‘The Bedbugs Bite’: Inside the Messy UI and OAU Hostel Infrastructures

For Deborah, a 100-level student and resident of Obafemi Awolowo Hall of residence, University of Ibadan, staying in her hall of residence was a choice she made because she was in her first year of study. She believed this choice was the safest way to get familiar with the school and its environment. Posi, another student, however, resides in a school hostel due to proximity.

“I stay in Obafemi Awolowo Hall of Residence because of its proximity to classes; the fact that it is cheaper, it is less stressful than house hunting, and much safer than staying outside school,” Posi said. 

Posi’s reason for staying in Obafemi Awolowo Hall is the same as that of many students who find themselves in public hostels — it is often cheaper and closer to school. This goes to show just how important hostel accommodation is for students in any university, as it affects both their academics and overall well-being. 

Unfortunately, the current state of university-owned hostels in Nigeria is far from ideal, with many hostels in a deplorable state that affects students’ health and academic focus. The issue is symptomatic of a larger problem — the government’s failure to prioritise adequate funding of public education. 

Despite the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) recommendation to allocate 15 to 20 per cent of the national budget to education, the Nigerian federal government has persistently committed less than 10 per cent since 1999. This has led to inadequate infrastructure in the country’s tertiary institutions, including the University of Ibadan and Obafemi Awolowo University.

Lay Your Heads — Put Not Your Feet

The halls of residence in Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, used to be the cheapest and most affordable school hostels in Southwestern Nigeria. However, this came to an end at the beginning of the 2022/23 academic session, where the accommodation fee leapt to ₦30,000 from ₦3,090, a 900% increment with almost no consequential improvement of the state of the halls. This increment only gave room to more increments, as the beginning of the 2023/24 academic session saw another increment from ₦30,000 to ₦50,000. This arbitrary increment left students who could not afford the new fees stranded. Quite a number resorted to squatting as a means of cutting costs, as they illegally paired with friends, leading to overcrowding in the halls of residence. 

What is clear in all of these is that OAU, just like many university hostels, has limited accommodations for students. Yet, in a bid to improvise, residents were forced, by the impact of the hostels’ policy, to share rooms meant for fewer people. 

In the Fajuyi and Awo halls, for instance, five students stay in rooms that were originally designed for three students, leading to increased tension among students and a lack of privacy, causing problems with maintaining personal belongings.

OAU is not the only university facing an accommodation problem in the southwestern region.  The hostels at the University of Ibadan (UI),  Nigeria’s premier university, are also not generally in good shape. After the Obafemi Awolowo Hall was opened in 1986 at the university premises, no other hostel has been built by the government. Due to the population of residents, the university has catered for the growing population only by overstretching the capacity of the halls to accommodate more students. 

This points inversely at a crisis in the UI accommodation system, ultimately culminating in the question: At what point does overcrowding make a living space completely unlivable?” Queen Elizabeth II Hall houses up to six students in some rooms, and in Idia Hall, up to eight students in a room. These rooms appear larger than standard rooms that hold four or two students, but in truth, they are far from comfortable.

Rahmat, a resident of Queen Idia hall, explains that there are currently six occupants in her room, and while it is sometimes fun to have so many people in a room, it stirs concerns. She agrees that her room is overcrowded and there tends to be no privacy.  

Deborah, another student, faces a similar problem with overcrowding. “There is not enough space to keep our bags and buckets of water. Besides, when my roommate brings their friends to the room, it is usually overcrowded, and it makes me uncomfortable.”

Judith, a resident of the Queen Elizabeth Hall, explained that the sizes of the rooms in different blocks differ, so a six-man room (which she currently stays in) in Blocks G and H might be more spacious than a six-man room in Block F. “But for the F block, which I stay in, I will say the space is fair but not as big as some rooms in G and H that house 6 people,” he said. 

While some male hostels in the University of Ibadan, like The Great Independence Hall of Residence and Nnamdi Azikiwe, house four students per room, others, such as Kenneth Melanby and Ransome Kuti Halls, house three students per room, which can be less than ideal comfort. Iniola, a resident of Ransome Kuti Hall, voiced his growing frustration with the cramped state of his room, which he believes should accommodate just two students, instead of three. The cramped space, he notes, is becoming increasingly untenable.

