By Alphonsus Okoroigwe
ENUGU, Nigeria – With schools in Enugu State set to resume next week for the 2026/2027 academic session, parents in community WhatsApp groups from Federal Housing Estate to Abakpa are pooling money to buy books in bulk and swapping outgrown uniforms to beat a sharp rise in resumption costs.
September used to mean panic for Susan. New textbooks, new uniforms, and higher school fees for her three children in a private secondary school. This time, the bill was N960,000.
But she didn’t borrow money like she used to. Instead, she tapped her phone from their one-bedroom apartment at Federal Housing Estate.
Inside a parents’ WhatsApp group, bulk book deals were sealed, second-hand uniforms were swapped, and someone posted about a local government bursary. Her expenses dropped to N625,000, saving her N335,000.
“Last year, I spent about N800,000. But for this academic year, something new is happening in our group. We bought in bulk and for my part, I saved over 30%. I also got free uniforms and textbooks from parents whose children had completed school,” Susan said.
Similar lists have appeared in at least two other parents’ WhatsApp groups in the state capital, where families say bulk-buying and swapping have reduced individual costs ahead of the state government’s September 21 resumption date.
Parents in Abakpa, where petty traders and daily-wage earners reside, say they now wait for a group list before going to the market.
“This is a good option for me as the prices of school materials keep increasing every day,” Onyeka, a parent in one of the groups, said.
Traders at Ogbete Market say a dozen 80-leaf exercise books has risen from about N2,200 to N3,400, and 60-leaf from about N1,500 to N2,400, since last session.
The cost of textbooks has also risen. But Pauline, a bookseller, says she now supplies 60 copies of the same JSS1 Mathematics text to parents’ groups instead of selling one or two copies at a time.
“Parents used to buy books individually, and that cost them more,” she said. “But now, the WhatsApp admin just sends me a list. Then I give them market price, which is below retail, and deliver in bulk.”
The model is simple. One parent volunteers as coordinator, the group agrees on a bookseller, they make their list and pay together, and delivery comes to one point.
Swapping uniforms is even faster. Photos of outgrown shirts and skirts are posted every evening, some of them selling for as low as N6,000 or given out for free.
“Another mom collected my daughter’s uniform for her daughter and gave me sandals,” Ijeoma, a mother of two, said.
