Some Pictures surfaced online of the very deplorable state of some hostels in the University of Abuja, to imagine that human beings live in such base, deplorable and animalistic environment to say the least is unthinkable. But unfortunately this is the norm in most hostels owned by Federal and state governments all over the country. I remember a cousin(who schools in one of the private universities in the country) visited me in the hostel during my undergraduate days. He could barely hold back the tears as he saw the appalling conditions that I lived in. Overfilled dustbins filled the corridors, stinking garbage were strewn everywhere on the floors, the soakaways were uncovered, and looking like disaster waiting to happen, and then, there were giant rats everywhere! It was really an eyesore. Then he probably made one of the worst mistakes in his life.
He soon became pressed and he asked to use the toilet. I directed him to the location without thinking as I was busy with some drawing assignments I was supposed to submit the next day (I would have took him to use the conveniences of one of the banks in the school, if it were not a Sunday). I became concerned when after five minutes I didn’t see my cousin, I went out to check what was happening, and did I see something? My cousin was bent over the open gutter between the kitchen and the toilets retching his intestines out! He was vomiting so much, I feared he might have contacted some serious disease I didn’t know about. I was greatly troubled!
After a while, the vomiting stopped and I had to lay him down to rest on my bed. To say I had been more scared and confused at any time in my whole life would be a big lie. I was perplexed and running from pillar to post. While in the middle of the animated frenzy, it came upon me to ask him what was wrong. He pointed weakly in the direction of the toilet and replied “your toilets are full of poo”. My roommates and I couldn’t help but burst out in fits of laughter. He was an “ote” –he wasn’t used to the system. Such things were the norm for us every day. Meanwhile, I heaved a sigh of relief, at least it was not a serious matter and he would be alright eventually.
The serious truth in all these is that the dustbins had been emptied that same day. The cleaning woman had washed the toilets and cleaned the gutter. But why did it look the direct opposite less than just 3 hours of cleaning? Look no further :the general dirty, careless, and send-less attitude of most residents of the hostel ensured that the hostels continued to be in a perpetual state of filth, dirt and condition unfit for human habitation. Most residents would prefer to throw their waste from their door into a dust bin that is less than 1 metre away as if they were training for free throws in basketball, leaving the general environment in derelict, filth and conditions unfit for mentally stable humans to live in. Many a hostel resident would prefer to go into a toilet that has a none functioning water cistern with nothing less than a roll of tissue to clean their kraw-kraw infested buttocks after which they stand and move on has if nothing happened! Leaving the place in a worse condition than they met it.
It must be noted that, While it is true that successive governments in the country have not done enough in ensuring better living conditions for students who reside in public hostels in this country, the students are equally culpable in no small measure for the conditions which they live in. The Nigerian youth is not just the leader of tomorrow but a custodian of the future who more or less shapes his own destiny with his hands. And let’s face it, going by the obvious lack in morals, basic discipline, and drive to the right thing, that future seems very bleak indeed!

BY: RIGEL95

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