Neglected Toilets and Kitchens

Toilets are essential in any place of habitation, and it is crucial to ensure these facilities are clean, accessible, and functional. Unfortunately, this is not always the case in the halls of residence. While some areas have manageable facilities, others are plagued by waterlogged and smelly bathrooms, blocked pipes, with inadequate cleaning, resulting in persistent foul odours and environmental pollution. These unsanitary conditions pose severe health risks, exposing students to infections, rat infestations, and diseases due to improper waste management. 

In many hostels, only a few toilets and bathrooms are accessible at night due to broken bulbs, faulty lamp holders, and damaged switches that have remained unfixed for years. The lack of regular maintenance and poor hygiene practices undermine students’ ability to maintain basic cleanliness. For example, Blocks J and the Annexe Building of Fajuyi Hall have no usable toilets, forcing residents to use facilities in other blocks. Caleb, a resident of Block J, said the hall management had promised to repair the toilets since October, but no action has been taken. As a result, he and his blockmates are compelled to walk to Blocks 1, 2, and others to relieve themselves.

The deplorable state of toilets also exists in UI hostels, and this has caused students to either make use of toilets in other blocks or even outside of the hostel. “I do not go to the bathrooms at night! I am scared of rats, and they are in the corridors and bathrooms. The bathrooms would be better if they were washed regularly. Unfortunately, they’re only washed every 2-3 days. I only use toilets in a particular block because it is better. People on my floor have been complaining that the toilets here aren’t good, [and] that they’re not taking care of it well,’ Feranmi, a student of the university, lamented. 

This is not so far from what Judith also noticed. She attributed the bad state of the toilets in her hall to the students themselves, saying: “The bathroom can be messed up. The toilet will get messy except they lock it and assign keys amongst themselves.”

Joshua, a resident of Lord Tedder Hall at the University of Ibadan, also voiced concerns about the state of the toilets in his hall. While he commended the sanitary staff for their tireless efforts, he condemned some students’ habit of leaving the toilets unflushed, which he believes is partly due to the lack of running water. He recalled an incident where his roommate developed a skin infection due to the unsanitary toilet conditions. 

Meanwhile, Akintola Hall in OAU is known for its numerous accommodation problems. Overall cleanliness of the hall is often lacking, creating an uncomfortable living situation for students. The bathrooms are frequently unclean. Many toilets and pipes are in disrepair, with inadequate cleaning contributing to unsanitary conditions. Safety hazards are present due to exposed electrical wires, posing risks of electrical accidents. Furthermore, there is a lack of lighting in the toilets and bathrooms, making it difficult for students to use these facilities safely. The corridors are poorly lit, further compromising safety.

Room Infrastructure Problems

Moving into their rooms after being assigned, students are confused by various problems besetting the room, torn nets, missing ceilings, louvres, wardrobes, and much more. The facilities which students are supposed to meet when they are assigned a room are also not left out. For instance, last session, various halls of residences, including the Awolowo Hall of Residence, suffered from a paucity of bed bunks. 

Many bunks were bad, and some rooms were left with insufficient or no bed bunks. This led to students having to place their beds on the floor to sleep and then pack them up when it was not in use. The lack of bunk beds in halls of residences has been a recurring issue for ages now, despite the many promises made by the management to address this issue. In the 2022/2023 session, it became more of a menace as students had to constantly make complaints about having no bunks or having to put up with rickety bunks.

The bunks are not the only issues students have had to face in their rooms, as they sometimes meet their louvre, nets and doors in bad conditions, causing insects and pests to infiltrate their rooms and ruin their possessions. Olamide, a resident of Block I, Obafemi Awolowo hall, explains that the net to one of her windows is bad, and so she can only leave her window open during the day. This tale of bad net is not only hers, as various rooms in Block I of Awo Hall have this same issue. 

“There’s a system in place to do clearance when leaving the room, and if you destroy the louvres or damage anything, there are measures of fines. So those [damages] are repaired when you report the room’s condition,” Judith explained. However, this does not seem to solve anything in many halls of residence, as students in every new year still find rooms in the same terrible state.

‘The Bed Bugs Will Bite’

Overcrowding is not only a plague when it comes to the state of rooms in halls of residence across UI and other federal Universities. Bed bugs and rodent infestation have, in recent years, threatened to almost overthrow students as legal occupants.

In giving a narration of her harrowing frustration with the conditions of welfare, Deborah spoke about the state of her friend’s room in the same hall of residence. “I have this friend, there is a big hole in her room. They complained to the porters about it, but nothing has been done till now,” she said.

