₦1.6bn UNILAG Hostel Linked to Tinubu’s Chief of Staff Rents for Nearly ₦1m Per Bedspace

A hostel built with N1.6 billion in public funds at the University of Lagos (UNILAG) to address student accommodation shortages is now being rented for as much as N950,000 per bed space per session, raising concerns about affordability and the misuse of public resources.

According to an investigation by BusinessDay, the facility, linked to Femi Gbajabiamila, Chief of Staff to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has effectively become a commercial hostel, placing it beyond the reach of many students it was meant to support.

The hostel, officially titled “Construction and Furnishing of a 484-bed Landmark Student Hostel,” was funded under the 2020 Zonal Intervention Project and inaugurated in January 2024. It offers single-occupancy and four-man en-suite rooms.

However, findings by BusinessDay reveal that students now pay about N950,000 per session for single rooms and N710,000 per bed space in four-man rooms, costs comparable to those of privately owned hostels around the campus.

“When they were commissioning it, I really thought this would be a huge relief, but that wasn’t the case,” a law student, Jude Egbas, told BusinessDay.

“The cost of a bed space there is as expensive as other private hostels. We could even get some that are cheaper than what they are charging at Gbaja Hall.”

The report highlights the worsening accommodation crisis at UNILAG, where a student population of over 50,000 competes for fewer than 8,000 available bedspaces in university-managed hostels.

Students who fail to secure campus accommodation are forced into expensive off-campus options, often paying significantly more than their tuition fees.

One student, Chinedu Obote, recounted how he was unable to secure a hostel space upon gaining admission and had to relocate to Egbeda, about 25 kilometres from campus.

“I spend roughly N8,000 on transport every day to get to campus and come back,” he said. “Sometimes, all I’m thinking about is not even reading but how to manage transport for the week.”

Another student, Williams Motunrayo, said she pays N700,000 for a shared room with five other students, more than three times her tuition of N220,000.

“I couldn’t believe it. How is it possible that rent is more than what I pay for school fees?” she said.

Similarly, Damilare Ibiyemi disclosed that he pays N700,000 for a bedspace, noting that accommodation costs often take priority over tuition due to high demand and competition.

The BusinessDay investigation found that the pricing structure at the Gbajabiamila Hall mirrors that of private hostels such as the ULWS Hostel, raising questions about why a publicly funded project is being run on a commercial basis.

The development has sparked criticism over the apparent disconnect between government intervention efforts and the realities faced by students, with many arguing that the project has failed to deliver the relief it was intended to provide.