At YABATECH Alcohol Is A Taboo

Some students of the institution at a relaxation joint ... on Thursday.

Although Yaba College of Technology is in the heart of a city as social as Lagos, it is a no-alcohol institution for students and lecturers alike.
Segun Olugbile writes on how the college community are coping with the policy:
Kola, Austin and Femi (not their real names) have just finished some bottles of beer at Viginis, an event centre that is just about 15 metres to the main gate of their institution, Yaba College of Technology, Akoka. Unknown to the first two, Femi, a roommate of theirs, had packed four cans of beer in the bag strapped to his back before they started the short journey back to school. His intention was to smuggle in the alcohol to their room to continue their drinking escapade.
But unfortunately for Femi, the security man who noticed that they were drunk insisted on frisking them before they could enter the campus. An argument ensued as the three students threw verbal missiles at the “overzealous” security man. The security man insisted and Kola angrily threw the bag at him. The imprisoned cans of beer flew out of the bag, rolling into different directions.
“Contraband! So, you are carrying alcohol, I’ll take you to the CSO; and from there whatever happens to you, you will blame yourself for it,” the security man shouted. Their hitherto alcoholic-inspired boldness suddenly disappeared. They started begging the security man, with some other students joining in the plea. After much persuasion, the young security man released the embattled students.
“So, what if tertiary institutions students take alcohol?” a man in his mid-40s asked. He had parked his car after he noticed the commotion caused by the incident.
One of the peacemakers, a part-two Higher National Diploma student of the college, Lanre, quickly walked up to the enraged man, calmed him down and said alcohol was a taboo in YABATECH, Nigeria’s first tertiary institution.
“Please, join us to beg the security man. Otherwise, these students could be suspended for bringing alcohol into the campus.” The surprised outsider who claimed to be a graduate of a first generation university just walked up to his car and drove off.
But public tertiary institutions’ students anywhere in the world are considered to be schools for adults, so why ban the sale and use of alcohol on the campus of a public institution, more so when social clubs, including the Kegites Club, the JayCee and Havannah Club, thrive in these institutions across the country?