Traffic Lights Indeed: Students Doing Guesswork on OAU Campus

          Ezekiel Ogunniyi & Eniola Adeyeye

For many students of Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), crossing roads around the Students’ Union Building and other busy areas has become a daily gamble. Traffic lights installed years ago to ensure safety and order at key points on campus have remained non-functional, forcing pedestrians and motorists to rely on personal judgment.

Years ago, several traffic lights were installed at strategic points within the university to regulate movement in areas where pedestrians, motorcycles, private vehicles, and shuttle buses frequently intersect.

These locations include the Students’ Union Building (SUB), the Fajuyi-New Market road, road 5 near the Faculty of Agriculture, and the busy axis surrounding the Senate Building. Today, however, all these traffic lights remain non-functional, leaving students and motorists to navigate these routes largely by guesswork.

A Part 2 student of Sociology and Anthropology expressed surprise at the existence of traffic lights on campus. “I don’t even know OAU has traffic lights. If not, that you are mentioning it now. I think they have been abandoned for years, as I’ve not seen them working since I resumed in Part 1 up till now that I’m in Part 2,” she said.

Another student who preferred to remain anonymous explained that traffic lights are meant to regulate the flow of vehicles and pedestrians, prevent accidents, reduce congestion, and ensure order on busy roads.

According to the student, functional traffic lights would reduce reckless driving, minimize confusion at intersections, and save time by organizing traffic movement. “I feel the school management should do something about it and stop us from doing guesswork, especially when crossing the SUB road. If the traffic lights were working well, they would help pedestrians cross safely, particularly when we are rushing between lectures,” the student added.

Speaking on the issue, the Public Relations Officer of the university, Mr. Abiodun Olanrewaju, acknowledged the importance of traffic lights but noted that they are most effective in areas with heavy traffic congestion. He explained that the volume of vehicles on the OAU campus is not comparable to that of a typical town such as Ile-Ife. 

According to him, the traffic lights were installed mainly to project academic decency and excellence, adding that efforts are ongoing to restore them.

He further explained that while members of the academic community are likely to obey traffic lights, there are situations where pedestrians may ignore them, especially when there are no vehicles approaching and the lights require them to wait for three to five minutes. He noted that during evenings and at night, when there are only two or three vehicles on the road and fewer pedestrians, the usefulness of traffic lights becomes less apparent.

The PRO also stated that since the traffic lights stopped functioning, the university has not recorded any accidents attributable to their absence. He added that traffic personnel are stationed at key points on campus to regulate traffic flow. “There is nothing so special about having traffic lights or not, except one wants to make a mountain out of a molehill,” he said.

He concluded by stating that when the university management installs infrastructure and faults develop, it is their responsibility to repair them.

However, he noted that funding from the federal government has reduced, and the University’s current priorities do not place traffic lights at the top of the list. He emphasized that this does not mean efforts are not being made to fix them, as support is also received from alumni and other benefactors.