Rats are no new acquaintances in the halls of residence. In fact, Feranmi explained that the rats are everywhere, and every resident of the halls has their rats. The case is not different in Obafemi Awolowo Hall, as Deborah narrates that they see rats every night, especially on the staircase, making it bad for people who are scared of rats. Blessing, a resident of the Great Independence Hall of Residence, shared his frustration with the issue of bed bugs. He noted that the bedbug infestation was a recurring one, and it affected his health, despite spending a lot on fumigating his room.

Another student, Joshua, a 200-level student from Lord Tedder Hall, recounted his struggles with accommodation. In his first year, he endured a severe bedbug infestation in his 100-level room, forcing him to spend most of his time in the reading room. While the problem was partially alleviated by chemicals he and his roommates purchased, the issue flared up again in his second year, and he found it difficult to study effectively due to the constant disturbance. 

“I won’t say the bed bug infestation affects me. It has an effect, but I won’t say it is a medical but a mental effect. Because now, I have books to read, and I am the kind of person who doesn’t like to read in the reading room or the library. I prefer to read in my room,” Joshua complained. 

Unlike most male hostels in the University of Ibadan, the female hostels rarely have issues related to bedbug infestation. This doesn’t, however, mean that this issue does not exist. Judith, for example, explains that while she had never experienced it, she knew students who were trying to get rid of bedbugs in their rooms. “I know people who have it, but I’ve never experienced it. A friend had it in her room, and the hostel ensured to fumigate for you, and if you wish to do extra fumigation for your peace of mind, it’s fine,” she said.

Water Scarcity 

One of the most alarming issues bedevilling the students is water scarcity. It is, in fact, an ongoing issue that has left many students struggling. The erratic water supply implies that residents often have to wait in queues for hours before they get water. This compels them to rely on alternative sources, some of which are unhygienic. Angola Hall occupants complained about how they need to stay awake all night till around 5 a.m. to get the purest water in the hall.

Water scarcity not only affects daily hygiene but also affects students’ ability to meet their basic needs, causing frustration and stress. Residents of the ETF Hall go as far as the Health Centre Complex, Postgraduate Hall, and Ojaja Hall (a newly built private hostel) to get water, due to the unavailability of water in their hall of residence. In Mozambique Hall, OAU, students also face similar challenges. A frequent lack of water supply hampers daily activities and hygiene practices. These issues add to the growing frustration of students striving to maintain a comfortable living environment. Moremi Hall presents its own set of problems, including poor water supply and persistent security concerns. Residents often experience difficulties due to an insufficient water supply, which complicates their daily routines.

Water and electricity issues in the University of Ibadan halls are now constant concerns, especially for hostels like Obafemi Awolowo Hall. The hall of residence, which is the farthest hostel, situated on a hill and surrounded mostly by trees and darkness at night, can sometimes go up to four days and even more, without light and water, even when there is an electricity supply in other parts of the school. 

In Obafemi Awolowo Hall, attempts were made during the 2022/2023 session to improve water accessibility by installing taps on each floor. However, this effort fell short, as residents on the 6th floor and above still had to descend to lower floors to fetch water.

Deborah, a fourth-floor resident, expressed her frustration, stating, “I think water should be running on each floor. I am on the fourth floor, and water runs just once a month or once in three weeks. It is based on luck.”

In addition to water supply issues, some halls of residence at the University of Ibadan have struggled with electricity outages. Alexander Brown Hall and Falase Hall, both located on the UCH campus for medical students, have experienced over 100 days of continuous darkness. In response, students have boycotted classes and staged protests to pressure the management and federal government to resolve the issue. Despite promises, tangible improvements have been minimal, with a brief provision of generator power for 3 hours a day that eventually ceased.

Boluwatife, a medical student residing in Alexander Brown Hall, described the situation as dire. Following an agreement with the management after students boycotted classes, no meaningful improvements were made, and conditions have worsened. Students have had to resort to fetching water from distant locations, such as a construction site, and travelling to other areas like UI to charge their devices.

Esther, another Alexander Brown Hall resident, corroborated Boluwatife’s account, stating that the promised generator power lasted only a few weeks before it stopped due to alleged fuel depletion. According to calculations by IndyPress, students spend approximately 7 minutes walking to and from the construction site to fetch water. Additionally, transporting themselves to UI to charge devices costs between ₦500 to ₦800 each way.

