UNILAG refutes poor hostel facilities, addresses issue of electricity fees
The Management of the College of Medicine of the University of Lagos has refuted reports in a national daily (not The Daily Times) which alleged that students of the College of Medicine have decried the deplorable conditions of toilets and bathrooms in the Hostels and that the accommodation fees they pay were not commensurate with the living standard in the Hostels.
It was also reported that the students decried the proposed N11, 000.00 Electricity fee which is a fallout of the migration from Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) to the power generation through the Independent Power Project (IPP). In a statement, the Management of the College of Medicine of the University of Lagos said it had become necessary to clear the air on some of the issues which were misrepresented and untrue. The statement reads in part: “We have made tremendous effort to look for assistance in our rejuvenation campaign to renovate our ageing infrastructures despite the dwindling finances of the College. You will recall that during our Golden Jubilee Celebration in 2012, we reached out to all and sundry to assist us to renovate out hostels and our various alumni sets have come to our rescue. All our toilets and Kitchenettes, with the exception of Block 2, had been renovated. An alumni set has also taken up the responsibility of renovating the Block 2 toilets and as we speak, the contractor is waiting to be mobilised to commence the renovation. “To date, our alumni has spent over two hundred million Naira (N200,000,000) to renovate all the toilets in the hostels except for Block 2 that will be renovated soon. We want to use this medium to appreciate publicly our alumni in Nigeria and in the diaspora for their support to their alma mater. It will really be unfair to the alumni sets that have given back to their alma mater, to generalise that all the toilets and kitchenettes in the hostels are in deplorable state. “The Management of the College frowns at the statements that featured in the publication claiming that there are bed bugs in the rooms because the school does not fumigate the hostels regularly. This is far from the truth. The Management of the College has been fumigating the hostels regularly. In fact,we have been having running battles with the students every year because majority of them refused to leave the hostel and allow us to fumigate. However, despite their resistance, we have always been fumigating the hostel regularly. We even changed their mattresses last year after we fumigated the hostels. “We state here categorically that as a Federal University, the University of Lagos only requests our students to pay service charges on the Hostel Facilities. They pay the sum of thirty-three thousand five hundred Naira (N33, 500) only as service charges for a session. Presently, all our students still pay the same amount. “In a bid to have 24 hours power supply, the College of Medicine of the University of Lagos went into partnership with the Management of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital and brought on stream the Independent Power Project (IPP) to improve the power supply on our campus. The two institutions involved have migrated to the IPP and the cost of paying for the power supply has become unbearable. The College Management at this point convened a meeting with the Parents to re-appraise the state of infrastructure and learning environment and at that meeting, it was agreed that the sum of N11,000.00 (Eleven thousand naira only) shall be paid by students that are given accommodation per session to cover the new cost of electricity in the hostels.
The parents also agreed to partner with the College in any way to make their children’s environment more conducive for learning. “The Management of the College has always dialogued with the Student Union Bodies over critical issues and have sought for understanding. As such, the student union body was informed and a meeting was also convened with the students and it was agreed at that meeting that the sum of eleven thousand Naira (N11,000) should be charged as electricity charges. “We implore the Press to check all our facilities and give an objective opinion in their reporting. We advise the Press to kindly clarify issues before publishing as this will make their reporting objective and not misleading. “The Management of the College of Medicine of the University of Lagos is committed to providing our students a conducive environment that will positively impact their learning. Esther Taiwo
It was also reported that the students decried the proposed N11, 000.00 Electricity fee which is a fallout of the migration from Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) to the power generation through the Independent Power Project (IPP). In a statement, the Management of the College of Medicine of the University of Lagos said it had become necessary to clear the air on some of the issues which were misrepresented and untrue. The statement reads in part: “We have made tremendous effort to look for assistance in our rejuvenation campaign to renovate our ageing infrastructures despite the dwindling finances of the College. You will recall that during our Golden Jubilee Celebration in 2012, we reached out to all and sundry to assist us to renovate out hostels and our various alumni sets have come to our rescue. All our toilets and Kitchenettes, with the exception of Block 2, had been renovated. An alumni set has also taken up the responsibility of renovating the Block 2 toilets and as we speak, the contractor is waiting to be mobilised to commence the renovation. “To date, our alumni has spent over two hundred million Naira (N200,000,000) to renovate all the toilets in the hostels except for Block 2 that will be renovated soon. We want to use this medium to appreciate publicly our alumni in Nigeria and in the diaspora for their support to their alma mater. It will really be unfair to the alumni sets that have given back to their alma mater, to generalise that all the toilets and kitchenettes in the hostels are in deplorable state. “The Management of the College frowns at the statements that featured in the publication claiming that there are bed bugs in the rooms because the school does not fumigate the hostels regularly. This is far from the truth. The Management of the College has been fumigating the hostels regularly. In fact,we have been having running battles with the students every year because majority of them refused to leave the hostel and allow us to fumigate. However, despite their resistance, we have always been fumigating the hostel regularly. We even changed their mattresses last year after we fumigated the hostels. “We state here categorically that as a Federal University, the University of Lagos only requests our students to pay service charges on the Hostel Facilities. They pay the sum of thirty-three thousand five hundred Naira (N33, 500) only as service charges for a session. Presently, all our students still pay the same amount. “In a bid to have 24 hours power supply, the College of Medicine of the University of Lagos went into partnership with the Management of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital and brought on stream the Independent Power Project (IPP) to improve the power supply on our campus. The two institutions involved have migrated to the IPP and the cost of paying for the power supply has become unbearable. The College Management at this point convened a meeting with the Parents to re-appraise the state of infrastructure and learning environment and at that meeting, it was agreed that the sum of N11,000.00 (Eleven thousand naira only) shall be paid by students that are given accommodation per session to cover the new cost of electricity in the hostels.
The parents also agreed to partner with the College in any way to make their children’s environment more conducive for learning. “The Management of the College has always dialogued with the Student Union Bodies over critical issues and have sought for understanding. As such, the student union body was informed and a meeting was also convened with the students and it was agreed at that meeting that the sum of eleven thousand Naira (N11,000) should be charged as electricity charges. “We implore the Press to check all our facilities and give an objective opinion in their reporting. We advise the Press to kindly clarify issues before publishing as this will make their reporting objective and not misleading. “The Management of the College of Medicine of the University of Lagos is committed to providing our students a conducive environment that will positively impact their learning. Esther Taiwo
