By: Ismail Amanatullahi
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| (Kano House) Kwakwasiyya Hostel, UDUS |
Asabe was already late for her morning lectures when she woke up on Monday morning. She hurriedly took her bucket to get water from the tap to take her bath. The 400-level law student was brushing when it dawned on her that it had started raining. Before she knew it, she got drenched completely. But one thing that was not clear to her was how it could rain in Sokoto in December.
“I raised my head to look up at the sky. It was then that I realized that it wasn’t natural rain, it was dirty water poured on me by someone from upstairs. I had to take another bath,” she narrated.
That has been the usual ordeal of dwellers living downstairs in Kano House, popularly known as Kwakwasiyya, a female student hostel at Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto. Without dark clouds, storms or even warning thunder, the residents of the ground floor at Kwakwasiyya always got damp in man-made rain.
Some got drenched in fish water, or water used to rinse vegetables poured by occupiers of the up floor.
This habit by some students has become harmful to the general health of the students who always cook outside their rooms in the hostel. Many a time their foods would be contaminated with dirty water from the upstairs, rendering the food not fit for human consumption again.
“This isn’t the first time I’m experiencing it, it has always been in big drops,” Asabe added.
I Had To Change My Beautiful Dress
Biola had just finished preparing for Friday’s prayers. She wore what she described as ‘one of her beautiful attires’ because it was on Friday.
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| Front View of Kwakwasiyya Hostel, UDUS |
But the usual man-made rain in the Kwakwasiyya ruined her day. She said, “someone poured water on me from upstairs. My cloth got drenched, I had to remove them that day.”
Biola said what happened that day made her exasperated but there was nothing she could do to the person than to resign to fate.
‘A Proper Drainage System Will End This Problem’
In an interview with Rakiya Abdullahi, a 400-level Botany student who lived on the up floor at the hostel said the possible way to avert the sad happening in the Kwakwasiyya hostel is by providing a proper drainage pipe that would enable easy passage of waste.
“it wouldn’t be easy for us to go downstairs whenever we want to pour the water away. It would be more comfortable if the school could provide a proper drainage system to make it easier because it would save us from the insults and make living much more comfortable for everyone,” she explained.
Hall Governor Reacts
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| Kwakwasiyya Hostel, UDUS |
While speaking to THE NEWS DIGEST PRESS, the hall governor of the Kwakwasiyya hostel, Murjanatu Bala Idris condemned this habit and also reiterated that the only way forward to end this problem is the provision of proper drainage at the hostel.
Her Words: ” the corridors are too narrow and by pouring water, they can pour it on persons passing by on the corridor or even on those cooking and washing their dishes.
“I believe the best way to curb this is to provide a drainage pipe upstairs whereby when the upstairs residents pour their water, it can lead the water to the drainage downstairs,” she added.