Abdullah Adekunle, a 300-level Optometry student at Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto (UDUS), never imagined that a lack of awareness about his student email could cost him access to Google AI’s Student Waiver Program, an opportunity that offers eligible students free or discounted access to selected AI tools and services.

 

Abdullah had spent two academic semesters at UDUS before he heard about student institutional email. He only discovered it when he tried to activate the Google AI waiver, which required a university email address.

 

“I was furious, looking everywhere to see if I was the one not getting it right that UDUS offers students institutional mail,” Abdullah told Gamji Press, recalling how he could have used the premium tools to improve his academic research. “A final-year student showed me his student email, and I realised maybe we the new students are the ones that are not offered one.”

 

By the time his colleague helped him understand how to access the student email, the offer had expired.

 

Abdullah’s experience is not isolated. Summaiyah Ojonugwa, a 500-level student, spent five academic sessions at UDUS without knowing that the university provided institutional email accounts to students.

 

“I never heard anyone talk about it. When I tried verifying my LinkedIn profile, I realised that I could use my school email. But because nobody had told me about it, I assumed the school does not provide it,” she said.

 

Student institutional email is an official email account provided by universities, often bearing the institution’s domain name and linked to a student’s admission number. It serves as part of a student’s academic identity and is recognised by educational platforms, research institutions and other international organisations as proof of studentship.

 

Universities also use institutional email as a primary channel for communicating official updates to students. Beyond communication, it can provide access to scholarships, academic journals, research databases, software discounts and other professional opportunities.

 

Yet, for many UDUS students, the value of the institutional email remains largely unknown. Poor awareness of its existence, limited understanding of its benefits and difficulties accessing or using the accounts are keeping students from opportunities that could support their academic and professional development, including opportunities offered on global platforms.

 

The Broader Problem

To understand the scale of the awareness gap surrounding student email accounts at UDUS campus, Gamji Press surveyed 113 students across 15 faculties. The findings revealed that a significant number of students either did not know the university provided institutional email accounts or did not know how to access them.

 

Among respondents from 200- and 300-level classes, 40% said they were unaware that UDUS offers student email accounts. Instead, many students said they rely on informal channels, including WhatsApp and Facebook groups, campus noticeboards and, most commonly, word of mouth, to receive academic and institutional updates.

 

Overall, 55.8% of respondents said they were unaware that student email accounts existed at UDUS, while 16.8% knew about the accounts but did not know how to activate them. Another 16.8% said they had tried to access their accounts but were unsuccessful.

 

 

Only 8.8% of respondents said they had access to student email but rarely used it. One of them is Olarinde Sodeeq, a 500-level Pharmacy student.

 

Gamji Press found that the university’s limited use of student email for official communication has contributed to students’ declining interest in the platform. None of the students surveyed said they had ever received academic information through their institutional email.

 

Only 1.8% of respondents, representing two of the 113 students surveyed, said they had access to their institutional email and actively used it.

 

 

“99% of Students Are Not Using It” — UDUS MIS Director

The survey findings align with an explanation from Mallam Riliwanu Mohammed Ladan, Director of Management Information System (MIS) at UDUS, who told Gamji Press that the university recently stopped automatically creating institutional email accounts for students.

 

According to Mr. Riliwanu, the university previously created an email account for every student after confirming their admission. However, the institution now discontinued the practice after finding that “99 %” of  students did not use the accounts.

 

“Now, anyone who wants access to their student email must come down to the MIS office for activation,” he said. 

 

He claimed that the university stopped the automatic creation of accounts because unused email accounts consumed storage on its database.

 

Meanwhile, the management’s concern about database storage comes against the backdrop of revenue generated from the university’s mandatory Information and Communication Technology (ICT) fee. A review of UDUS’ tuition fee schedule shows that each student pays ₦12,000 per academic session for ICT services. With total enrolment estimated at between 20,000 and 24,999 students, according to uniRank, the fee could generate between ₦240 million and nearly ₦300 million annually.

 

 

While the school’s decision to stop automatic creation of the email may have reduced the number of inactive accounts on the university’s system, it has also created another barrier for students who are unaware that the service exists or do not know how to activate it.

 

The university’s approach to official communication further compounds the problem.

 

Asked how UDUS communicates official announcements to students if it does not routinely use institutional email, the Director said the university publishes most official announcements on its main website.

 

“Most official announcements are posted on the university’s primary website where we expect all students to access the latest information,” he said.

 

However, he acknowledged another challenge: many students do not know the university’s main website. Instead, they are more familiar with the university’s student portal, which they use primarily to check their results.

