There is a time for everything. It is the end of the second semester. It is that time of the year when students pack out and in. A crisis brews. Despite its severity, the accommodation crisis at the University of Ibadan has been largely neglected. There has been a consistent failure of the Students’ Lodging Bureau (SLB) and the changing leadership of the Students’ Union, particularly, to categorically intervene in the burdening housing experiences of students. Students, therefore, suffer accommodation concerns in silence. Many UItes have suffered at the treacherous hands of agents—typical home realtors turned sore thumbs—who have become the roots of this gnawing concern.
Nigeria faces a daunting housing crisis. It is currently challenged by an estimated deficit of 28 million housing units. It has been said that over ₦21 trillion is needed to bridge the deficit gap. The crisis has led to skyrocketing rent prices, with housing costs consuming over 50% of an average worker’s income. In the process of securing a house, agents take an unfair cut of the profits. Nigerians, unable to afford decent housing, are forced into overcrowded slums with poor sanitation, inadequate water supply, and unreliable electricity. The plight of students is significantly more severe.
The chronic shortage of hostel facilities in universities, including the University of Ibadan, has left countless students with no choice but to secure off-campus housing. The failure of successive civilian governments to prioritize public hostel development and maintenance has created a housing emergency for Nigerian students, characterized by overcrowding, poor sanitation, and unacceptable living standards. Securing accommodation in UI environments like Agbowó, Orogún, Water, 2nd Gate, Bodija, and elsewhere is not only an exorbitant matter but also a challenging one. Many of the available houses are substandard and unsafe. Characterized by poor implementation, bureaucratic bottlenecks, and rampant corruption, housing policy ambitions by the government have been routinely derailed by inefficiency and self-serving interests.
There is no cry without a wound. One of the major barriers to affordable housing in Nigeria is the high cost of land and property development, worsened by complex land ownership processes and excessive bureaucratic hurdles. Take mortgaging as an example: with interest rates exceeding 20%, homeownership has become an unattainable dream for most citizens. Rather predictably, people pray to own houses daily, with many dying at the same pace, having none. Landlords often take advantage of the general housing crisis and the economic state of the country to impose exorbitant rents and arbitrary evictions, with weak enforcement of tenancy laws that offer little protection for tenants.
Ibadan, particularly the areas surrounding the University of Ibadan (UI), has witnessed an alarming surge in accommodation costs, making it increasingly difficult for students to secure affordable housing. Some house-letting WhatsApp groups are unbelievably more populated than some Students’ Union social groups. Landlords and hostel facilitators, turned movers and shakers, have taken advantage of high demand, charging exorbitant rents that are unjustifiable given the prevailing economic realities. It happens that many students struggle to afford these rates, leading to overcrowding in university hostels and a rise in substandard living conditions off-campus. The crisis, when examined in its entirety, has far-reaching consequences that undermine students’ academic achievement and overall quality of life.
Just as the aspiring presidents were asked during the 2025 press nights, the University of Ibadan Students’ Union (UISU) must take a proactive stance in addressing the students’ accommodation crisis—both off-campus and on-campus. It would be dishonest to claim that there is no cause for concern. Students who reside off-campus face difficulty accessing affordable housing. Other concerns, such as poor quality, environmental issues, etc., follow.
To rectify these problems, one of the first steps to be taken by the University of Ibadan Students’ Union should be engaging with landlords and hostel operators to negotiate reasonable and student-friendly rents. By leveraging its collective bargaining power, the UISU can advocate for price regulation agreements. This would help ensure that accommodation costs remain within the reach of the average student. Open dialogues between the union and property owners could foster a mutually beneficial relationship where students gain access to affordable housing while landlords maintain stable tenancy.
Another critical measure is for the UISU to work closely with the university management to expand on-campus housing facilities. The Students’ Union should push for better maintenance of the existing hostel facilities. Also, if the university offers more affordable accommodation, landlords in the surrounding areas will be forced to adjust their prices. As the representative body of students, the Students’ Union has a critical role to play in pushing the government to prioritize the construction of more public hostels that are affordable, accessible, and inclusive of all students.
There is equally no better time for the UISU leadership to work with legal experts towards educating students on tenancy rights, which protect them from exploitation by landlords or house agents who impose arbitrary rent hikes or fail to provide adequate living conditions. Infusing this new perspective into events such as Freshers’ Week can enable the Students’ Union to rekindle its founding spirit and move away from being driven solely by pecuniary reasons.
