… We Are Waiting For Hostel Renovation From Lagos Govt—Spokesman
Nigeria’s premier higher education institution, Yaba College of Technology is suffering from acute student accommodation crisis as many students now resort to sleeping in uncompleted buildings, classrooms and lecturers’ offices in some cases.
Many lecturers and students believe the current management of the institution has not adequately prioritized student welfare, particularly regarding hostel accommodation.
The college has only six hostels for a student population of 20,000, but only three of the hostels were allocated to students for this semester – Akata, PGD, and Complex Hostels.
The three hostels allocated are two female and one male hostels.
Yet, the management advertised hostel accommodation on the school portal for the current semester, and about 9,000 students applied at a fee of ₦2,000 each, according to documents seen by THE WHISTLER.
However, only three hostels were made available for allocation, and only 1,455 students were offered accommodation.
Some lecturers unhappy with the situation told THE WHISTLER that the problem reflects the school management’s nonchalant attitude toward students’ welfare.
An unprofessional response to a STOP ORDER issued by the Bureau of Public Procurement on the renovation of one of the institution’s six hostels since 2023 contributed to the accommodation crisis of the institution.
The New Hall Female Hostel, renamed Mrs Felicia Abimbola Odugbesan Hostel, has remained closed since 2023 due to non-compliance with due process requirements by the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP).
The BPP said the award of the contract for the renovation of the hostel did not follow due process.
But in a bid to justify the contract, the management of the institution submitted wrong documents and could not provide the relevant documents requested by the BPP.
The management later admitted that it goofed, and submitted new documents to show that the contract followed due process.
In one of the correspondences from the institution to the BPP dated April 19, 2024 and signed by the Rector, Ibraheem Abdul, the school said its initial response to the stop order was “hurriedly packaged” which was the reason for the errors.
“I wish to state not just as defence. But also, as a matter of truth that the initial response was hurriedly packaged in order to reach out to you within the stated deadline, to avoid committing an offence of wilful refusal to provide documents.
“The errors contained in those documents hurriedly packaged are highly regretted.”
Obviously, the BPP was neither impressed by the apology nor the fresh documents submitted to it, a situation that has made the hostel unavailable to students two years after.
The management’s negligent attitude to students’ welfare also reflected in how hostel accommodation for students was handled in the current semester.
While hostel application forms were on sale, the Hollywood Hostel (for males) was scheduled for renovation. But to date, no renovation work has commenced on the hostel, making another hostel unavailable to students.
This situation has forced desperate students to sleep inside the school chapel and an uncompleted building used by Muslim students for prayers while others find sleeping places in classrooms and offices.
“This place has no toilet, if we’re pressed, we have to look for toilets in classroom buildings and lecturers’ offices,” said one of the occupants of the uncompleted building– a first-year computer student.
Asked why he chose to reside in such a place, he said he couldn’t get hostel allocation.
“It’s the same thing for most of us here. Instead of coming from home which may be far away, they chose to reside here to save money because here is free.”
Some security men who spoke to THE WHISTLER said some students defecate in nearby bushes within the school premises.
When contacted, the Public Relations Officer of the institution, denied any accommodation crisis for students.
“We have hostels and we accommodate those we can accommodate; I’m not aware of students sleeping in any uncompleted building,” he said.
He also denied that the BPP put a stop order on any of the school hostel.
“To the best of my knowledge, the BPP did not put any stop order on any hostel. I’m not aware of anything like that.
“We have one of our hostels destroyed by fire and we’re waiting for the Lagos State government to help with the renovation.”
Yaba College of Technology (YABATECH) was founded in 1947. Originally established as Yaba Technical Institute, it is Nigeria’s premier and oldest higher education institution
