One of the grimmest defects of the Nigerian people is that the adage of “stitching in time” and its advantageous consequence of salvaging situations before they drift into an irrevocably worse state, almost never holds sway. From the National Assembly Complex to the smallest of business buildings and even residential houses, the insidious canker-worm of poor maintenance culture has done a great deal of harm. Unfortunately, the University enclave and by extension, Zion Hostel is not free from the nettling problem of abandoning infrastructure and facilities to undo themselves as a result of little or no maintenance.
UniJos Echo find it baffling that the option of spending millions and millions of Naira – that can be channeled into establishing more infrastructural facilities – on replacing already existing structure is chosen over spending very little in maintaining these facilities.
A walk through Zion Hostel reveals and alarmingly weltering situations as not a few things cry out for attention. Residents of Zion Hostel have confirmed that they have never had the luxury of just rambling into their wing’s restroom and conveniently turning on the tap, instead the normal is to join endless queues. How does one expect scholars who spend a minimum of one hour – that could be invested into reading, relaxing fatigued nerves, taking care of culinary activities, etc – daily at the only functioning tap in the hostel to perform at optimum capacity?
The aforementioned ordeal is only but one of the many that exist. Another is the horrifying fact that basic things like light bulbs, tap handles and scrub screws take ages or never get replaced when they wear out. The restroom after 7 pm becomes a booby trap clove because the little lighting provided by “reading torches” is often not enough to dissipate the blanket of gloom that covers the convenience at night. A wrong step may mean a hard fall, thanks to the fact that no convenience in Zion is lighted.
We also want to bring to fore that as a result of negligence on the part of the Directorate of Students’ Affairs, which the matrons are representatives of, students have taken upon themselves certain responsibilities that are catered for in accommodation (N30,000) and membership residency fees (N500). Such responsibilities include, replacing broken door locks, electrifying rooms and furniture installments.
The number of hostels available is not at all proportional to the teeming population of students interested in living on campus, hence, the University cannot afford to let Zion corrode into a state of irreplaceable dilapidation. Members of the University of Jos Alumni Association who stayed in Zion Hostel up until 2005 have sleek stories to tell, the present residents should too, and hence this backlash must be brought to a stop.
Thankfully, it was not so long ago that the Federal Government and the Academic Staff Union Universities (ASSU) agreed to channel N 30 billion into the revitalization of the education sector so we believe getting funds to conduct a routine check and fix all that require fixing shouldn’t be a problem.
Gloria Peters, the senator representing Zion Hostel at the Student Union Government parliament should write and address a letter to the Dean of Student Affairs, Dr. Dami Philibus, highlighting the challenges of the hostel and have it copied by the chief matron.
