Wetin dey happen for UNILAG, my people? Accommodation don turn serious wahala for students as dem dey struggle for bed space no be small!
Dem say about 35,000 students dey school for University of Lagos, but only 8,000 to 10,000 bed spaces dey available. Na so dem dey scramble like say na money wey dem dey chase. Each year, dem dey fight for those small spaces wey dey for about 15 hostels wey university get. Hostels wey cost N80,000 per bed space! If you no fit pay dat one, you sabi say e go hard for you.
Make I yarn you wetin dey happen: Some hostel dey charge as high as N710,000 for bed space! And dem no dey even give you room to breathe; some times you fit see people dey share space like sardines! But e no be everybody wey fit chop dat kind money. Una don see am? Na so e be, vex no go help wahala.
Even as people dey balloting for spaces, those wey sabi dey sell their tickets later for between N250,000 and N350,000. E be like say dem don turn am to business! But university don caution say anybody wey catch dey buy or sell bed space go face eviction, and dem fit ban you (seriously) from hostel till you graduate.
Now as cost don dey rise, last year dem increase rent from N43,000 to N80,000 per bed space. Wetin make am worse be say, rent for off-campus don dey go as high as N2 million per year. All these surround communities wey dey by the school—like Abule Oja, Iwaya, Onike, and others—dem dey charge students serious money just to find roof over dem head.
Students dey groan, dem dey complain say inflation don scatter their budget. One student, Moses, don dey balloting since him first year; till today, e never see bed space. Him talk say transportation cost don add wahala to their matter. Na every time dem collect over N200 or N300 just to enter bus to campus!
Adeola still dey talk sharp; e dey vex for landlords wey dey use this opportunity take exploit students. Some hotspots dey near the campus, and landlords no wan hear say rent dey high; dem dey take advantage of di situation. She ask, “How come na so una go charge us when we no fit find bed space?”
Simisola, wey sabi say private hostel dey hot but cost plenty, still fit pay that N710,000 just for small assurance of security. Many ogbonge students wey get connection dey resort to that, but for most poor students, na still struggle. UNILAG don talk say dem dey try find solution but e no dey easy.
Experts dey call for government intervention. Babatunji Adegoke talk say government suppose fit recognize student housing like social infrastructure, make dem no treat am like normal business. E suggest say we need to gather better data on accommodation so dem fit plan well.
Mr. Olorunyomi dey raise alarm say landlords dey cheat students, and come dey suggest say make government bring real control on rent—especially for student areas. Wetin be all this wahala wey dem dey face? E go hard make students fit survive like this without help.
Next steps? E be like government gatz cooperate with private developers to build more spaces and give tax incentives to landlords wey fit help out. It go better if na all of dem come together, plus students’ input go dey valid. Na only then we go fit tackle this accommodation wahala for real.
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