UNILAG’s Bed-Space Balloting War By Sam Bolaji

My four years as an undergraduate at the University of Lagos witnessed what I can describe as an annual mess which, I dare say, is peculiar to my great alma mater. Unfortunately, this messy situation still continues years after I have graduated from the institution. The “peculiar mess” is the event known as bed-space balloting. Are you surprised that I called it an event?

Unlike several institutions of higher learning in Nigeria and beyond where people who are not students of such institutions rarely hear of when or how students are allocated accommodation, UNILAG’s bed-space allocation is like a big annual event that is known by everyone who has a friend, child or ward in the institution. This widespread knowledge is owing to the difficulties and hitches that ALWAYS come with the exercise. Being aware of the attendant difficulties of the exercise, the Dean of Student Affairs would always send a notice to students, announcing the days of the exercise and encouraging them to be ready for the strenuous process. Faculty student associations also corroborate the DSA’s notification and ask students to “get their gadgets ready” for the balloting (more like asking soldiers to get their weapons ready for war), and such messages are usually concluded with, “We wish you best of luck”. Best of luck because of accommodation? I think that is bizarre!

Akokites, as students of UNILAG are fondly called, always welcome the bed-space balloting days with anxiety, fear and uncertainty. At least 24 hours before the “D-day”, an average Akokite would have contacted friends, parents and relations across Nigeria, and even in the Diaspora, to help them ballot for bed space on the days of the exercise. The students themselves would be up both in the night and during the day trying to get a bed space once the balloting commences. Most students would spend their days in cybercafés thereby jettisoning every other activity of those days, including lectures. Owing to this huge invasion of, and traffic on, the accommodation portal, several of these students would not be able to log on to the portal successfully throughout the period of the exercise as there would always be a server breakdown. Only a few students, who can deprive themselves of sleep, both night and day, are eventually lucky enough to get a bed space. It is always the survival of the fittest. Other unsuccessful students are worn out, disappointed and sad after their efforts had turned out to be futile. The DSA’s office receives thousands of complaints every year during the balloting. Balloting for bed space in the University of Lagos is war.

What I have continued to ask myself is whether things should be this bad. My alma mater claims to be the University of First Choice and the Nation’s Pride; we, therefore, cannot allow issues such as allocation of bed space to dent that beautiful image.

Having the best interest of students at heart, the university management tries its best to improve on the process every year. For instance, since about two academic sessions now, bed-space balloting no longer takes place during lectures. The management has seen to it that balloting is done before the session fully resumes. Also, the accommodation portal is improved upon every year in an attempt to reduce the hitches that come with the exercise. However, the hitches still continue every academic year as there are very limited resources and facility to accommodate the teeming population of the university. But we need to proffer a solution to this nagging mess. After much brainstorming, I have been able to come up with the following suggestions.

1. I do not think that there should be any special day assigned to bed-space balloting. This would help to solve the problem of huge traffic on the portal, which always leads to a server breakdown.
2. Since the university insists on a “first come, first served” policy (which isn’t the case with the current arrangement), I strongly suggest the following:
3. That the accommodation link/menu should be activated on each student’s portal upon payment of their school fees.
4. That the student should be given a timeframe within which they can reserve their bed space after which the link/menu would be disabled.
5. That if the student successfully reserves a bed space within the given timeframe, another timeframe should then be given for the payment of the reserved space.
6. That failure to pay for the reserved space within the given timeframe would automatically result in a forfeiture of the reserved space.

Since it is practically impossible for all students to pay their school fees at the same time and on the same day, the above suggestions would reduce the traffic on the portal and the exercise would be hitch-free and fair to everyone.

1. It is common knowledge that different days are assigned to different categories of students (freshmen, returning students, final year students, etc.) under the current balloting arrangement, this will also be taken care of in the suggested arrangement.
2. Since the portal is able to automatically identify the class/level of every registered student, the accommodation link/menu should be activated on each student’s portal upon the payment of school fees (as suggested in 2 above) IF the number of bed spaces allotted to that particular student’s category is yet to be exhausted.
3. In the event of non-availability of bed space in the student’s category, the portal should notify the student. That way, the management would be absolved of any blame and the student would bear the responsibility of late payment of their school fees. Ultimately, the “first come, first served” policy would have been upheld.
4. On a long term, the school management should consider building/acquiring more hostels to fairly accommodate its teeming population.

Thankfully, the University of Lagos has a listening, loving and responsive management team whom, I believe, would look into these suggestions alongside others that they must have been considering at the moment, and come up with a method of hostel allocation which would be seamless and fair to every student of our great university and which would put an end to the mess of bed-space balloting war which has continually smeared the beautiful image of our school. Balloting for bed space doesn’t have to be war.

Bolaji wrote in from Lagos
Punch

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