By: Nurudeen Akewushola
Journalism can never be silent: that is its greatest virtue and its greatest fault. It must speak, and speak immediately, while the claims of triumph and the signs of horror are still in the air—Henry Anatole Grunwald
High standards are expected of ivory towers. These standards aren't restricted to just the academics. High levels of environmental sanitation are expected in universities. It is expected that the environment particularly the students' hostel should be kept clean and tidy because of the health implication integrated to the practice.
This reporter reveals many of the unknown factors, responsible for the unhygienic environment in the hostels of Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto.
Ezekiel, a new student from southern Nigeria was full of joy to find himself in the most peaceful university in Nigeria.
He had been following the university on social media and was glad that his dream to attend Usmanu Danfodiyo University Sokoto for undergraduate studies became a reality.
Coming from a far destination, Ezekiel had decided to apply for the university accommodation immediately after completing his registration. He had confirmed from senior students who made him realize that living in the hostel would be cheaper to afford and easier for him to avoid distractions of living off-campus.
He was however unlucky as he couldn't get hostel which made him eventually squat with a friend who he met on campus, this was when he discovered the extent of filth in the male hostels.
"First it was supposed to be a room of 8, it was however occupied by 16 students hence it was always very congested, hot and rowdy", he said.
The main issue that worsened his living in the hostel was the toilets. "The toilets in the hostels are not in good shape while the bathrooms were damaged and I was left with no other option but to defecate in the bush like other students. This made my experience in the hostel a terrible one", he added.
LEAKING ROOFS
Most of the bathrooms in the Male hostel are not convenient to use due to the damaged roof which leaks water from the upstairs bathrooms. The rooms are also not left out as many of their roofs are leaking making some of these rooms to be filled with stagnant water and susceptible to mosquitoes. In an interview with Abdulrasaq Ridwan, a resident of G-Block, he expressed his dissatisfaction at the state of the bathrooms. He said; "At times when I want to have my bath, only a few bathrooms are not affected by the leakage and many people will queue at these manageable ones, sometimes if I cannot wait I postpone my bath till I return from my lecture". He also added that the hostels had been in existence for a while and required constant maintenance.
BUSH IS THE NEW TOILET
Around 1:00am in the midnight, a young guy entered F block hostel to supposedly look for water, after searching through the nooks and cranny of the hostel without finding water to use. This reporter decided to follow him to know his destination, tip toeing after him. The young man returned to his room, and after a few minutes came out with a small kettle which could contain only a little quantity of water. He hurriedly moved to the toilet to excrete and came out without bothering to flush; something this reporter confirmed by checking the toilet after him. However it would be hard not to justify this act, as at that moment there was no source of water in the entire hostel. Was he to delay natures call due to lack of water? Due to the frequent lack of water, many of the male students have resorted to using the bush as the rest room.
"As for me, I prefer using the bush, although I have not been previously used to it. The bush does not require flushing and more so, it is a very wide field that I can defecate in anywhere conveniently", Muhammad Abdullahi said.
The supposed bush is a long a vast bushy plain field located just behind the basketball court at the male hostel, as a result students deal with the stench from this human waste every day.
"When I tried to use the hostel toilet, it was usually not appealing to the eye and there was hardly enough water to flush, hence I have taken the bush as my favorite place to defecate", a student revealed.
THE STAGNANT WATER AND THE CLEANERS
In some hostels water hardly flows as a result of faulty waste water channels, this is usually experienced during the rainfall and when students wash their dishes in front of the hostel. This in turn leaves stagnant water in front of the hostel and leaves the hostels smelling offensive.
Salman Abdullateef, a student and resident of G block took it upon himself to clear the stagnant water in front of G31. He faulted the hostel cleaners for not doing their jobs.
"As you can see this water is the stagnant rain water which was unable to flow after the rainfall days ago, the cleaners always avoid cleaning this place when cleaning the hostel and it is beside my window hence I get disturbed by the irritating smell, so I decided to sweep it by myself", he said.
Investigation by this reporter also revealed that students are free to dump waste anywhere they wish, due to the fact that waste bins aren't available in many places.
STUDENTS ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE POOR STATE OF HOSTEL_________Deputy Dean
In an interview with Deputy Dean, Students' Affairs,Dr Muritala Gada,he explained that the school management is trying her best to ensure that the hostel environment is neat and tidy but the students' recalcitrant attitude is not making their efforts felt
"The way students use the hostel restrooms is disheartening, I don't understand the kind of students that we have. Many times after the toilet is cleaned some students would use the toilet without flushing while some students would defecate on the floor. We are trying as much as possible to improve their welfare but the students are not complementing our effort", he lamented.
He also noted that some restrooms do not have light bulbs and he alleged that they were stolen by some students.
"It is quite unfortunate that just a few weeks after I bought about 5 cartons of bulbs and fixed them in the bathrooms and toilets some students stole them and took them to their rooms. Now anybody can just enter the bathroom tonight and defecate in anywhere he wishes "
He finally concluded that the causative agent of unhygienic environment in the hostel are the students and vowed to punish any student who is found defiling the restrooms.
"I have asked the hall governors and student representatives to be observant and if any student is found perpetrating this act he should be reported to the University management after which his accommodation would be withdrawn and he would be sent packing out of hostel", he vowed.
In an interview with a student from A-Block who identified himself as Yussuf, he advised students to be hygienic.
"It is true that the University management are trying their best but the students can be destructive. At least we are all matured and we are university students, students should fear God and be hygienic because otherwise this will have negative effects" he advised.
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