 

“But many students do not even know the university’s main website. They only know the subdomain they use in checking results,” he said.

 

The challenge is not unique to UDUS. A 2019 study that surveyed 4,476 students across 18 Nigerian universities found that only 51.5% of respondents reported having access to student email or webmail, compared with 84.5% who had access to online student information portals. The study, which covered federal, state and private universities across Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones, signals the uneven integration of digital services into university systems.

 

More recent evidence also points to gaps in students’ access to institutional digital resources. A 2026 national assessment of digital learning resources among Nigerian medical students found that only 49% of respondents had a personalised institutional email address, while just 29.5% used it for academic purposes. The study also reported variations in access across institutions and geopolitical zones. 

 

The Contrast 

To understand how other Nigerian federal universities manage student institutional email, Gamji Press spoke with students and student representatives at four institutions. Their experiences suggest that the way university management integrates institutional email into academic life influences how familiar students become with the service and its benefits.

 

At Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), the system removes the activation barrier altogether. Muhammad Adeyemi Babatunde, a 300-level Law student, told Gamji Press that the university creates students’ institutional email accounts automatically after matriculation.

 

“It is used to send official memos and specific updates,” he said.

 

A similar system operates at the University of Ibadan, where the administration also removes the activation barrier by automatically creating students’ institutional email accounts and guiding them through the login process. The email is actively used for official communication, including memos on accommodation, student loans and campus elections.

 

Its use also extends to academic activities. Samuel Omofala, a student at the university, recalled how one of his lecturers required students to use their institutional email to complete an attendance form during an online class.

 

“Only those who attempted the Google form with their student mail could fill the form that day. Others, myself included, could not,” he said.

 

The University of Ilorin (UNILORIN), however, operates a manual request system similar to the current policy at UDUS. The difference, according to Emmanuel Oluseye Olamilekan, Public Relations Officer of the UNILORIN Students’ Union, is that the university actively uses the institutional email for official communication.

 

Because students regularly receive important information through the platform, Olamilekan said, a “majority” of students are aware of the academic and professional opportunities associated with institutional email.

 

This contrasts with UDUS, where the MIS Director said the university relies primarily on its main website for official announcements. The limited use of institutional email means many students have little reason to activate or regularly use their accounts.

 

At Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, however, the experience is closer to that of UDUS. Rahamah Omayoza Abdulmumuni, a 400-level Pharmacy student, said she does not currently have a student email because students must request activation manually. She also said the university does not use the platform to send official memos, leaving students like her largely unaware of the opportunities that institutional email can provide.

 

The experiences across the three universities show that manual activation can create an initial barrier, but activation alone does not determine whether students will use institutional email. Regular institutional use also appears to shape students’ awareness of the platform and its potential benefits.

 

 

The Activation Barrier

It took Hafiz Sani Galadima, a 400-level Nursing student, three years after gaining admission to access his student email. Until then, he said, he had never heard that the university provided institutional email accounts to students.

 

His experience showed how the lack of information and awareness can make access to the service difficult for students.

 

“The process was neither automatic nor explained to me at any point during my stay at the university until a friend made that possible,” he said.

 

For students who have heard about the student email, however, gaining access can present another hurdle.

 

Gamji Press’s survey found that access problems were particularly common among students who use the university’s new portal. Most of these students are 300-level and below, meaning they were admitted from 2022 onward.

 

Yusuf AbdulQudus, an Islamic Studies student who uses the old portal, told Gamji Press that returning students who gained admission before 2022 do not face the same activation requirement. However, his own experience revealed that technical problems can still prevent students from accessing their accounts.

 

“When I tried to create my student email, I encountered an error message saying my password had been changed five months ago. I was confused,” he said.

 

“I also attempted to log in with my portal password, yet it still did not work.”

 

Abdullateef Abdullah, a 300-level Medical Laboratory Science student, also struggled to activate his student email. He said the lack of access prevented him from registering for two programmes.

 

He blamed the absence of clear and reliable official communication for making the activation process more difficult. According to him, he learnt about the process mainly through senior students rather than through an official channel.

 

“I was only informed verbally by some senior colleagues, and there was no clear or official step-by-step procedure,” he said.

 

“I even tried checking the school portal for guidance on how to get it activated. I reached out to senior colleagues who explained that it is automatically done by the Management Information System (MIS) or Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Unit.”

 

While many students struggle to access their accounts, those who do can use them to unlock academic and professional opportunities that may not be available through personal email accounts.

