Private sector participation in university hostels
AS part of its effort to improve accommodation facilities in the nation's federal tertiary institutions, the Federal Government has announced that the private sector will henceforth be given the opportunity to manage students' hostels. The President and Visitor to federal universities, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, represented by the Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC) Professor Peter Okebukola, announced this policy during the 56th convocation ceremony of the University of Ibadan.
The government has therefore directed heads of these institutions to commence consultation with all stakeholders in the university system. This approach the government reasons, would also enable university administrators to focus on the important functions of teaching and research. If this policy will improve the current woeful hostel conditions in our universities, it is welcome. However, the government should also ensure that a check and balance system is put in place to protect students against exploitation.
The original idea of hostel accommodation was to provide a conducive academic atmosphere for students. As a result, the first generation universities built beautiful edifices befitting the image of undergraduates and postgraduate students. The federal universities at Ibadan, Lagos, Ife, Zaria, Nsukka and Benin still have some of these giant edifices. At that time, the student population was within control. In some of the hostels, two or a maximum of three students occupied a room. Following the serious crisis in 1978, the fee for hostel accommodation was pegged at N90.00 per student. As costs increased, it became difficult if not impossible for the universities to maintain the hostels with the paltry and unrealistic hostel accommodation fees being paid by students. Attempts to effect an increase have always been resisted by the students' main body, National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS). The result is that maintenance of facilities is almost at point zero.
When some universities introduced different categories of payments for students, they went up in arms against the authorities. The University of Ibadan authorities had to close down the institution when students demonstrated against the introduction of 'ground fees'. The last attempt to compel students to officially pay as much as N10,000 for hostel accommodation was also resisted. Meanwhile, hostel conditions had deteriorated abysmally. In some rooms in the federal universities, 15 students shared space meant for five.
Some suffered worse conditions. In such places, 24 students stayed in one big room originally meant for 10. The number of occupants rose because of the students' policy of squatting friends or relations who would reciprocate such actions the next year. The conveniences were to say the least inconveniencing. Some students have been known to keep bowel pressure for days because the toilets were too dirty. It is against this background that the private initiative was canvassed.
We may need to ask some pertinent questions on the proposed private sector participation. Are the hostels built with taxpayers' funds, going to be leased to businessmen? Will they be expected to build new hostels? How will the rates payable be determined? Are the terms of privatisation well articulated? Will it not be a subterfuge to introduce excessively high fees for students?
The nation's universities should rise to the demands of the times. As the students' population grows in leaps, there ought to be innovative thinking in university administration. The present hostel conditions are unacceptable. Most parents would shudder if they knew the real conditions in most of the hostels. University authorities ought to have come up with proactive solutions before now. For example, it should be possible to encourage private developers to built facilities around university campuses, as is done abroad.
Under such arrangements, students would be free to choose between alternatives. Instructively, some of the state-owned universities have recorded successes in this area. For example, the universities that run the off-campus system have managed to attract private hands. It is true that some of these hostel facilities need improvement. Yet the development has eased the burden of providing residential accommodation for students.
It is ironic that while students have vehemently resisted any attempt to increase hostel accommodation fees, some of them have had no compunction selling off their officially allocated bed space for as much as N60,000 or more. The failure of university administrators to halt this unhealthy practice is simply bewildering. Through this loop hole, all kinds of persons find their way into the campuses in the big cities and perpetrate some heinous acts.
To assert the importance of education is to say the obvious. It is fundamental to the building of a future society. As a result, no effort should be spared in creating an environment that would help in moulding the character of students. A serene atmosphere is required for the mind to function effectively. The current practice where students live in slum-like situations should be tackled with the urgency that it requires.
The students themselves should be carried along in the process of amending the government's policy on hostel accommodation. On its part, the government should not abdicate its responsibility to the students. Government should continue to safeguard the overall interest of the nation. A strong and efficient monitoring system should be developed in order to prevent shylock property developers from making nonsense of the privatisation objective.
