By: Tunde Ojerinola

For over two months, residents of Ayodele Falase Postgraduate Hall at the University College Hospital, University of Ibadan, have endured a total power outage. While irregular electricity is a familiar challenge across the university, the situation in Ayodele Falase Hall has worsened into an outright blackout, crippling the academic and personal lives of its postgraduate residents.

Situated beside Alexander Brown Hall, Ayodele Falase Hall had previously endured a nearly four-month blackout, an ordeal that resulted in a protest by all affected students in January.

The protest brought a brief reprieve in the form of rationed electricity, merely available daily from 9am to 2pm, and again from 8pm to 11pm. This relief was however short-lived. Since then, students have been left to grapple with the persistent challenge of accessing essential facilities, from struggling to fetch water to the inability to power devices vital to their academic work.

In an interview with IndyPress, Mr. Ajileye Sunday, Governor of Ayodele Falase Hall, explained that the electricity blackout began with the commencement of a new student accommodation project, an initiative sponsored by the Ibadan College of Medicine Alumni Association. He revealed that, during the construction phase, power intended for the project site was illegally diverted through Ayodele Falase Hall’s transformer, without the knowledge or approval of the UCH authorities.

“Light that was being used during construction was connected to the Ayodele Falase Postgraduate Hall transformer, without us students knowing about the connection. It was when the light was switched off by the UCH maintenance team that we found that UI connected illegally without proper coordination or approval from UCH administrators,” Mr. Sunday said.

When asked about efforts to resolve the issue, Mr. Ajileye stated that both the hall leadership and the Students’ Union have been actively engaging with the relevant authorities in a bid to address the situation.

“At this point, all the university leaders are aware about it. The Students’ Union President has been aware about it for a very long time. We still had conversations about it today. I met with the Provost of the College of Medicine twice on this matter. The outgone Dean of Students, Professor Adekeye Abiona, was even aware of it.”

“The Students’ Union President also said he informed the Deputy Vice-Chancellor about the situation. The University of Ibadan Maintenance is also aware. The new Dean of Students is aware. I’m also planning to see him this week regarding the issue. I also believe the Vice-Chancellor is also aware because according to UCH, they have written to UI about it since the first week of disconnection. In fact, a lot of efforts have been made from our end. We have tried to get it all sorted out by reaching out to both UCH and UI team, but everything was not coming through,” he added.

“The Last Time We Had Light Was June 8″ – SRC Member Says 

Honourable Samuel Olaniyi, the Students’ Representative Council member for Ayodele Falase Hall, confirmed that June 8, 2025, was the last time electricity was supplied to the hall.

“It’s been two months since the light was cut off. June 8 was the last time we had light,” he said.

Olaniyi further expressed his frustration with the way the situation has been handled by the concerned authorities.

“We went back to see the Provost of College of Medicine and he told us that U.I wanted him to write a letter of apology and they are going to submit it to the CMD so that they can restore our light. He promised that unfailingly that week our light would be restored, if not that day or the following day, before that week runs out everything would be restored. And since then till now it has not been restored. It’s as if those guys are just playing us and they lied,” he said.

Lending his voice to the development, Samson Tobiloba, the former Students’ Union President, on his WhatsApp status, condemned the situation, describing it as unbearable.

“It is disturbing that Ayodele Falase Hall has been without power supply for about 2 months. These are postgraduate students who make use of prepaid meters yet have had to struggle with power rationing, and are now faced with a complete and devastating blackout,” Samson Tobiloba said.

Credit: Chris Aquah, Facebook.

With examinations underway, newly admitted postgraduate students are adversely affected by the development. Describing the ripple effect of hardship on residents of the hall, Honourable Olaniyi explained, “Students are stressed, they have to look for water around, look for places to charge their phones despite the state of the current weather. Instead of them having electricity to read in their rooms, we have to go to ABH and MLS with security concerns. And this is examination period when electricity is very important for reading and for charging gadgets. It is becoming so threatening and it is threatening our mental health.”

Corroborating the above, the Governor of the Hall, Mr. Sunday highlighted the impact of the blackout on residents’ daily lives. According to him, the situation has left residents without no option than to fund the pumping of water.

“Honestly, it affects a lot of these postgraduate students. There is no water at all because we can’t pump water, we have to go to ABH to fetch water or pay people to help us fetch water. Sometimes, we contribute money to pump our small tank, which is not sufficient. We only depend on the solar pumping machine we have, which provides water to the ground floor alone for some hours. We can’t charge. Most of us have to start charging at the ABH cafeteria at night or outside the MLS building and our department.”

“The new master’s students are starting exams on Monday, and now there is no light to read. The returning master’s students are currently doing their research, still there is no light to carry out our studies. It is really affecting us mentally and academically,” he added.

Former Honourable Member and Falase Hall resident, Chris Aquah, on Monday, August 4, 2025, took to Facebook to voice his displeasure at the university’s handling of the crisis, while calling the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ibadan, Professor Kayode Adebowale and other relevant authorities, to address the concern.

“Is the University of Ibadan joking with the lives and well-being of its students? These students are exhausted. They have grown weary of asking for what should be a basic right—access to electricity. Their voices are fading, and the Students’ Union, which should be their advocate, appears blind to their reality and deaf to their pleas. This is not life. This is not learning. This is not welfare. And it certainly is not the University of Ibadan we should be proud of,” Mr Chris wrote.

Mr Chris added, “We urgently call on the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Kayode Adebowale, to address this crisis before it spirals further out of control.We appeal to the Provost of the Postgraduate College, Prof. A. S. O. Ogunjuyigbe, to hear the voices of the very students he represents and act swiftly.We implore the Provost of the College of Medicine, Prof. Temidayo O. Ogundiran, to step in and lend his influence toward finding a lasting solution.”

Relentless efforts by IndyPress to get comments from the Students’ Union President, Covenant Odedele, regarding the development, were unsuccessful as of press time.

As the blackout enters its second month with no concrete solution in sight, the students of Ayodele Falase Hall have been left to navigate their academic lives, without electricity, water, or a clear promise of when relief will come.

The University of Ibadan, despite the months-long concern, is yet to make an official address on the matter.