It is worrisome how cohabitation has become an established culture by undergraduates in Nigerian schools nowadays. Female students now live with their boyfriends on campus without being married. They live together and have sexual relationship without marriage which is against the social norms and culture.
On campuses nowadays, The shameful act of cohabitating has become the other of the day. Female students no longer have respect for themselves as they pack their things to go live with a man who has not pay their bride price. They become wife even before marriage. Ninety percent (90%) of these relationships doesn't end well yet it is increasing in rates in colleges, universities and other higher institutions by day. The rate at which students live their lives without morals in this age is alarming because a morally upright person will not dish out herself for free to a man all in the name of "couples goal" on campus.
Some of them usually receive an award from their course mates at their final year dinner party as the best couple of the year. I kept wondering if that is the reason they cohabitate with a man on campus when they already know that such relationship doesn't end well. Sometimes I ask myself if it is because the best couples award or is the award even enough reason to live with a "strange man" and perform the duties of wife to him on campus for two, three or four years ? There are other better awards you can easily get if you work hard. Awards like best graduating students, the most intelligent, the most reserved, the most punctual e.t.c why not go for those ones if getting award is that important to you instead of living with a strange man.
Some says they do it for the fun of it.Do you do something for fun when you know it is risky? The risk and disadvantages of cohabitation is far higher and more than it's advantage if it has any. Most of them are aware of this, yet they venture into it. At the end, they start blaming men i.e male students for their failure. The popular saying that "men are scum" becomes their favourite line. Aren't they suppose to blame their foolishness? There is a common adage in my town which goes thus "they say a child is foolish, her mother says if she doesn't die.what kills faster than arrant folly?" Foolishness is the greatest killer, please avoid it.
Most of these relationships usually end in a disaster. It usually have a distrastrous end. The female students are always the ones on the receiving end because they get dumped after school. When the boyfriend so to say use and dumped them, they will be left to find their own bearing and when some of them eventually get married, they bring the baggages i.e the hurts and the pains from their previous relationship on campus to the new relationship to mess up what would have been a perfect marriage.
Aside from getting dumped, there are other disadvantages and risk associated with cohabitation. These include;
1.Unwanted/premarital pregnancy:This is a situation whereby a lady gets pregnant before a proper marriage. Most of the students cohabitating with their lover on campus usually get pregnant which lead them to abortion and eventually to womb loss if the abortion isn't properly done.
2.Poor academic performance: The primary aim of students on campus is academic excellence and how to get a good certificate but oftentimes, students misplace priorities, they place their relationship over the main the reason they are on campus.The "wives" on campus leave their academics to perform their wifely duties. There is this common saying in my place that one cannot put his two legs inside a car at once. If you try it, it is either you fall inside the car or you fall out of the car. It is one step at a time. You cannot combine wifey duties with schooling, one will affect the other and the main purpose on campus is always the one that gets affected.
3.loss of life: Cohabitation is a great risk to life especially for the female students. When you start aborting pregnancy once, twice, thrice or four times, you are damaging yourself already. Continuous abortion will eventually lead to death. You are in school to have a great life. when you start cohabitating with a man, a life that is meant to be a fulfilled life will become a wasted life.
Conclusively, Cohabitation on campus is immoral, unethical and wrong. It is risky and the end is usually disastrous. One cannot take two steps at a time. If anyone tries it, such person is bound to fall. Do the right thing at the right time.
Thanks for your time.
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