Hostel shortage, major challenge of public universities

Authorities of public universities in the North West geopolitical zone say shortage of hostels is taking its toll on learning in higher institutions, and therefore needs to be addressed to check the drift.

In their responses to the survey, students and staff stressed the need to fast-track the involvement of the private sector in the provision of hostels, if the problem was to be solved.

They noted that the stress of having to shuttle long distances from places of abode to places of study, was enough to diminish the energy needed to concentrate on learning.

According to them, the rush for the limited hostels in universities has often resulted in the rip-off of students by their colleagues , turning the process of securing accommodation a lucrative venture.

They therefore suggested that the “Build, operate and Transfer” (BoT) arrangement, be encouraged through provision of incentives to attract potential partners from the private sector.

Supreme reports that the BoT is an arrangement whereby private individuals or organisations are provided with land within university premises to build hostels.

They then rent out same to students, make profit and subsequently handover the buildings to the school authority.

Prof. Terhemba Wuam, Dean, Students Affairs, Kaduna State University (KASU), said the institution provided hostel accommodation to only female students due to limited bed-space.

Wuam explained that the university was established as a non-residential institution and students were expected to make arrangements for their accommodation off-campus.

According to him, hostels are provided on campus only for medical students in the Teaching Hospital as required for medical students on training.

However, he said that the need to have students on campus pushed the university into partnership with private developers who were able to build three hostels in the main campus.

“Along the line, with intervention from the Tertiary Education Trust Fund, the university was able to build a 90-room hostel.

“The university further partnered with another private developer, who, within the year built, a 300-room hostel on the main campus, increasing the number of hostels to six,” he said.

He said that private hostels had about 2000 bed spaces, while the university hostels had 1,800 bed spaces, amounting to 3,800 bed spaces for a student population of about 20,000 students.

The dean explained that apart from the medical students hostel that accommodated both boys and girls, all the hostels in the main campus were meant for female students only.

He said that the Kafanchan campus, which equally began as a purely non-residential campus, eventually had a hostel that accommodated up to 400 students.

On the amount for a bed space, he said that the university hostel was a self-contained accommodation and cost N80,000 per bed-space, with two occupants per room.

He added that a bed space in the private hostels cost from N45,000 to N50,000, with four occupants per room and a centralised kitchen.

He said that the university was making arrangements with private developers to build two additional hostels in the main campus for male students.

Meanwhile, one of the students, Ms Salama Ishaku, said that she paid about N47,000 for a bed-space in one of the hostels, with four people in a room.

On her part, Ms Lois Bako, another student, said that she paid N40,000 for a single room accommodation off-campus at Karji area, about three kilometres to the school.

Another student, Mr Sambo Dogara, who equally lived off-campus, said he paid N50,000 for a single room accommodation at Unguwan Maigero, about four kilometres to the school.

Dogara added that a self-contained accommodation in the area cost between N120,000 and N150,000.

Mr Peter Tanko, who lived off-campus in Unguwan Rimi, said he preferred a hostel located at the premises of the institution.

Tanko said he paid N55,000 for a single room accommodation, adding, “I will love to stay in the hostel if given the opportunity, for security reasons, and convenience.

“This is because sometimes we are being harassed and attacked by hoodlums on our way back home from school, “ he added.

On its part, the authorities of Kebbi State University of Science and Technology (KSUST) extended its request to corporate organisations to assist in building hostel accommodation within the university’s premises.

The Public Relations Officer of the institution, Malam Hussaini Adamu-Zuru, said in Birnin Kebbi that the institution lacked enough bed-space to accommodate the surging number of students.

“We had met with some corporate organisations in our quest to increase the number of hostels but they showed unwillingness to come to our aid, citing non-profitability in the venture within the institution,” he said.

Adamu-Zuru said that the institution pegged N15,000 as the cost of bed- space annually per student.

“We control the price within our school premises as we have a mandate to assist the students in whatever way we can.

“But if a student goes outside the campus premises and rents a flat, that is his choice,” the PRO said.

Also in an interview, the Hostel Officer of Federal University, Birnin Kebbi, Malam Murtala Shehu, said that N12,250 was pegged as the cost of bed-space per student annually, in the institution.

“We need additional hostels, as such we want the private sector to play a vital role in this regard.

“We are ready to reach an agreement with them to build hostels inside the campuses.

“In this case, we may agree to provide the land completely free of charge and request that the fees for the accommodation be subsidized.

“After a stipulated period when the investor must have made an appreciable profit, these hostels would be handed over to us,” he said.

Investigation reveals that most of the landlords renting houses to students are individuals, not corporate organisations.

Alhaji Hassan Mohammed, a landlord, said he rented out a self-contained room ,with a kitchen and a toilet, at between N50,000 and N70,000 per annum.

He explained that a single and double room without toilet and kitchen cost N35,000 and N45,000 respectively, per annum.

Alhaji Bello Buhari, also a landlord, said he charged from N25,000 to N35,000 a room, per annum, while a double room went for between N30,000 and N40,000 per annum.

Meanwhile, Prof. Aminu Maude, the Dean, Students Affairs of Usmanu Danfodio University Sokoto (UDUS), said undergraduate students paid N10,090 per bed-space, while postgraduate students paid N20,090 per bed-space per session.

A private hostel operator, Alhaji Awwal Maishanu, said he built residential houses for students on commercial bases, collecting between N25,000 to N30,000 per room.

He said the business was profitable because of the paucity of hostels within the school premises.

At the Bayero University Kano, Dr Shamsuddeen Umar, Dean, Students Affairs, said the institution provided hostel for 8,236 students, out of the total 50,000 students, representing about 18 per cent.

‘’The students population is close to 50,000 and we accommodate 8,236, which is about 18 per cent; that means we need more hostels,” he said.

Umar said the institution was currently making arrangement to provide more hostels through Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) policy.

‘’Under this arrangement, an investor will come to the university where an MoU will be signed between him and the institution, to build hostel blocks.

“He will charge students for certain period of time, after which, he would have recovered his inputs and made profits, then surrenders the hostel to the university authorities.,” he said.

He also said that the TETFund was currently constructing three hostel blocks, which would help in reducing the problem of paucity of hostels.

He said that the management charged minimum of N10,090 per bed-space and maximum of N18,090, for undergraduate students, while postgraduate students paid a minimum of N20,180 and a maximum of N80,000.

He stated that other students secured accommodation owned by individuals in neighbouring communities.

Supreme reports that, depending on the type of room, size and location, the cost per room in such areas ranged between N80,000 and N250,000.

The Dean explained that the university spent a lot of money in maintaining its hostels, as such, was thinking of increasing the charges.

‘’Even with that little increase which will take effect next session, BUK charges less fees on accommodation for students, compared to other universities in the country.

‘’I know that the amount students paid on hostels, is not up to 50 per cent of what the university spends in managing the hostels,’’ he said.

At the state-owned Yusuf Maitama Sule University, Kano, which was newly established, all its students stayed off-campus.

The Public Relations Officer of the university, Alhaji Abdullahi Abbas, said that the institution was currently making efforts to construct hostels for students.

He said that their students secured accommodation in nearby areas.

Also in Katsina State, Mr. AbdulHamid Danjuma, Head of Information and Protocol Unit of the state-owned Umaru Musa Yaradua University (UMYU) said no fewer than 1,776 students were being accommodated in the school’s hostels.

He said the cost of bed space outside the school premises ranged from N4000 to N5000 per session for each Student, but the cost of accommodation outside the school varied.