Few weeks back, a case study was conducted on all the halls of residence on notable improvements after the hike in the accommodation fee.
In Sultan Bello hall, since the few changes were reported, just little has been done to improve its state, comparing the rate of the changes done to the speed of a tortoise would be denying the tortoise its justice.
Notably, the introduction of new bunks to the freshers block which was its major highlight has been discredited as after further investigations were carried out, it was discovered that those bunks were already in place and were already made before the new session had begun and therefore looking back at the hall of residence, no major change has been performed since the fees were paid.
A resident of the hall, a student of the Faculty of Law who pleaded anonymity said, “It is disheartening to see that after being made to pay thirty thousand naira for accommodation, the hall is still in a poor condition and the toilets are still bad. I reported a spoiled socket in my room to the porters and a certain porter told me that having more than one socket in a room is nothing but luxury and I should make do with one or buy another myself if I want a second socket.”
Another resident of the hall also lamented about the poor state of the hall and seeing no changes but is optimistic that since changes are being noticed in other halls, it’d just be a matter of time before residents start to notice changes.
A breakdown of things in and out of place:
BROKEN FENCE
The crashed fence which was earlier reported behind the B-block of the hall which made the hall rather vulnerable to thieves has perhaps been the only change done.
Investigations carried out showed the fence has been re-erected and that has somewhat been the noticeable change in the hall when properly inspected.
Below are the before and after pictures of the fence;
BEDBUGS
Looking back at when the session began, the break was further extended because of the infestation of bed bugs in several halls of residence in the University, but several complaints have been tabled in the Sultan Bello hall by the residents in various blocks about bedbugs, where then did the fumigation occur?
LOW GRADE UI POOL
The clogging of bathrooms in the hall is not an unusual sight, it is a major challenge which has rendered some bathrooms unusable.
Water does not flow properly in some bathrooms making the ratio of people residing in the hall to the number of usable bathrooms rather high.
Due to broken pipes which are still awaiting changes, water from the top floor flows to the bottom and can splash on residents using the bathrooms in lower floors making a resident say “the day the water or urine upstairs touches me is the day UI would have to give me a new skin”.
With notable changes being performed in Queen Idia hall and Kenneth Mellanby hall to name a few, one cannot but wonder what is causing the delay in progress in Sultan Bello hall.
DAMAGED DOORS AND OLD WC’s
With the said amount the school demanded, this should count as the least they could do to the toilets. Fixing doors would cost just a fraction of what was paid and changing the broken pipes and the poor water closets which are not in any enviable state shouldn’t cost much, but still, residents of the hall are still wondering why their toilets are in horrendous states when new water closets have been provided in some halls.
ELECTRIC SOCKETS
It is quite laughable when an authority in a hall of residence says that having two sockets in a room is luxury and that money for accommodation was paid to the school authorities and not to the hall.
How can a resident made to pay such ridiculous fee for just a bed space be made to share one socket with three other people? And going by the hall employee’s words, why wouldn’t the school management release the money being paid to the halls for changes to be done? Or what exactly was the money paid for?
KITCHENETTES
The kitchenettes have not been improved and are still pretty much in the same state as they were before the hike also, when it rains, water passes during the roof as the structures in the hall keep crying out for renovation. Residents of the hall can only wait and see when these changes would be implemented and hope that this medium would serve as a reminder to the authorities responsible for the changes to be done, as the residents cannot sit and cross their arms and feet and watch such payment be a waste.
