By Habibullah Temako
In the sweltering heat of a typical morning at Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, Saidu Muawiya, a 300-Level Business Administration student, found himself in a familiar predicament—waiting in line for a chance to use the bathroom. This has been the custom of his compound.
As he stood on the queue, Muawiya, realising he was running late for his 8 O’clock morning lectures, nearly bantered with his fellow student-tenants, momentarily forgetting the discomfort of their shared plight—which is lack of enough toilet-bathroom in the hostel.
Muawiya had to plead with his fellow student-tenants to allow him use the toilet-bathroom because he was running late for lectures. “Please let me use the bathroom. I’m late for lectures.”
His tone conveyed a deeper frustration with regards the neglect by the caretaker, who had left them with some of the toilet-bathrooms blocked and overflowing, of which only two toilets are fairly functioning.
Meanwhile, the student-tenants at Benji Hostel have been welcomed with a 20% rent hike, despite the deplorable living conditions. The initial rent fee of N50,000 has been increased to N70,000, yet the students are still entangled with constant electricity blackouts, poor and dysfunctional water taps, and inadequate toilets and bathrooms.
This increase was made at random, and the students who live there are hoping that the hostels will be renovated, especially in light of the numerous complaints that have been made to the caretaker. Nevertheless, no improvements were made, and the situation worsened even more, with only two working restrooms serving roughly 40 hostel rooms.
Benji Hostel: Pot of Challenges
In a bid to verify the situation at the hostel, this reporter visited the hostel to see the situation there. During the visit it was observed that one of the toilets, if at all it could be called, had been blocked with dirt and nylon.
Lawal Usman, a 500-Level law student is another occupant of Benji hostel who lamented that the increment was clearly an extortion, cursing the situation as unbearably inconvenient.
“The increment without doubt is unjustified and unfair, because we expected renovations like repairing the spoiled toilets and providing running water in hostels, none of which have been made till now,” he said.
Usman also bemoaned the fact that the rent increase put them under more financial strain, claiming that it is nothing more than a deliberate extortion against their financial capacity. He claims that it only makes their living conditions in the dorms worse and offers them no advantages.
“We are just facing serious challenges in this Benji hostel because we are only able to use 2 out of 4 toilets, and sometimes we have to wait in a queue before we are able to take our bath. At the same time, we have been fetching water from nearby hostels due to the fact that the taps in this compound are barely functioning,” he stated.
For Owoniyi Uthman, a 400-Level Microbiology student, he described the condition in the hostel as negligence on the part of the caretaker. Uthman could not help but to wonder if they deserve the unfair treatment considering that they anticipated renovation could be done to justify the increment.
“The rent hike does not in any way make sense at all. If it’s anything, we expected renovations or at least the caretakers’ prompt intervention with respect to the faulty toilet-bathrooms in the hostel,” said Owoniyi.
He also expressed his outrage complaining against Benji and his caretaker for being selfish. According to him, they owed them the obligation by ensuring that the hotel’s facilities are in good order, provide adequate toilets and bathrooms and a conducive compound.
To the same effect, Owoniyi directed his grievances stating that they are apparently neglecting student-tenants to entangle with the terrible plight, yet they are dishing out money from them without infrastructural development in sight.
“To be honest, it’s sheer wickedness that Benji and his caretaker have neglected us, leaving us to face deplorable conditions that threaten our very existence. Their deliberate indifference shows a shocking lack of human compassion. At least we deserve better than this callous treatment,” he cried out.
Beyond The Faulty Toilets
Yusuf Jimoh Ayinla, 200-level Agricultural student and also a resident of Benji Hostel, has fallen ill with diarrhea, which he suspects was caused by drinking contaminated water from the hostel’s uncovered and filthy water reservoir. The reservoir, filled with particles and debris, poses a serious health risk to students, and Ayinla believes it’s the likely source of his illness.
“The first two weeks of Ramadan, I drank the water of this uncovered reservoir and that very day I almost vomited the food I’ve eaten, only to get to the clinic and be diagnosed with diarrhea. It was as a result of drinking this water,” Ayinla lamented.
He further recounted that the water reservoir has been uncovered right from his 100-Level and several pleadings with the caretaker to do something about it fell on deaf ears. He said this poses a dangerous condition to them as they’re left with drinking this water at the detriment of their well-being.
“I was warned by the doctor to stop taking contaminated water which was the cause of my sickness. So, I’ve been buying water ever since then because I don’t want to fall sick again. But either way, I still blame the caretaker for making us go through this avoidable situation. It’s annoying that we’ve paid 70k only to be facing all these again?” he said bitterly.
In an exclusive interview with NEWS DIGEST PRESS, Professor Shehu yahaya Tsagem, the Dean of Private Hostel revealed that he has been alerted to the deplorable conditions at Benji Hostel. He disclosed that he personally intervened, calling the caretaker to demand immediate action to address the deficiencies and alleviate the suffering of the tenants.
“I’ve been informed about the deplorable state of the toilet-bathrooms at Benji Hostel. I’ve spoken to the caretaker, who has promised to have the issue resolved by next week. If he fails to deliver, please don’t hesitate to report back to me, and I’ll personally intervene with Benji to ensure the problem is addressed,” he assured.
Landlord Caretaker Keep Mum
All efforts to reach Benji and his caretaker for comments proved unsuccessful, as both ignored messages and declined phone calls. While Benji’s unavailability might be attributed to his busy schedule as a businessman, his caretaker’s deliberate silence was more puzzling, as he outrightly snubbed this reporter’s attempts to get in touch.