Last Updated on September 18, 2025 by Adewole Oduwole

By Olasunkanmi Olajide & Wuraola Dada

As students of the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB) return for the 2025/2026 Academic Session, the ripple effects are being felt far beyond the lecture halls. Their arrival is breathing new life into businesses, markets, and households that rely heavily on the University’s vibrant community.

For weeks, the streets around Alabata, Camp, Isolu, Oluwo, and other areas outside the campus, once quiet during the long holiday, have come alive again. Shuttle buses, tricycles, and taxis now crisscross the campus and its adjoining communities, carrying students and their luggage back to hostels and lecture halls. For transport operators, this season is a lifeline. “When school resumes, it’s like Christmas for us,” said Mr. Olamide Adeyeye, a bus driver. “We make in a day what we barely make in three days during the break.”

The boom extends to food vendors and restaurants. Many students, drained from lectures and practicals, depend on ready-made meals. “We sell out by evening,” explained Mrs. Kabirat Makinde, popularly known as Iya Waris, who runs a small eatery near the Health Services. “Students are our biggest customers; without them, business is slow.”

Markets too are recording brisk activity. Pepper sellers, vegetable traders, and provision store owners testify that resumption keeps them busy for weeks as students stock up. For many families, this period provides the financial cushion to pay bills and meet household needs.

Beyond academics, FUNAAB plays a central role in shaping the local economy. The University is not only a centre of agricultural research and innovation, but also a powerful economic engine. Each academic cycle supports a web of small businesses, from transport and housing to food supply and services, underscoring the symbiotic relationship between higher education and community development.

As the students settle into the semester, their presence is once again a reminder that universities are more than citadels of learning; they are pillars of local economies, breathing life into cities and shaping livelihoods far beyond the campus gates.