No fewer than 100 hundred houses built for the senior staff of the Sokoto State University are now left unoccupied eight years after their completion.
Caliphate Trust correspondent, who visited the estate located within the university, reports that they are made up of block of flats, meant to accommodate the lecturers and detached bungalows for senior staff including the Vice Chancellor.
A security guard at the quarters said the houses have been overtaken by snakes and other reptiles making their job of guarding the place more dangerous.
“We often encounter snakes moving around from one building to the other. We have to be careful in moving around, especially in the night so as not to be bitten by snake,’’ the guard who declined to give his name said.
Caliphate Trust reports most of the staff of the university live in rented apartment within the metropolis although they have houses within the university.
Our correspondent observed that some of doors and windows have started to give way due to the vagaries of the weather while the whole estate has been taken over by overgrown weeds
The Chairman of the university chapter of Academic Staff Union of University, Dr Attahiru Ahmed Sifawa, bamed the university’s management for its failure to pursue the taking over of the houses from the contractor.
He said the contractor was yet to hand over the buildings to the state government but the governor had promised to pursue the issue during a meeting he had with them in August 2020.
He said the university management was yet to follow-up on the issue.
A lecturer with the Department of Political Science Magaji Umar Magaji, said many lecturers were finding it hard to pay the high cost of rent being charged by landlords.
He said, moreover, staying away from the campus was also affecting their performance as lecturers. He, therefore called on the state government and the university to rehabilitate the houses and allocate to staff.
Another lecturer, Halliru Ibrahim, said some lecturers had even offered to rehabilitate the houses if they were allocated to them but the management turned down the offer.
He also called on the government to wade into the issue immediately in the interest of both the staff and the students.
When contacted the Information Officer of the university, Alhaji Zayyanu Shehu, declined to comment on why the houses were abandoned.
