Last month or thereabout, a student on my campus commited suicide by plunging to her death from the parking garage. I don't know what may have led to this tragic episode, but on the minds of some students, stress could have been a factor. Back in Naija, no matter how stressful college life was, I had never heard of a student contemplating or even commiting suicide. And there was a lot of challenges that we faced back home that would have led to this tragedy. Strikes by ASUU, failures and carryovers of courses to the next class, victimization from male lecturers against female students grades on grounds of denial of sexual favors with no grounds for redress, because our system overlooks it. I can still recall hearing the story of one lecturer on campus whose presence in the exam hall terrified more than a few students with his announcement

"Make sure you write well to obtain your "'s).

Such comments would automatically deflate the confidence of students. An acquaintance of mine told a friend that education in yankee was easy compared to Nigeria. The proliferation of books for research, the encouragement of your professors, the availability of college counsellors as well as access to money via student loans and scholarships could make college in Yankee a smooth ride. (Hey, dont forget the interest rate yet!!!) So, why is suicide quite common in Yankee?

Please note, I am not judging anybody for taking that route. I know that life itself is stressful and unfortunately people succumbed to the vicissitudes of life by taking the suicide route.

It's mostly white folk that commit suicide.
And normally because of hazing, relationships and whatnot.

Please don;t be mistaken stress exists everywhere i can tell you. Education for naija is rough
but still it's not easy here too-it's the grace of God and the family support that kept one going-
been there

Nigeria is more challenging, lack of resources could be attributed to that

Education in Naija is just too challenging. America makes it easier for their students. Counsellors to help decide for students on their future career goals, Even college admission staff, visiting high schools to market their schools to high school students. Now, we did not have a choice. On the contrary, in Nigeria,  some of the Universities you applied to, would reject you, based on your affilation with a certain ethnic group, JAMB scores, SSCE. And the abundance of research materials, in this vicinity, may make education seem like a breeze here. Factor in the financial aid and scholarships that students are awarded, plus the ability to finish the programe at your pace (finances could play a role) without being rusticated is an added advantage.

But still , , why would this incident happen? Would it have to do with their leap from tehir parents nest at an age, when most of us were independent or, what could lead to this pressure? I schooled in Naija, and yeah, it was a relatively smooth ride, not counting strikes by ASUU, and here I am here and comparing the two. No, Nigerian education can't be compared to Yankee's educational instution, period!!!