 

Zakariya’u Dauda, a recent UDUS graduate, said he took full advantage of his student email while at the university. He used it to register on ResearchGate, access Canva Pro and benefit from other student-exclusive opportunities.

 

“My student mail has given me numerous opportunities I would not have access to with my personal Gmail account,” he said.

 

However, Dauda said many of his friends either did not know the institutional email existed or struggled to access it, causing them to miss similar opportunities.

 

Hafiz Galadima also said his student email became essential for accessing academic and international opportunities that required proof of studentship.

 

“The mail was used to confirm my studentship status. I also got access to Google premium for all the Google services,” he said.

 

Without the account, Hafiz feared he would have missed programmes just like Abdullah Adekunle and Summaiyah Ojonugwa.

 

More Missed Opportunities

For some UDUS students, the lack of institutional email has already translated into missed opportunities.

 

When Salahudeen Mubarak, an Arabic Education student at UDUS, was selected for the second cohort of AGILE, an international programme with participants from about 75 countries, he nearly lost his place during the mandatory onboarding session.

 

The session coordinator instructed participants to join the Microsoft Teams meeting using their institutional email addresses. But Salahudeen did not have one.

 

His anxiety grew as the session approached until the coordinator made an exception, allowing participants without institutional email addresses to join with their personal accounts.

 

“I would have missed out on the programme, even though I was successfully selected, if the coordinator was not lenient enough,” he said.

 

Abdulrasheed Aliyah, another Nursing student at UDUS, was not as fortunate. She said she lost an opportunity for which she qualified because she did not have access to a student email.

 

“Missing out on opportunities one qualifies for or merits because of absence of student mail comes with a high level of disappointment,” she said.

 

Aliyah’s experience is not an isolated case. Gamji Press’s survey found that 74.3% of respondents had encountered an academic or professional opportunity that required a student email address.

 

 

 

The 74.3% represents 84 of the 113 respondents who had encountered an academic or professional opportunity that required a student email address. Of these 84 students, 85.7%, or 72 students, did not have access to a student email. This denied them the opportunity to apply for the encountered programmes.

 

 

For students who repeatedly encounter such requirements, the problem can extend beyond individual missed opportunities. Aliyah said the uncertainty over access to student email could discourage students from applying for programmes in the first place.

 

“Students become less concerned about engaging in programmes that can fetch them opportunities because they are unsure of being able to apply because of the student mail, even if they are eligible,” she said.

 

“This indirectly breeds unproductivity in students,” she added.

 

Platform / Service	Category	The Student Benefit
GitHub Student Developer Pack	Tech & Development	Free access to GitHub Pro, unlimited private repositories, and the AI-powered Copilot assistant.
Namecheap	Web Hosting & Domains	Free domain name for one year to build custom websites and digital portfolios.
Microsoft Azure	Cloud Computing	$100 in cloud credits and free access to over 25 premium cloud services.
DigitalOcean	Cloud Computing	Up to $200 in platform credit for a full year of simple, reliable cloud hosting.
Canva Pro for Education	Design & Media	Unlocks premium design tools, branding kits, and vector assets completely free of charge.
Educative.io	E-Learning	Six months of free access to over 60 comprehensive courses in web development, PHP, JavaScript, and more.
Notion	Productivity	Upgrades to the premium Plus plan for free, providing an unlimited workspace for research and projects.
ResearchGate & Academic Databases	Research & Academics	Bypasses paywalls for access to premium clinical journals, medical research databases, and peer-reviewed papers.
DataCamp	E-Learning	Grants a 3-month free premium trial to build data science and analytical fluency.
Frontend Masters	E-Learning	Free access to advanced engineering courses to sharpen skills in HTML, CSS, and user interface design.
Autodesk	Design & Engineering	Free licenses for professional 3D design and modeling software like Maya and AutoCAD.
1Password	Security	Six months of a free family subscription for secure password generation and encrypted data storage.
Headspace	Health & Wellness	Heavily discounted premium subscriptions for mindfulness and mental health support.
Amazon Prime Student	Lifestyle & Entertainment	Six months of free fast shipping and premium streaming services, followed by a subsidized rate.
Spotify Premium	Lifestyle & Entertainment	Slashes the monthly subscription cost by 50% for verified students.

A structured table summarising the various categories of opportunities and  benefits available to students through their student mail. (Credit: Abdullateef Sebiotimo)

 

The consequences become more significant when considering the range of academic and professional resources that universities, technology companies and other organisations make available to verified students.

 

A functional institutional email can serve as proof of studentship, allowing students to access educational software, research platforms, professional networks, scholarships, training programmes and other student-exclusive benefits.