Residents in Maintenance are complaining about the kind of policies that have been birthed in their hostels due to the increase in the electricity rates. The power supply in these hostels has been reduced and they have to operate with a timetable. Also, this increase in tariff has led to the increment of house rents in some of these hostels.
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The increase in the electricity tariff for Band A, under which some tertiary institutions fall, appears to be posing an issue for Maintenance residents whose power supply beforehand has always been like that of campus. Band A comprises those that enjoy electricity supply for 20 hours per day. At a press briefing in Abuja on Wednesday, April 3, Musliu Oseni, Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), said the increase will lead customers to pay ₦225 per kilowatt-hour, up from the current ₦66.
The names of the individuals mentioned below are not their real names. This is done to protect their identities.
Ada mentioned that before the increase in the electricity tariff, they used to enjoy an uninterrupted power supply. However, some hostels are turning off the power between specific times such as 9 am-4 pm, 10:00 am-4:00 pm, 10 am-5 pm, and so on. She also added that some hostels are only providing water twice a day due to the current situation, and in some cases, students have to fetch water. All these issues are a result of the increased electricity tariff.
She said, ‘It seems to have started from last semester, but only one hostel was doing it. Now, almost all have adopted it apart from those that fixed individual meters to all their rooms’. Some of the hostels that are currently experiencing this situation include Aquifer, Degold, SHG, Aderonke Sijuade, and Rock of Ages.
Goodness, a resident in another hostel in Maintenance, explained that her landlord told them their electricity would start getting rationed. There would be no electricity between 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m., and to avoid this, they have to pay.
She also stated, ‘Before this electricity issue, the landlord had already increased our rent by 50k. According to the distributed letter, the increment is for electricity tariff and maintenance costs’. Joy, a resident of the Rock of Ages hostel, explained that even before the whole light issue in maintenance, her hostel had been poor in management. There have been issues of waste disposal, not cutting grass until they begin to breed insects, and water, among other things. She further stated that ‘the owner (of the hostel) does not listen to us, and even her workers are scared to talk to her’.
She stated that the issue with the light has been ongoing for a while. The hostel management does not buy the cards on time. When they do, they buy them in bits. Joy made it known that the hostel has 44 occupants. The management buys cards of about ₦20,000, which finish in about 3 days to 1 week. After which they make up excuses before purchasing the next one.
Joy said, ‘About two weeks ago, they started switching off our light between 10:00 am and 4:00 pm’. This, according to the management, is due to the increase in tariff. Later, the management stated that the light was going to be switched off between 9:00 am and 7:00 pm, as opposed to what they had communicated earlier. She further made it known that each person has been directed to pay ₦45,000 each even after their rent was increased from ₦135,000 last year to ₦165,000 this year because of the light issue.
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She said, ‘Around last November, they (management) made everyone pay ₦15,000 for light, which we did’. The management promised that by January, they were going to place meters in every room, but they did not do that.
Rhoda, a resident of Anglican hostel explained that the light is always switched off from 9:00 am to 7:00 pm. It appears that the occupants in the hostel agreed to this probably because they are freshmen and they cannot complain.
The Management of Amazing Grace Hostel recently announced a significant increase in hostel rent, ranging from 20,000 naira to even higher amounts. In addition, they threatened to cut off electricity for 12 hours a day (7 am-7 pm) if occupants failed to pay an additional electricity bill of at least 10,000 naira per bed space. This move sparked outrage among the hostel residents, who argued that the recent rent increase was sufficient and that there was no need for rationing electricity and imposing extra fees.
Fortunately, the student union intervened in the situation, and after negotiations with the hostel management, the decision to ration electricity was reversed. The occupants were also exempted from paying the additional electricity bill. However, the rent increment still stands, much to the dismay of the hostel residents.
The complaints from hostel residents in maintenance highlight the detrimental impact of the increased electricity tariffs on their well-being.