever call it Independence Hall) like I did, you'd grow to be familiar with the routes to Idia Hall–don’t ask me how. The large road that separates both hostels is Barth Road, and it's part of the southern boundary of the University of Ibadan.
Along Barth Road, you will find the International School, Ibadan and property belonging to the Baptist Church. The road was named after Heinrich Barth, a German scholar known for documenting his travels in the Western Sudan (now Northern Nigeria).
Atiba Road (UI 2nd Gate, ICC, Abadina)
Atiba Road brings us to the Northern part of the university. The road is the passage into UI via the second gate next to the International Conference Centre (ICC). Atiba Road branches off into a smaller road on the left (Olubi Road) and runs to the center of Abadina.
Atiba was the first Alaafin of modern-day Oyo (1839 - 1858), and he is credited with rebuilding the capital at Oyo after the Fulanis from Ilorin destroyed the older one.
Also ICC.
Benue Road (UI Central Mosque, Faculty of Education)
Benue Road is another landmark in the UI road network. It is essentially a mixing pot, where students from Nursing, Agriculture, Renewable Natural Resources and Veterinary Medicine mix with students from Education and Arts. The road starts from the Central Mosque junction and runs westward to a T-junction.
Like Niger Road, Benue Road is named after the River Benue.
The list is quite short, but I can't hope to describe all of the major roads in UI in this one article. On the other hand, I believe your university adventures will take you all over the place, as it does for everyone.
Welcome again to the ‘first and best’ university in Nigeria; I do hope it's worth your while.
Yours sincerely,
Lady Whistledown.
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