As the rain semester progresses into its 6th week, according to the amended academic calendar, students find themselves amidst a growing academic workload, with tests looming and exams on the horizon. In such times, students rely on the administration to provide a conducive learning environment.
SPONSORED POST: techRaveOAU: Revolutionizing Campus Tech and Creativity
Unfortunately, many students face a far-from-ideal reality. They are already burdened with academic stress due to busy lecture schedules, disinterested lecturers, and uncomfortable lecture halls. Despite doing their best to adapt to these conditions, they are often faced with additional challenges like water scarcity and overgrown bushes surrounding their halls of residence. These challenges further stretch their resilience and safety.
Water Scarcity in Halls Of Residence
For several weeks now, students in the halls of residence, particularly Fajuyi, Awolowo, and Education Trust Fund (ETF) Halls, have grappled with a water crisis. The situation is characterized by a single functional borehole, located close to the Porter’s Lodge, that pumps water for over 1500 residents per hall of residence.
ICYMI: SPECIAL REPORT: Hall Residents Continue To Face Challenges Despite Fee Increment
In recent times, the pressure on these tanks has worn them out, rendering them insufficient, and perpetuating a water scarcity crisis. Though there are multiple tanks near the annexes, these tanks depend on water supplied from the dam, which according to residents in the hostels, is not particularly stable and is perceived by the majority as not good enough for cooking.
READ ALSO: MBGOAU 2024: 20-Year-Old Victoria Adeniji Emerges Winner
Information gathered by the ACJOAU Correspondent from Michael, a resident of Fajuyi Hall, was that before this time, the porters would just pump the water down, and it would be available to serve the students in the morning. But last week, one of the pipes had an issue, so the stores cannot hold water. Most people would have to wait until they start pumping the water, and while it is pumping, they are still fetching the water, so once the porters go to their houses, there is no water again until the next day.
In his words, he said ‘There have been so many occasions that I came here like maybe 3 am, to stay, let me quickly watch, and there was no water, but before 3 am, 4 am, I will meet water’.
To know when the porters start pumping the water, Michael explained that he has to come down to the porters’ lodge from time to time. And while he acknowledges that water from the dam has been helpful for him to do other chores like bathing, he decries it as unstable and unsafe for cooking, a situation that has been ongoing for like two weeks.
Emmanuel Chibuzor, a resident of Fajuyi Hall, while speaking with ACJOAU, also explained that for some time now, there has not been water reaching the tanks close to the blocks, forcing them to depend on the borehole tank close to the porters’ lodge. He further explained that one of the pipes linking the three stores was broken by some students a few days ago for them to access the leftover water in the stores when the water crisis became severe, and the porters could not pump water regularly to meet the increased demand, and that further escalated the problem.
ICYMI: Abrupt Operation Stoppage of Union Shuttle: UNICONNE, Town-Gboro Driver Explain
‘As you can see, this stuff (the pumping machine) is being regulated. Now there is water, you can see the queue there, and then if you check, it is not coming out very well. If it were coming out very well, everybody there would have fetched it, but then it is being regulated. The pumping machine pumps water from the well, so it is whenever there is water there that they will be able to pump, and even when they pump, it won’t last for 2 hours’, he said.
He further explained that the long-term use of a single pumping machine to serve the 5 main blocks, and the several annexes is poor planning. This crisis, he added, has affected him negatively, forcing him to wake up extremely early to fetch water or go to the mosque to fetch just before they begin their prayers.
‘This (referring to the borehole) should be more than one, they can create more for each block. We have annexe blocks, we have 5 blocks, so using this to serve everybody is counterintuitive‘, he said.
On how the situation affects him as a student, he answered “Negatively, because most times, I have to go to the clinic early in the morning, and even then I still meet a queue longer than this, and no matter how early you are, you still meet a long queue. Sometimes, I have to go to the mosque. I don’t know how the mosque does theirs, but there is already water there in the morning, but you have to be very fast. Either we go to Akintola to fetch, or you go to the stream to fetch’.
Durosanmi Quadri, a resident of Awolowo Hall, echoed similar sentiments, noting a recent escalation in the severity of the water scarcity in Awolowo Hall too.
‘Since 2 weeks ago, water scarcity has turned into something very severe here in Awo, the point at Block 5 is no longer supplying like before. Though it is Dam water. They do supply it morning and night. But for some days now, we only have water in the morning and it is coming out slowly. The Reservoir outside the hall is being supplied with water. This week, tankers come and put water there. Just to ease stress. But on getting back in the afternoon from class, the water will not be there again. As for our major borehole, that one started working again last week. The pump is always faulty. It is serious in that place too. The well is another alternative we can go to. But on weekends, it is always dirty and dry sometimes. Many do result in fetching water at PG Hall early in the morning. But this week again, they are not allowing outsiders anymore. ETF and Angola are other sources. But those guys too need water like we do. So the queue is always long’, he said.
Water is a very vital basic amenity for students, as it is useful for a variety of things including cooking, bathing, toileting, washing, and others that pertain to healthy living. However, when it is not available, the situation in the halls becomes deplorable. Students do not take their bathe before going to classes, they are unable to flush the toilets, plates and pots are left unwashed, and dirty clothes are unwashed, yet re-worn, thereby perpetuating uncleanliness which has potentially deleterious effects on the health of people on campus.
AROUND CAMPUS: Road 1: The Frequent Accidents and The Need For Obeying Traffic Regulations
According to Quadri, ‘The best time to fetch water is to get up before 6 am and start to look for a source. Or else, you will not take your bath to go to class. After 7 am, you will be seeing buckets here and there. The toilets and bathrooms are dirty. No water for the cleaners to use like that. But all will be well soon. The Excos are trying to look for more sources. They have started to make another borehole in Annex Block E but are not done yet’.
Tall Bushes Around Halls of Residence
In addition to water scarcity, students face safety concerns due to the unchecked growth of tall bushes around the halls of residence. On Saturday last week, an alligator was reportedly sighted in Akintola Hall of Residence. Alongside this, there have been rumours of snakes being killed in other halls of residence.
The increasing sightings of such wild animals in halls of residences are not unrelated to the dense foliage that provides cover for such creatures around the hostels. Within the halls of residence, these tall bushes instil fear in many students. As a consequence, most clotheslines, which typically run through these bushes, are rendered inaccessible.
The unchecked growth of these bushes has made some walk pathways, like the one leading from Akintola to Fajuyi Hall, and from ETF to Awolowo Hall currently impassable, as passersby who attempt them are almost buried by the tall bushes along these paths. Worse still is the poor lighting along these paths, forcing students to either re-route through longer paths or bravely walk through these roads, which are also poorly lit at night, just so they get to where they are going.
However, as of the time of writing this report, it is commendable that the administration is aware of the negatives of allowing the bushes to grow unchecked and has begun clearing them. According to sightings, some of the bushes in Awolowo Hall and Fajuyi Hall have been cleared. Similarly, dense bushes around certain areas in academics, such as the College of Health Sciences and the Faculty of Agriculture, have been cleared.
Meanwhile, despite the ongoing efforts to clear the bushes, it is appropriate for the administration to be more proactive and prevent them from growing too large before they are cleared next time. That way, the aesthetic academic environment is preserved, and the safety of the students is prioritized.
The challenges of water scarcity and overgrown bushes in halls of residence demand urgent attention from the administration for they must provide an optimum learning environment that encourages students to put in their best. Students’ well-being and academic success hinges on the provision of such basic amenities that constitute a safe living environment.