THE rot in federal universities is taking a toll on the hostels in the national ivory towers.Besides being overcrowded, many of the hostels lack basic amenities.
It was gathered in some federal universities across the country that many of the hostels were filthy as the taps in the toilets and bathrooms were dry and outdated.
It was gathered that despite the poor conditions of the hostels, students still thronged them because of the rising rent in most university towns in Nigeria.
Findings indicated that the University of Port Harcourt, Rivers State, which was founded in 1975, had 22 hostels. While some of the hostels take only male undergraduates, others accommodate only female students.
For the NDDC hostels, female students occupied the top floor, while their male counterparts took over the ground floor.
The university’s spokesman, Dr William Wodi, in an interview said the newest of the hostels was the medical hostel built in 2018. According to him, the institution has a total student population of 35,000
According to findings, a room meant for four students, based on the university’s rules, had more than 12 occupants.
It was gathered that the situation was worsened by the fear of insecurity and high rent in the university’s neighbourhood, which had forced many students to move to the campus.
Findings revealed that a self-contained apartment in Choba community, where the university is located, goes for between N100, 000 and N120,000 per year, while a bed space in the university is N22,500.
This, it was learnt, had made many students, who could not secure bed spaces in the hostels, to squat with their friends, who had hostel accommodation.
Cult wars in Rivers force students relocate to varsity hostels
A student at the Mandela Hostel said some of his colleagues living outside the university had secretly moved in to squat with friends living on the campus without the knowledge of the university authorities.
The student, who simply gave his name as Mark, attributed the development to the security situation outside the campus, adding that most students loathed staying off-campus in order to avoid being hit by bullets during the routine deadly cult wars.
It was observed that the environment was dirty as students used the hostel galleries as refuse dumps, which helped to fuel the foul odour in the entire place.
