Rosemary Eru Otiwa
The University of Jos hostel accommodation is turning into an issue of the survival of the fittest.
Previously, securing a hostel space came with ease after payment of school fees and online application for the preferred hostels while payment for the allocated space followed thereafter.
In recent times, however, emerging challenges revealed that the procedure is not as seamless as thought.
One of the worrisome issues with the hostel application procedure is the period (mostly midnight) that the portal is open for students to apply. Another is the timeframe the portal left open for the exercise.
Some of these issues make interested applicants stay awake throughout the night after a hectic day of lectures and other activities sometimes for days trying to access the portal on a “try your luck kind of experience”.
For some students, staying awake all through the night monitoring the hostel portal to apply for a space can have an adverse effect on their general well-being as well as negatively impact their productivity in the new day, including their ability to concentrate in class.
The opening of the portal in the dead of the night creates room for exploiters to hijack the process, apply, secure space after payment, and resell at an exorbitant price to students who are unable to stay awake and/or who are unable to secure a space.
The official prices for various hostels are as follows, Post Graduate (PG) hostel at the rate of ₦97,000; Abuja and Village at the rate of ₦23,350 while Naraguta and Zion hostels go for ₦46,850. These hostels are allocated from the portal when the stipulated amount is paid.
Meanwhile, some students are in the business of booking these hostels at the normal rate and selling them to other students at a very high price.
A report from a source who requested to be anonymous indicated that Zion and PG hostels are currently being sold by the racketeers for 90,000 and 150,000 naira respectively; leaving students who could not secure a space with no choice but to buy, as delay could lead to further increment when demand shoots up.
Surprisingly, the hostel racketeers are none other than some exploitative students who stay awake to secure an accommodation space when the portal opens to sell to other hapless students who are unfortunately not able to secure a space. To these students, such a dubious act is regarded as a business that earns them extra income on campus.
Speaking with one of the student-racketeers, who pleaded to remain anonymous, he disclosed that his intention of booking hostels is solely to sell them to other students who are unable to book by themselves, at an exorbitant rate.
“I live off campus and I don’t need a hostel. In fact, I don’t like hostels but all I do is help students have an easy stay in the hostel without stress. When a student buys a hostel from me, it is my responsibility to pay the necessary dues, clear from the matron or patron office, and then hand over the key to them at the end, it is a win-win situation for us because they will be happy and so will I, with my money. So, I am actually helping them and they should be grateful”, he said.
Contrary to the student-racketeer’s submission on the reselling of the hostels, students who have had to purchase hostel accommodation narrated their experiences to be unpalatable.
According to Gloria, a 300-level student of the Department of Insurance lamented how she had to use her pocket money to buy a space because she was stranded and had no one to help.
A 400-level biology student who wanted to also remain anonymous said she bought a space in Zion hostel at the rate of ₦100,000 when she was in 200-level because exams were fast approaching, and she needed to settle down to prepare. She expressed, “The portal only opens for a few hours and closes immediately. To get Zion hostel or Naraguta, you must have connections and since I don’t have one, I had to purchase a space from a racketeer”.
In an interview with the Deputy Dean of Student Affairs, Dr. Yusuf Abdullahi Yusuf, he disclosed that the portal to apply for a hostel opens between the hours of 8:00 pm to 7:00 am and students are advised to be online by this time to click for their desired hostels”, he said.
He adds, “The portal has been opened to all students and not some specific set of people. It is usually open”.
Concerning the issue of selling hostel spaces, he states that the school management is totally against it and any student who is caught in the act will be severely punished.
Dr. Yusuf stated that they have heard of the hostel racketeering, and they are looking into it. He reassured that the school would track students who sell hostels and deal with them accordingly.
“The Dean and I are working on how to tackle this issue. I promise to get to the root of it and proffer solutions”, he vowed.
When asked why the portal is still closed when school is almost done with its first semester, he explained that they intentionally closed it because of 100-level students. Some of these students, have yet to pay their fees to enable them to book and secure a hostel accommodation.
He says “I understand the plight of students because I am a father and won’t be happy if my son is stranded and has no place to stay. The portal will be open soon, hopefully this week and I urge students to be patient and always stay online so they can get their accommodation as soon as it is open”.
