By their very nature, slang words are transient and limited to specific age groups, subcultures, and eras. However, a few slang terms survive and make the leap from obscurity to respectable popular usage.
Slangs are so common among Nigerian students on campuses that some of them have become mainstream, paving the way for what many consider to be Nigerian English.
From one campus to the next, these slangs differ.
Obafemi Awolowo University students are well-known for using words that are only understood by them. Some of the words are listed below.
1. Shana/ Ige iwe:
It is one of the most frequently used slangs by students. It used to refer to someone that’s intellectually sound or reads a lot. Often times, it transcends to being a teasing word to make them feel good or fly by themselves. You might just be walking around Library, not necessarily there to read and the next thing you’d hear is “Ayo na Shana o or igi iwe. By its nature, it almost becoming a permanent social word for OAU students.
2. GP dey twerk or dey shake: Although a funny one it doesn’t connote a positive remark. It means a low in one’s Grade point. Often people say it as comic relief to the situation of a bad GP. So if your GP dey twerk it means it not in its strong state or currently constant, it still fluctuating. E good make person GP no twerk ooo.
3. Won ti sha mi: Related to the GP dey twerk. “Won ti sha mi” is more like an antecedent to “GP dey shake” in the sense that “won ti sha mi” means you’ve been marked down or graded low. So in such light, if you get “shaed” by lectures it automatically transient to a twerking GP. Often times students complain of getting “shaed” by their lecturers. Guess it a tradition that most OAU lecturers are upholding quite highly; “To Sha”
4. Dub: This is used by people or cliques that have “men I trust”. Dub is a form of malpractices that involves copying your friends or fellow examinee’s work or sheets. It quite rampant in OAU because no students want to fail or to get shaed. Frequently used during exam periods, you are more often to hear the statement “No go far o, na you I wan dub o”
5. Men I trust: A recent slang in the environs of OAU, it was coined from the Film Series; Peaky Blinders. Men I trust is a slang word that means clique or gees that are liable, available, and ready to help one during an examination or test. Men I trust are so important to some students because with the men they trust everything is achievable in the exam hall. It is worthy to know that men are trust is not a gender-inclined statement, it is used by all.
6. Road 1: Literally, it means the road to campus entrance but its figuratively meaning is going back home to where you came from (expulsion or suspension). It is often used by the school’s management to indict fear or as a corrective measure on students to tell them if any misdeed is done they’d be sent back home; to road 1.
7. Town: Anywhere outside the confines of Obafemi Awolowo University is regarded as “Town.” You’d often hear it from public transport services that “Are you going to town?. That’s their way of saying are you going to anywhere outside the campus gate.
8. Maximum Shishi: It means premium package of punishment from students. Maximum Shishi is done by students to show their grievance to an act of another in form of punishment often times beating and naked patrolling of the person.
9. Spagewa: O mighty mother of Grace. Spagewa is a special delicacy of most OAU students. It is the mixture of spaghetti and beans in a Jollof recipe manner. It sure hits like heaven and as well stomach-filling. It can be deduced that about 70% of OAU students have gone through the phase of spagewa culinary cooking spree.
10. Floor O: It a slang word to mean the detention center of OAU. It is popularly believed that any law abuser or offender is automatically taken to Floor O for reprimand or scrutinization. The good students don’t really like the sound of the word “Floor O” lest they are hearing gist or doing amebo low-key (when not involved).
11. Aro: It one of the traditions that has become part and parcel of OAU students. It a generational tradition. Aro is an act of teasing or mocking someone. Often times it annoying and pesky by nature.
12. Awo Boys or Omo Awo: it was naturally meant to mean Students that reside in Awo Hostel. However due to the fact that over the years Awo Students have been known for their teasing and playful nature, hence anyone that involves in Aro or teasing someone or hyping is automatically called an Awo boy. It doesn’t mean someone from Awo anymore it has taken a social meaning of representing students who partake in Aro.
13. Tan Gboro: It means all commuter buses that plow the road of Town down to inside campus. It a shorten term from Town-Igboro but to help in its pronunciation the syllables were shortened to Two i.e Tan Gboro.
14. Moz101 or Catch dem young: It an act of getting along with fresh or newly admitted female students. Mozambique is a female hostel exclusively for Part 1 students. So Moz 101 is like a dedicated mission or course of study (5 units) for senior colleagues that want to woo newly admitted ladies.
15. Jacking: It an act of reading. You’d probably would have heard millions of times someone saying “I want to Goan jack”, it means I want to go and read
16. Jackobian: Someone that involves in the act of reading. If you are a jackobian then you are a passionate reader.
17. Jambite: It a slang to refer to newly admitted students in the University. Being a greenhorn to the system they are often times called Jambite
18. As e dey hot & Risky Burger: These are food-related slangs As e dey hot is more of a brand name than a slang. As e dey hot is a slang for puff-puff that’s always served hot. You can never catch the puff-puff in its dulling mode while Risky Burger is bread and fried egg done In a special way. If you are an OAU student reading this then you know the hook already but if you are a non-OAU student, you might want to come around to have a perfect savory picture of these two meals.
19. Dobale: It a slang directed towards guest artists when they seek to perform in the University. Dobale means to prostate. Whenever an artist intends to perform, it is a tradition for the artiste to first prostrate before going ahead with his performance. If he or she fails to do so there’s be shouts of Dobale everywhere.
20. Go for overnight: On normal grounds when one hears this, one would think the person that said it, meant he or she is going for a vigil or has a program to attend overnight. However, what it means in OAU is going to read for the night, probably till down. It a common saying in OAU..
Other slangs are used predominantly in OAU that are not exclusively skewed to OAU students only. Slangs like E choke, mafo, sapa, who dey breet, ko purr ke among many others are used by OAU students too.
