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‘We only have light when they put on generator in the night’
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‘We’re exposed to infection’
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‘Govt must prioritise renovation, maintenance’
Hostels in some public Nigerian universities are in acute decadence due to dearth of basic social amenities, especially electricity and potable water. While some apartments are not good for human habitation due to poor infrastructure as well as sanitary conditions occasioned by bad toilets, they are crammed with students who have no option than to tolerate the dehumanizing conditions. Daily Trust on Sunday reports tales of students’ anguish in some institutions visited by our reporters.
From Hope Abah Emmanuel (Makurdi), Ado Abubakar Musa (Jos) & Sani Ibrahim Paki (Kano)
Toilets in ruins in UniJos hostels
At the University of Jos, hostels appear very pretty from outside but messy inside. Apartments are in terrible sanitary conditions due to poor water supply from downstairs. In a chat with our correspondent, students said decadence in the hostels was mostly in the interior.
During a visit to the Naraguta Hostel, a student told our correspondent that toilets were in deplorable conditions. Another student in the hostel said water could not flow into the three storey buildings because the taps outside the buildings did not have pipes to connect water to them. Consequently, students have to go downstairs to fetch water.
“For those of us living upstairs, we don’t get water because it can not be pumped to the buildings because the pipes are not connected from the taps. This has been our major challenge. We often have to come down and fetch water. It has not been easy. That is why the toilets look dirty sometimes, even after school cleaners had cleaned them,” said a student who preferred anonymity.
At the Village Hostel, students said while some of the toilets were in good condition, others were in a mess due to lack of water supply to the facilities. A student told our correspondent that students had no option than to use the bad toilets. “Although there is water within the premises of the hostel, it doesn’t get to the toilets,” he said.
They called on the school authority to prioritize renovation before the situation gets worse.
Dilapidated hostels at Federal University, Lokoja
At the Federal University, Lokoja, our correspondent gathered that structures at the Adankolo Campus are dilapidated but undergoing renovation.
Consequently, the students accommodation portal remain has been closed indefinitely. In the circumstance, no accommodation has been offered to any student since the present academic session. The school management said efforts were been intensified to complete the ongoing renovation.
Engineer Patrick Umeh in the Maintenance Department attributed the poor conditions of the structures to students’ poor maintenance culture towards public facilities.
He said all doors and their locks as well as the ceilings that had been damaged by students needed replacements. He assured that the department would replicate the ongoing renovation at the Felele Campus as soon as funds were released for the project.
Hostels at BSU, JOSTUM in mess
Hostel facilities at Benue State University (BSU), Makurdi, are not only in poor sanitary conditions but also overcrowded. In a chat with our correspondent, students, on the condition of anonymity, said while the new ones were decent, the old ones were in bad shapes.
A 200 Level student said: “We have good hostels but they are costly. They are neat and very fine. But where I am staying is not so nice. Even, there are others that are worse than mine.”
Several students also decried the deplorable state of their hostel facilities at the Joseph Sarwuan Tarka University, Makurdi (JOSTUM.
Our correspondent gathered that apart from the Suswam Hostel built about six years ago and in fine conditions, the other ones are in bad shapes and need rehabilitation. A student who declined her name on print said sanitary condition at the Technical Hostel had worsened as the toilets were in a sorry state and not in use.
“Occupants of that hostel defecate into polythene bags. That hostel is rubbish,” the student said.
Another student said the situation was worst during the rain season as the dirty environment had potentials to trigger spread of communicable diseases among students. “The hostels are not neat, especially the toilets and bathrooms,” he said.
“The windows of the hostels are bad so much that students have to look for alternative covers to prevent cold or rains from entering their rooms. Some of the nets are torn and there are no louvers on the windows. So, mosquitoes have become our companions,” he said.
Acute shortage of water, electricity at BUK hostels
A 300 Level student (name withheld) of the Department of Information and Media Studies, Bayero University, Kano (BUK), who stays at Asiya Hostel said: “Some of the toilet water passages are clogged. The hostel is poorly managed as some light bulbs, sockets and fans in some rooms are faulty. Most times, electricians come to repair them but more faults continue to crop up, especially in other rooms after few days of repair. There are some rooms which power facilities don’t work at all. Also, electricity has recently become very unstable and bad. Power outage has become frequent than necessary.”
“No water, no light. We only have light for few hours when they put on generator at night, which is usually between 8pm and 11pm. This enables us to pump water into the tank and it barely lasts the students for 15 hours. Some students even end up not having water due to long queues at borehole taps,” she said.
Another 300 Level student of the Department of Political Science who stays at Dangote Hostel, who preferred anonymity complained of congestion and poor toilet sanitary culture.
“BUK students staying in hostels are in critical conditions. We don’t have light. It is only in the night that we see it when they put on the generator. In fact, it is the real cause of water shortage that we are currently experiencing,” he said.