The prolonged blackout has significantly impacted students’ quality of life. Boluwatife summarised the situation as “unbearable,” citing poor productivity, low morale, and some students’ decisions to leave the hall due to the hardships.

Beyond electricity and water issues, the environmental conditions surrounding the halls of residence are also concerning. Overgrown lawns and clogged gutters create breeding grounds for mosquitoes and pests, contributing to an unpleasant living environment. The lack of regular maintenance in halls like Fajuyi Hall and The Great Independence Hall highlights the management’s neglect of students’ living conditions.

Blessing expressed concerns about the poor drainage near the C-Block Central Reading Room, which is filled with debris and disrupts his studying experience. The combination of these challenges underscores the need for urgent attention from the university management to address these issues and provide a safe, pleasant, and functional living environment for students.

The issue of inadequate lighting and water supply isn’t unique to Obafemi Awolowo Hall. Similar challenges have been reported in other halls, such as Angola Hall, where students have resorted to fetching water from streams due to a lack of supply. Some students have even used bags of drinking water to bathe.

Students’ Union Comments 

In an exclusive interview with the Welfare Director of the Great Ife Students’ Union, Samuel Timileyin (S&T), he noted that the primary goal of his office is to protect the interests of the students by ensuring that the welfare of students is met. He says his office does this by reaching out to the management, informing them about the students’ plights and ensuring that effective actions are taken. 

He further explained that the reason why water coming from OAU dam to the Halls of residence has not been available lately is as a result of a broken pipe during the crapping and construction of the Sport Complex car park, currently under construction. “However, the management has made provisions for tankers that discharge water to each hall within a two-day interval. The water isn’t enough, but the boreholes will be used in support of it.” 

Timileyin also noted that, all issues affecting the welfarism of students in the halls of office are being thoroughly looked into by the hall committee, headed by the chair-of-chairs (the chairman of all chairman of hall of residence), and all these issues are being discussed to effects changes which he thinks will yield positive results soonest.

On August 21, 2024, Olamilekan Ibrahim, Administrator General of the Great Independence Hall of Residence and Chairman of the Council of Hall Chairpersons, University of Ibadan, shed light on the council’s efforts to improve the state of the halls of residence on campus. 

Olamilekan told IndyPress that during the discussion with the Dean of Students, Professor Keye Abiona, the Council resolved to seek partnerships with private hostels. However, progress on this initiative had stalled, with no feedback from the Student Affairs Division, he noted. Speaking on the issue of cleanliness within the halls, Ibrahim acknowledged concerns raised by students and emphasised that the council would engage in discussions with both the Dean of Students and the Head of the cleaning staff. Yet, four months after the interview, the situation in the halls within the University persists, longing for a solution.

“Concerning the cleanliness, we plan to meet the dean of students and the head of cleaners to know where the problem lies. We have got a report saying they don’t get paid on time, but I think that is still a bureaucracy,” Olamilekan said.

“We are trying to bring everybody to the round table to know where the problem lies and how we can move forward. If we have cleaners and they are well paid, I don’t think we should have issues with cleanliness with our hostels,” he added. With the council now fully aware of the pressing accommodation issues, they must take decisive action. The responsibility lies with the Hall Council to ensure the welfare of students, and it is time to translate awareness into tangible solutions.

The challenges faced by students living in the halls of residence at the University of Ibadan and Obafemi Awolowo University highlight a pressing need for urgent reforms in the management and infrastructure of these facilities. From overcrowding and unsanitary conditions to inadequate access to essential utilities like water and electricity, the current state of accommodation not only undermines students’ well-being but also hampers their academic success. 

The testimonies from students like Deborah, Blessing, Caleb and others reveal a distressing reality where many are forced to endure substandard living conditions that are detrimental to their health and comfort. The burden of poor maintenance, insufficient funding, and lack of effective management has created an environment that is less conducive to learning and personal growth.

The university administration and relevant authorities must prioritise the welfare of students by investing in the necessary infrastructure and ensuring that existing facilities are adequately maintained. The time for action is now; students deserve a safe, clean, and supportive living environment that allows them to thrive academically and socially. 

*Note – Names of respondents as characters in the story have been changed to guarantee safety.

ABOUT

This special report was jointly produced by Icons Press, OAU, and IndyPress, UI. It was co-authored by in-house correspondents of the aforementioned campus organisations. This project is published under the banner, titled THE INSIDER.

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