Oladipo Kayode A.
The writer took a solitary walk around the hall to observe if there were any changes since the last case study on the Hall of Fame was performed as regards the response of the hall to the increase of the accommodation fees from an initial fourteen thousand naira to thirty thousand naira which occurred this session.
It was indeed saddening that cogent facilities in the hall are negatively homeostatic and are still in very deplorable states as at the time of writing.
Perhaps the only silver lining in this armada of dark clouds is that the water tanks in Block A have since been replaced and are in fair condition.
As earlier reported, the lights and other electrical fittings in the hall have also been fixed. However, residents of block B seldom experience strange blackouts; lights in one floor could be faulty and the sockets are functioning, whereas in another floor in the same block, the reverse is the case; the lights are bright and on, but the sockets are all down. This fault is apparently temporarily fixed by tweaking a few wires in the wooden box of wires on the ground floor of the block.
Also notably earlier reported, the damages caused by the heavy rains that destroyed the roofs of Block C have been repaired and are now in fair condition.
It is also quite saddening that while halls of residence like Nnamdi Azikiwe Hall and Independence Hall have responded positively to this increase by installing and repairing a number of facilities, the Hall of Fame continues to be famous for inaction in this area.
PANDORA’S BOX OF STAGNANT WATER AND ITS SEWAGY SISTER
According to Greek mythology, the Pandora’s Box notably was the source of man’s problems with the gods of Olympus. A cement box is no different from this as it houses months old of stagnant water which apparently is now patriotic to our beloved country with its deadly green color. Right next to this box is a similar sight; a sister to this box, constrained only by the walls that hold the gates littered with various classes of refuse.
This particular box is home to millions of pathogens and is a dream land for the mosquitos of the land of UI to start families in. This box and its sister sit in all their glory at the entrance of the hall of fame and perhaps do more justice to announcing arrival at the hall than the inscribed banner at the gate.
This situation poses a significant health risk to inhabitants of the hall as newly born mosquitoes accompany their unwanted mothers and roam the hall in search of blood. This was stated in the earlier report and nothing is yet to be done as at the time of writing this report.
DEPLORABLE STATE OF SINKS AND KITCHENETTES
At the front of Block B lies a very visible sign that reads, “Do Not Pour Water over the Balcony.” This particular rule is rather difficult to obey as the sinks expected to serve for lawful disposal of water are either faulty or nonexistent. This is in no way meant to justify the flouting of this rule, but to state the inconvenience required to obey it and to bring this to the notice of appropriate authorities in order to do the needful concerning this.
The kitchenettes are also in unusable states as water supply is absent from most, if not all of the kitchenettes while some have become storage centres for water bottles.
This was also stated in the last report and nothing is yet to be done as at the time of writing this report.
CONCERNING THE WHITE HOUSES
The word, “bathroom” is often associated with making people clean and is more often than not painted or tiled white. However, most bathrooms in the hall of fame give one an entirely different feeling than cleanliness. Most, if not all of the bathrooms lack doors and users of the bathrooms often have to use makeshift doors or towels to shield the rest of the world from viewing unwanted scenes. The water also seemingly never wishes to leave in some of these bathrooms.
The toilets are in no better states as they spot different faults which include but are not limited to broken seats, absent seats, faulty cisterns, bowls that cannot be flushed, lack of doors and pretty much any fault you can picture (or would rather not picture). The only rather faint silver lining in this area is that taps have been fitted in some of the white houses. However, not all toilets possess this, and some taps are already nonfunctional in some toilets.
These also pose significant health risks for inhabitants of the hall and begs the question, “is the hall habitable for those with health challenges?”
This was also well stated in the last report and as at the time of writing this report, nothing significant is yet to be done concerning this.
RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE SCHOOL MANAGEMENT ON THE IMPROVEMENT OF THE STANDARD OF LIVING
It is quite obvious that the state of the hall as regards the safety of the health of its inhabitants is quite alarming. An epidemic, if it occurs, will be near unmanageable for the management of the hall as the conditions of certain facilities would facilitate the quick spread of communicable diseases and vector-borne diseases like malaria.
In view of this, the following should be urgently done to forestall further discomfort to the inhabitants of the hall.
- Water and disinfectants should be in constant supply in all the toilet facilities as this aids proper and easy management.
- The toilet seats should be totally replaced in all toilet facilities and doors be provided to them.
- Drainage systems should be fixed in all toilet facilities to fix and prevent further flooding of the floors of the toilets and bathrooms
- Doors should be provided to the bathrooms
- Faulty sinks should be fixed and in places absent, sinks should be installed to aid safe and lawful disposal of water.
- Very importantly, the box of stagnant water and her slightly unrestricted sister in front of the hall should be urgently removed.
