By Diran Laolu and Babatunde Emmanuel
The Great Independence Hall of Residence has held a town hall meeting to address issues affecting students residing in the hall.
The town hall meeting, which was originally tagged a Congress, was held at the Indy Quadrangle on Monday, July 27, 2026, at 6:25 PM, with the Hall Warden addressing residents on issues ranging from security and sanitation to ongoing infrastructural developments.
Speaking at the meeting, the Hall Warden encouraged residents to prioritize their health while raising concerns about hygiene in the hall.
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He disclosed that activities had been planned to commemorate the hall’s 65th anniversary, including an anniversary lecture and a dinner sponsored by the alumni association.
“So, we are planning to have an anniversary. We are planning to have an anniversary lecture in the morning. We are working around to have the lecture. Then, we are also planning to have a cocktail or dinner in the evening.
“We are not the ones sponsoring it. The alumni body will sponsor our dinner. We had a meeting last night, and they have agreed to sponsor our dinner. So, this evening, I have about 60 people that will attend the dinner. These are the people signing before me, so the number is not… we have a small number for the dinner.
“In September, we’ll mark our anniversary. That’s the first thing I feel I should update you.”
The Hall Warden also revealed that the alumni body has plans to rebuild the demolished E Block while renovation works, including the repainting of D Block, are ongoing.
“All of you are aware of A, B, C, D. We had E Block. We formerly had an E Block in all hostels, including Indy, but since the day that Queens Hall got burnt, all E Blocks were concluded to be demolished. They said they want to build another one that will accommodate at least 200 students.”
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Explaining the directive requiring shop owners to close by 10:00 p.m., the warden said the measure became necessary following incidents reported at another hall of residence.
“Now, at Zik Hall recently, the shop owners, they started sleeping in their shops. And whenever they wanted to make use of the restroom while sleeping, they found it very difficult to come and use the toilet. So they started using nylon to… (laughs)… throw it away. Not in our hall, Zik Hall, Zik Hall.
“So the Hall Warden had to take a drastic action in conjunction with the Dean of Students, that they should go home at 10:00. And when they asked me, I said we don’t have that in our hall. We can never have that in our hall!”
He further noted that the issue eventually spread to Independence Hall.
“In fact, the Zik Hall Warden went to the wardens’ meeting to tell me that those men and women they sent away from Zik Hall are now sleeping in our hall. I said that’s not possible! Until I caught them.”
“So because of that, I had to write a letter to all the shop owners: Please, once it is 10:00… I now found out that indeed, about 10 of our people here are sleeping in their shops, which is not ideal. So if anything happens overnight, how do we explain it?” he said.
The Hall Warden also disclosed plans to raise the height of the hall’s gate as part of measures to improve security.
“Everything is all about our security. In those days, we could walk around the University of Ibadan any time, any day. Some of us would leave this place by 11:00 or 12:00, go through Tech Road to read, and come back by 3:00 AM or 4:00 AM and nothing would happen. They are not like that now. All this is a matter of security measures.” he added.
