OAU: VC Assures Provision of 10,000 bedspaces, 3 buses.

Alfred Olufemi

In a bid to lessen accommodation challenges, Obafemi Awolowo University's Vice-Chancellor, Eyitope Ogunbodede, has promised to provide additional 10,000 bedspaces for students.

This was contained in his address at the matriculation ceremony for the newly admitted students on Monday.

The school revealed that a total of 6,650 students were admitted for the 2018/2019 session.

It should be recalled that OAU KILONSHELE reported that 72% of the students reside outside the school owing to limited bedspaces on campus.

Also, some of the fresh students, who spoke with this news outfit on Monday, demanded an improved welfare condition.

The capacity of the lecture theatres and hostels does not correspond with the number of students and the need for more infrastructures has been the major outcry, OAU KILONSHELE can report.

A student of Dramatic Arts Department, Theophilus emphasised that the school should upgrade its accommodation facilities.

"For the past three days now, water has not been supplied to the halls of residence and today is our Matric day."

Another student, Busola Oladele, stressed the need for more halls of residence to lessen the transportation and security challenges associated with living outside the school.

"From my house to class, most times, I spend over thirty minutes just to get on campus. I applied for bedspace but I could not get one."

"We need more lecture theatres too. Our Maths class is always rowdy," She added

Also on the need for expanding the infrastructures and facilities in the university, the coordinator for Education Right Campaign, ERC,  Olowolafe Samuel, stated that;

"A larger bulk of the hostels and lecture theatres we have today were constructed during the early days of the university- and they were aimed at adequately catering for the admitted number of students then."

"But it is so sad that the admission quota has significantly increased over the decades with no corresponding increase in infrastructures and facilities," He said.

However, Mr. Ogunbodede promised that issues affecting students such as accommodation and other essentials will be addressed.

Although complained of paucity of funds, Mr. Ogunbodede said;   "The university management is partnering with investors to increase the current student's accommodation by an additional 10,000 bedspaces within the next one year."

"The university is also procuring three 30 seater buses to alleviate the challenges of student transportation."