A final-year student’s desperate race to retrieve a forgotten ID card has ended in tragedy, sparking intense outrage over the rigidity of university examination policies.

A frantic dash to salvage a university degree has ended in horrific death for Idris Aremu Agboluaje, a final-year student at Kwara State University who perished in a high-speed auto crash.

The incident has instantly exposed the lethal cost of administrative rigidity in Nigeria’s tertiary institutions. Denied entry to his final semester examination hall merely for lacking a plastic identity card, Agboluaje’s fatal accident highlights the perilous pressure cooker environment that students are forced to navigate, where a single bureaucratic hurdle can trigger a chain of events leading to the loss of life.

A Race Against Time

The tragedy unfolded on the narrow, often treacherous road leading to the Malete campus. Agboluaje, a 400-level student in the Department of Business Education, had arrived at his examination venue with the weight of four years of study on his shoulders. However, invigilators stood firm on university protocol: no ID card, no exam. Faced with the prospect of an extra year in school, he made a split-second decision to rush home and retrieve the document.

Eyewitness accounts paint a picture of panic and desperation. [...](asc_slot://start-slot-3)In his bid to beat the clock and return before the exam doors were permanently shut, Agboluaje reportedly drove at breakneck speed. The specific mechanics of the crash remain under investigation, but the outcome was final. The vehicle lost control, somersaulting off the road and leaving the young scholar with fatal injuries. He never made it back to the hall, and he never wrote the paper that was meant to define his future.

The Bureaucratic Wall

The university administration has formally acknowledged the incident, though their response has done little to quell the rising anger among the student body. Registrar Kikelomo Sallee confirmed the death in a somber statement, noting that the student was indeed "on his way to the campus to write an examination" when the crash occurred. However, the statement carefully skirted the controversial enforcement of the ID card policy that precipitated the journey.

This rigidity is not unique to KWASU but is symptomatic of a broader systemic issue where rules are enforced without a human face. Students argue that digital verification methods or alternative identification should be standard in 2026, rendering the physical ID card archaic. The insistence on a piece of plastic over the life and safety of a student has reignited debates on campus welfare and emergency protocols.

• The Victim: Idris Aremu Agboluaje, 400-Level Business Education student.
• The Trigger: Denied exam entry for missing student ID card.
• The Scene: The Malete-Ilorin access road, known for its busy student traffic.
• The Outcome: Fatal crash during a high-speed return trip.

A Campus in Mourning

The atmosphere at the Malete campus is heavy with grief and muted fury. The Association of Business Educators of Nigeria (KWASU Chapter) has declared a period of mourning, describing Agboluaje as a diligent student whose life was cut short by an avoidable set of circumstances. Lectures have continued, but the shadow of the tragedy hangs over every examination hall.

For the family of the deceased, the pain is compounded by the senseless nature of the loss. They sent a son to school to secure a future, only to receive a corpse because of a forgotten card. As the university reviews its protocols, the question remains whether this tragedy will force a shift in how institutions balance discipline with empathy. For now, a seat in the exam hall remains empty, a stark monument to a system that values procedure over people.