By Shereefdeen Ahmad
The weather was frosty when Oladosu Nafiysah, a 200-level student of Agricultural Science arrived in Sokoto by 1:00am. Exhausted and starving after the 14-hours journey from Ilorin, Kwara State, she hoped to get a good rest in her hostel at Shama. But little did she know that reaching her apartment would be the start of another ordeal, this time around, worse than the stress of the journey from Kwara State.
“I suffered,” Nafiysah said, shaking her head abruptly.” When I reached my hostel, I realized that our caretaker locked my room. There was nothing I could do because it was already past 1:00am in the night. I had to sleep outside throughout the cold night.”
Recall that the management of Shama hostels, commonly known as 80k — because of its exorbitant rent fee — has locked the rooms and vowed to collect new rent from the occupants.
The management on Monday, October 31, locked up the entire apartments of the hostels and went away with the keys, claiming that the students have exhausted their rent fee during the eight months industrial strike action embarked upon by the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU since 14th February.
Following the suspension of the strike on 14th October, the management of Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto ordered reopening of campus on 24th October.
Like Oladosu Nafiysah, many students of Danfodiyo varsity have started resuming back to the campus. But ever since then, occupants of Shama hostels have been at loggerheads with the management over collection of new rent.
The Caretaker Committee for Students’ Union said it has been on the issue, but up till now, residents of the Shama hostels have been facing different kinds of maltreatment from the management of the hostels.
“Someone around the compound even told me that the apartments in our own compound were not locked before until yesterday, when they knew more students would be resuming,” Nafiysah noted.
She pleaded: “I don’t have any money to pay now. Even if I were to pay, it would be next year. They should at least give us some time if at all our rent has expired.
Nafiysah was not the only resident of Shama hostels who slept outside throughout the cold night on Saturday. Another resident who spoke with The News Digest Press, Isiaq Monsurat Alahanpe, a 200-level student also had her own fair share of the icy night.
“I was unable to enter my room. My luggage is outside too,” she said.
“I slept outside throughout the cold night, because I found out that my room is locked.”
Meanwhile, in an interview with the caretaker of the hostels, Mallam Sanusi told our correspondent that he returned the keys to the occupants this morning. But, he added that the deadline for the payment of the new rent is on Monday, 7th November.
“Anybody who could not meet up the deadline, which is tomorrow, the keys would be collected back from the person.” Sanusi said.
SU CTC Reacts
Speaking with the Chairman of Private hostels, Caretaker Committee for Students’ Union, Ibrahim A. Khalifa who intervened on the scene this morning, stated that the union, in collaboration with the school management, is working tirelessly to resolve the issue.
“In fact, I was the one that instructed the caretaker to return the keys to the students who slept outside, because someone called me to inform me about what happened.”
“We would hold another meeting with the landlords, the school management and some occupants of the hostels,”he added.
The New Development
In a bid to substantiate that the SU CTC is working on resolving the Shama-hostels issue and other private hostels on the campus, the SU CTC Chairman on private hostels committee, Ibrahim A. Khalifa shared with the News Digest Press the resolution of the meeting on Wednesday, 2nd November between the committee, the management of private hostels and the newly appointed Deputy Dean on Private Hostels, Dr. Shehu Y. Tsagem.
Part of the agreement reads: “All the returning students are to pay 75%, while final year students 25%. And this agreement would also be applicable to the Shamahostels. But, excluding Benji’s apartment who announced that the rooms are free for the current second semester to final year students, but insisted on 100% payment to returning students. However the agreement is that once the returning students made their rent payments this semester, it covers the complete new session, therefore the payment will expire after three semesters completely.
“More so, the issues of three thousand naira(N3,000) requested by the landlord of Shama hostels from students claiming that the fee is for security watchmen has been addressed. Hence, no student will be asked to give a dime to him. The management has also looked into the case of locking students’ room in the Shama hostels and the landlord has respectfully been called to order.”