The Student Accommodation Problem in Lagos

By Otomewo Oritsejolomi Joshua

Nonye, a 500 level engineering student of Unilag was exhausted and frustrated, she had spent the whole week trying to secure accommodation for her final year in school. She started the week in front of her computer, balloting for a bed space for two days, yet all her efforts were futile. None of her friends had gotten bed spaces and she had no one to squat her. She began the search for an accommodation off campus, but this was a herculean task far more difficult than she had ever imagined.

Nonye’s experience is not unique to her; that feeling of desperation when faced with accommodation problems has been felt by many students. Many students prefer living within the four walls of their school. The numerous challenges associated with living off campus from traffic to expensive transport fares make campus accommodation students favourite but it is almost never enough to go round.

Over the years the prices for securing a suitable accommodation in Lagos has been on a slow but steady hike, and this menace affects students more than any other demographic in Lagos. No where is the housing situation more dire than in Yaba, the education capital of Lagos.

This middle class suburb is home to the University of Lagos, and Yaba College Of Technology, two of the most popular tertiary institutions in the state and also the lesser known Federal College Of Education. And with an acute shortage of on campus accommodation in these institutions there is a booming housing market in Yaba, and the landlords are having a field day.

Because they know students are desperate to find accommodation and will pay for whatever is on offer they increase their prices. When Mide, a 2nd year male student of Architecture in Yabatech started the search for a one room apartment, the exorbitant prices immediately put him off. “You go to an apartment as small as a matchbox, you can’t even turn around in it, no proper windows, no nothing and somebody will really be calling 400k for you. Someone even offered me a place where the toilet was outside for 300k. If you get to a neighbourhood where the prices are like 200k then anything you see there just manage it.”

For women the search for accommodation can be an even more hellish experience. When Nonye started her search for accommodation the misogyny she encountered was the major stumbling block to finding an apartment. “The prices were so high, but the worst part about it was the way the landlords discriminated against me and my friend, because we were women. If it’s not, is there a man staying with you? it will be go and bring your father, why should a 21 year old girl need to call her father before renting a house? Eventually I had to get my elder brother to find a place for me. As for the agents that’s another category of demons”

As the population of the state continues to increase, the housing situation will only get worse. But some actions can be taken to remedy the situation for students, including building more hostels on campus, government grants to landlords to reduce rent prices for students. Education is a necessity and it will be a shame if people are not able to access it because of housing problems.

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