Sokoto University Battling Mosquito Menace Amid Neglected Grounds

Jimoh Yusuf, a 300-level student of Usmanu Danfodiyo University,  Sokoto (UDUS) woke up one morning disturbed by the persistent mosquito raids overshadowing his nights. Unwanted grasses surrounding the school’s hostel facilities compounded Yusuf’s daily challenge,  making him bitterly unsettled.

“The hostel weeds have made the environment look irritating, breeding dangerous mosquitoes everywhere”.

Like Yusuf, Mohammad Abubakar, a student of Literature-in-English, emphasised the hazard posed by these weeds. “Those grasses attract dangerous reptiles and also mosquitos, making going to night class very stressful and disturbing. But electricity does help to some extent,” he said. lslamiyyah Oyindamola, a 100-level Business Administration student, expressed a similar concern: “Students get sick due to the mosquitos bred by these grasses,” she added.

According to a 2022 World Health Organization (WHO) report, every year, mosquito-borne diseases infect over a billion people and kill more than a million in different parts of the world, especially in the tropics. These diseases include parasitic and viral infections such as malaria, lymphatic filariasis, yellow fever, chikungunya, Zika and dengue. The morbidity and mortality rates of these diseases are often disproportionately high among poorer populations with many survivors of diseases such as lymphatic filariasis left permanently disabled or disfigured. 

However, Ibrahim Umar, the health director of the university, confirmed that the unkempt school environment and the persistence of weed on campus were due to staff shortages in the health unit. “The campus area has not been cleared of weeds due to the lack of staff. The public health unit only has an environmental health officer, while the rest are casual staff. These casual staff are in charge of cleaning the classrooms and public toilets within the campus and also clearing the campus environment,” he said.

“In the past, the staff used to be men, but due to the low payment of salary, many of them left. Now the present staff members are women — in fact, old women. Out of 130 staff employed, 70 of them are women who can’t clear the bushes but only clean the classes.” 

The Dean of Students’ Affairs, Professor Umar Aliyu, told Campus Reporters that measures are being taken to address the growing complaints over unwanted grasses surrounding the school’s dormitories. “As I speak, arrangements have been made to fumigate the hostels. We have already begun the process from the city camp hostel,” he said. “Although our labourers have reported a lack of necessary tools, and we have addressed this by ordering the required equipment and chemicals, which  will soon be available.”