In the informal market for bed spaces, although the price for each bed space varies from one hostel to the other, the ‘standard’ price for a bed space in UNILAG’s ‘public’ hostels is around N250,000, which is N170,000 more than the N80,000 fee set by the university.

Jones told FIJ that she contacted a bed space owner through an agent and paid N250,000 for a bed space. “I met her through an agent, and I paid for it. I bought the bed space immediately, because it was relatively cheaper compared to those who bought later,” she said.

Jones’ payment for hostel accommodation

Another student, Mustapha Ali, told FIJ that he bought a bed space in Biobaku for the same amount. Ali gave the same reasons other students gave for buying the bed space and said it offers him “some comfort” compared to squatting. He also told FIJ that he was put in touch with the owner of the bed space by an agent he saw on a WhatsApp group chat.

For safety and anonymity reasons, Ali told FIJ that he was not comfortable sharing screenshots of his conversations with the agent or the group chat in question. However, he shared the agent’s contact information.

FIJ also gained more contacts for the agents from other students who had dealt with them or knew them from WhatsApp group chats.

Through interactions with students, FIJ has also learnt of the “direct to portal” method for securing bed spaces, in which students would pay school officials and then be assigned a bed space directly on their student portal without participating in the balloting exercise.

Describing the method, Kemi Rita said, “Direct to portal is very common, you pay to someone who will submit your name directly to the DSA’s office.” Rita noted that she used the method to secure bed spaces in her first year and third year in school.

“In Year One, I paid about N150,000, and in Year Three, I paid 175k. I heard some people also go directly to the Dean’s office, too,” she said.

FIJ texted the bed space agents to confirm the students’ accounts, especially the prices for bed spaces in school hostels. On December 11, via WhatsApp texts to an agent, this reporter indicated interest in buying a bed space for his younger brother in 100 Level.

FIJ’s texts with a bed space agent

On December 17, after a follow-up text, the agent responded that a bed space in Biobaku, a male hostel, would cost N250,000. When this reporter asked how soon he could move in, the agent replied, “As soon as possible. If you pay now, you should be able to move in tomorrow. Hope you’re not in 100 Level?”

When this reporter reminded him that the bed space was for his brother, the agent replied, “The normal price for the bed space is N250,000. But now, since he’s in 100 Level, we would have to settle porters and bring him in like a squatter.”

“We would have done editing instead and not have needed to settle porter if he wasn’t in 100 Level,” he added.

The agent demanded a total fee of N260,000 for this reporter to secure a bed space in Biobaku.

On December 10, this reporter similarly texted another agent to get a hostel on campus.

FIJ’s texts with a bed space agent

This agent told FIJ that a bed space in Jaja cost N265,000. When this reporter probed further, the agent said that the N265,000 was the total package for the hostel, including money to “settle hostel porters” and edit the hostel allocation slip, similar to what the other agent said.

In one of the voice notes that the agent sent, he said, “What I do is, when I have verified the place and all, you send funds, I give you the bona fide’s number, and then you guys talk about when or how you are going to do the handover of the space.”

On Monday, this reporter texted ‘Excellent Man of Links’, a blogger in UNILAG who connects accommodation seekers with agents and bed space owners. He does this for a non-refundable N20,000 fee.

FIJ’s texts with Excellent Man of Links

When asked which male hostels were available, he responded, “Mariere. Jaja.” When asked for the price of both, he said that Mariere cost N275,000 and Jaja cost N260,000.

The blogger also sent the ‘Terms and Conditions’ that govern his “Hostel Bedspace Link-up Service” to this reporter for review.

Excellent Man of Links’ Terms and Conditions for hostel seekers

When this reporter asked him if he could also do ‘direct to portal’ bed space allocation, he stayed mum.

FIJ sent emails to UNILAG’s Communication Unit, the Vice Chancellor and the Dean of Student Affairs offices, to get their comments on Monday. This reporter also called Musa Obalola, UNILAG’s DSA, but his number was unreachable.

When this reporter phoned Ganiyu, the Deputy DSA 2, on Tuesday, he promised to reach the DSA and put him in touch with FIJ. He has not done so at press time.

On Tuesday, UNILAG’s Communication Unit responded to FIJ’s email.

Part of their response reads, “The illicit commercialisation of formally allocated on-campus bed spaces constitutes a gross violation of the University’s code of conduct and hall of residence policy, and we are exploring ways to curb this practice. We are also working on strategies to increase accommodation options and support students in need. Regarding squatter passes, the university is reviewing the implementation process/effectiveness of this measure and will communicate updates in due course.”

LIMITED HOSTELS: LAND OR CASH ISSUE?

In an interview with UNILAG Sun in 2024, Folashade Ogunsola, the Vice Chancellor of UNILAG, stated that UNILAG had a land issue. “Hostels are difficult to get. In UNILAG in particular, we don’t have land, and the land around is also waterlogged,” she said.

Ogunsola noted that the land issue had, in the past, foiled an attempt to build a 240+ bed space hostel for students.

“In 2013, I wanted to build a hostel at Idi-araba, and the hostel was going to be just about 240+ bed spaces because we didn’t have space, and it had to go up. But because the earth’s area was not great, the amount spent on the foundation was quite a lot. While we were still negotiating and talking with the builders, they left us and went to Ile-Ife, and with the same money, they built a hostel with about one thousand and five hundred bed spaces. That’s the challenge we are facing in Lagos,” she said.

FIJ also understands that funding for tertiary institutions has been at the forefront of intermittent strikes by university staff unions, most notably the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).

They have stated that Nigeria’s public tertiary education system, and implicitly the accommodation system in schools, is a casualty of successive governments’ unwillingness to provide adequate funding for education in general. This has been corroborated by international organisations such as Oxfam, which noted in a 2017 report that Nigeria’s lack of good state provision for education and other public services entrenches inequality.

But whether a land or cash issue, an issue nonetheless exists in UNILAG’s students’ accommodation system, and in the vacuum, informal markets and backdoor payments have become normalised. (FIJ NG)