EDUCATION

How Final Year Students Celebrate Final Examinations in Nigerian Polytechnics, Universities and Colleges

The joy of every student is to graduate someday with good grades, and when that day finally comes, it used to be a special day that called for celebration among final year students.

Nigerian students celebrate final examinations differently, and here are the 12 most popular ways.

How Final Year Students Celebrate Sign out:

1. White Shirt with Marker.

On the last day of their examination, the final-year students will put on a white shirt or customized shirt while their colleagues, family, and friends celebrate with them by signing their white shirts with a marker.

2. Photoshoot.

The final-year students that are financially okay among them will go for a photoshoot to mark the day while they share the photos with their family and friends. Photo shooting is becoming the newest way through which Nigerian students celebrate their final examination.

3. Water and Cane.

Although this is old-fashioned, some schools still adopt it as a means of celebrating final examinations. This is how it is done: the undergraduate students will fetch a bowl of water and splash it on the graduating students, while others use cane to beat them.

These are done to congratulate the finalists for making it out of the university, polytechnic, or college alive. Splashing of water and cane is common in northern Nigerian schools. Most schools have banned this mode of celebration due to past casualties.

4. Get Together and Hang Out.

On the day of their examinations, polytechnic graduating students usually organize a get-together hangout among themselves off-campus. This involves a lot of activities, such as swimming, playing games, and dancing to music, while some of them may get drunk just to feel the gyration of the final examination.

5. After Exam Party.

The after-exam party is a means of celebrating the final examination of graduating students in Nigeria. This program may be organized by the student union or campus celebrities, where all the graduating students gather to celebrate the final examinations together, and awards may be presented to the prominent graduating students.

6. Sign Out Vests and Kits.

Sign out Vests and kits may be an expensive way of celebrating final examinations in polytechnics and universities in Nigeria. Every department seems to have their own vests and kits, and this compels graduating students to go the extra mile to be able to meet up.

Some students had to tell a sort of lie to their parents to get money to fund their sign-out kits, while the female students among them billed their boyfriends and colleagues for money. The final examination is like a wedding party for Nigerian students; even students with the worst CGPA will still celebrate.

7. Car Racing.

Although some schools have banned students from bringing their vehicles to campus, it is inevitable to see graduating students driving recklessly on campus as a means of celebrating their final examination. Some students rent cars to show off as a means of celebrating final examinations.

The use of cars to sign out is common in the department of computer science and business administration, where their students seem to be rich. The federal polytechnic Ede in Osun State once banned such activities after it was reported that students used their cars to oppress other graduating students in the institution, even though the decision was later revoked by the school authority.

8. Thanksgiving.

A special program is held by the graduating students for Thanksgiving. The students thank their creator for being able to graduate alive after the struggle. Perhaps ‘Thanksgiving’ is how the graduating students who are religious celebrate their final examination. They go to church or a mosque to thank God for seeing them through the journey.

9. Indecent Dressing.

Some students may choose to dress indecently with a weird inscription on their vests as a means of celebrating their final examination. This once occurred at the Federal Polytechnic in Nekede, the Nasarawa State Polytechnic in Lafia, and the Taraba State Polytechnic. Some of the students had the inscriptions “If I come poly again, make me bend,” “Despite 24 carryovers, I still graduate,” and “Thank God for hot pussy” on their vests.

Indecent dressing is a very common way through which many Nigerian students celebrate final examinations, as a result of which many immoral behaviors such as signing on boobs, grabbing of boobs and boots are witnessed. The students see this act as normal and fun among themselves.

10. Cultist Students Fly Their Colors Unchallenged.

The final examination is not just an ordinary day; it’s a special day for the graduating students who are cultists as they take advantage of that to fly their colors and intimidate other graduating students unchallenged. This is very common in many polytechnics, universities, and colleges. I’ve witnessed many myself with evidence.

The students chant their slogan with their berets and colors and cruise around the campus and the school community. I don’t know why the school management doesn’t challenge them or persecute the students. I learned that it’s a normal thing in Nigerian schools for cultist students to jubilate openly on campus.

11. Low-Key Sign-out.

This category of students doesn’t have time to show off. Their aim is to go home after dropping their pen. They don’t have time or money to buy expensive clothes to celebrate final examinations. They just wear a simple white shirt or any other cloth, and after finishing the exam, they go home. They also don’t participate in alcohol parties or clubbing as a means of celebrating final examinations.

12. Pictures and Videos.

Taking pictures and videos is the sweetest part of celebrating final examinations. Not every student has the money to fund signing-out activities, but all of them will definitely take a picture and video together to celebrate that day because it only comes once in a lifetime. Most of the students spend half of the day taking pictures and shooting videos to be shared with their family and friends on social media.

ADVISORY: I understand celebration is a normal aspect of our lives as a graduating student, but please don’t do more than yourself. If you don’t have the capacity to celebrate like them, just celebrate low-key. There is nothing special about the final examination. The most special thing is your “result.”